Hillary on Mountain Top Removal

Email Print posted by schmoab 03/19/2008 01:42:35 PM EST

Google Technorati del.icio.us digg reddit
If you like this story, digg it!
How is Hillary going to reverse the Bush Administration's environmental policies?

 

This is mainly a link to an excellent blog at the DailyKos about Mountaintop Removal (MTR).  The Young Turks brought this disgusting practice to my attention a few years ago, and it's good that it is actually being talked about on the campaign trail now. 

 Here's an 8 minute video on the subject.

 

Hillary is very concerned that her buddies in the Mining Industry get to continue destroying labor and the environment in the hope for higher profits.  This is just a shining example of how our government is controlled by corporate interests on both sides.   

 I hope the Barack Obama comes out a little stronger on environmental issues in the near future.  At this point McCain is as good as either of the Dem candidates with respect to the environment. 

< Andy Fraser - Obama Yes We Can | WOW!!! A thread about me!!!! >
 Display:
Hillary on Mountain Top Removal | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
Agreed... (none / 0)
Mountain top removal, especially in WV and KY is an abomination. It really does destroy the feeling and the habitats in the areas affected. I hope something can be addressed about this issue once somebody new takes office...

Thanks for the posting and the video...

by bobo1 on 03/19/2008 01:55:26 PM EST

Strip mining (none / 1)

I've lived and worked with the Forest Service in western Virginia and eastern Kentucky.  I believe in timber harvest when it's done.  I believe in multiple use of the land, so I ain't no bleeding heart, granola eating tree-hugger.

Nothing, nothing you've ever seen compares to standing on Pine Mountain on the border between Virginia and Kentucky and seeing the moonscape strip mining has made of the mountains.  I've been trained as both a forest ecologist, geologist and soil scientist.  I've worked on research projects that try to find vegetation that will live and grow on the land after it's been strip mined.  It ain't easy.  It will take many hundreds of years to "reclaim" this land.  The best you can hope for is that you can get enough veg to grow so the whole hillside won't erode or slide.

What do they do with all the mountain they remove?  Why they fill valleys and creeks with it.  Literally.  Acid drainage off these mines absolutely destroy streams and rivers.  It's very difficult to "reclaim" the land after you've exposed the acid bedrock.  And that acidity will continue to drain off those hills and ruin fisheries for hundreds if not thousands of years.  They try to "fix" this acid problem by literally dumping tons of limestone rock into the creeks.  All this accomplishes are highly acid and basic pockets in the creeks.

Strip mining is an ecological catastrophe and don't let anyone tell you these lands can be easily reclaimed.  They can't.  

Put it this way.  I once looked at a vista of endless Kentucky strip mines with an old-timer who loves coal.  He said "you know, people pay a lot of money to see this kind of stuff in Utah.  And it gives the ATV's a place to ride."

Guess there's a silver lining in every F5 tornado. 

by blueheartinaredstate on 03/19/2008 02:22:42 PM EST

Hillary on Mountain Top Removal | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
 Display: