We also need to ask Congressmen Loebsack and Boswell to co-sponsor the Clean
Water Protection Act which also will ban mountaintop removal.
Charlie Winterwood
Political Chair
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Ed Hopkins <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Fri, July 30, 2010 9:39:56 AM
Subject: [WATER-ISSUES] help build support to stop mountaintop removal
We need your help to stop the destruction of mountains and streams in Appalachia
from irresponsible coal mining.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has taken some positive initial steps to rein in
destructive mountaintop removal mining, but even these insufficient actions have
drawn fire from mining companies, coal-state governors and members of Congress
beholden to industry lobbyists. Please call your member of Congress today and
urge him/her to sign on to Congressman Pallone’s ‘Dear Colleague’ letter in
support of EPA’s efforts to reduce mountaintop removal. Without political
support, EPA may lack the will to put tougher measures in place to stop
mountaintop removal.
EPA has a long way to go before it stops mountaintop removal mining, which has
destroyed more than 500 mountains and buried 2,000 miles of streams in coal
mining waste. Even so, EPA has taken some important steps. It has required
tougher environmental reviews of almost 80 mountaintop removal permits. It
proposed a rare veto of a new permit for an operating mine, one of the largest
surface mines in Appalachia. In April, it issued new policy that, if properly
carried out, should put teeth in states’ clean water standards that should stop
the most destructive mining.
But the mining industry has organized fierce opposition. States are resisting
EPA’s new policies. Coal-state members of Congress are aggressively questioning
the legality of EPA’s actions and pressuring the agency to back down. And most
recently, the National Mining Association – the lobbying group representing the
coal industry – filed a lawsuit arguing that the EPA policies.
We need to show EPA that it has political support for the positive steps it has
taken on mountaintop removal – otherwise, EPA is unlikely to go further.
Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) has asked other members of Congress to join
him in sending a letter of support to EPA's efforts. He plans to send the
letter in just a few days. Please call your member of Congress and ask him/her
to sign on to Congressman Pallone’s Dear Colleague letter to EPA on mountaintop
removal. Call today – before it’s too late.
Thank you for your help to stop mountaintop removal.
Here's how to help:
It's not necessary, but before calling you might want to see if your member of
Congress is a co-sponsor of the Clean Water Protection Act, H.R. 1310, the bill
to stop mountaintop removal mining. Co-sponsors are likely to want to help EPA
curtail mountaintop removal. Here's a link to the co-sponsor list:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:1:./temp/~bdil8G:@@@P|/home/LegislativeData.php|
Call the Capitol switchboard (202-224-3121) and ask for your member of Congress.
When connected, tell the receptionist that you are a constituent and give your
name and address.
Tell the receptionist that you are opposed to mountaintop removal mining in
Appalachia and that want Representative [name] to sign Congressman Frank
Pallone’s Dear Colleague letter on mountaintop removal.
That’s all you have to do. The receptionist will forward this information to
the appropriate staff person. Most members of Congress are interested in
hearing from their constituents. A call like this can have a big impact, so
thanks for calling.
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