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.