A few weeks ago, I talked about mountaintop removal mining and how it was raping West Virginia’s mountains. Wired has posted a gallery including some pictures before and after. And of course, now the government has recently announced regulations to allow more mountaintop removal mining and to allow it closer to streams. So, luckily for West Virginia residents, they will be able to have more waste in their water, more flooding, and a state that is starting to resemble a wasteland. At first I thought it odd that an administration that WV voted for twice would turn around and hurt its people, but then I figured W is thinking two things: 1) some of that — whatchamacallit — nature is only good if ya’ll can strip it down and use it to make money, and 2) they didn’t vote for daddy back in ‘88 and ‘92. If only they hadn’t voted for W in 2000, the election would’ve gone the other way. I guess every choice has consequences.
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10 September 2007 at 12:32:24
Donna Adams
It makes me so sad and so MAD!!!!
10 September 2007 at 14:38:20
Dave
I would think that W himself is not thinking about this particular issue at all. I doubt it has been raised in a Cabinet meeting. I certainly don’t think anyone is looking at election results from 15 years ago.
SMCRA was Carter-era legislation, when the Democrats controlled both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
And the federal government hardly hates West Virginia. Thanks to Senator Robert Byrd, WV has benefited disproportionate to it’s population in terms of pork barrel legislation.
And just for the record, I am in no way anti-Appalachian or pro-strip mining.
10 September 2007 at 16:02:19
Jason Adams
And just for the record, I employ sarcasm and hyperbole liberally and without warning. :)
However, I would say that the administration’s sentiment towards certain issues does trickle down into the agencies that oversee such matters (e.g. the Office of Surface Mining). The director of the OSM is appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, after all. Our understanding of the environmental impact of this practice, as well as public sentiment towards environmentalism in general, has changed a great deal since the Carter days.
No doubt you are correct about Senator Byrd and pork barrel legislation, which makes me wonder if this isn’t a bit of that here as well, if not in the same form? More mountaintop removal mining equates to more money for WV coal businesses.