Obama's EPA Hits Much-Needed Roadblock
Why Does Anti-Obama Sentiment Run Deep in Appalachia?
COMMENTARY | President Obama put a stop to controversial plans that would further tighten smog rules, which would have made the EPA even more powerful than it has become, according to The Associated Press. The announcement is thought to have stemmed from recent reports that show job growth has been stagnant through August.
The EPA has been active since the first weeks of the new administration. Obama has effectively used the regulatory agencies of the executive branch to enforce his will unopposed on the American people. I agree that not caring about the environment is irresponsible, but the EPA has morphed into a left-wing, radical monster that employs a cadre of sympathetic scientists and seeks out small minority groups to stage town hall meetings to fake public support.
Obama uses the regulatory arm of the executive committee because Congress has no say and our representatives would never let their people get voted down in the face of zero opposition. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and all Kentucky senators support the REINS act, which would require Congress to approve every new major regulation by the White House before it takes effect.
I live in eastern Kentucky, and the overwhelming majority of citizens here support the commercial mining of coal by private business. Over 90 percent of the population would gladly start drinking Schlitz beer if our drinking water did happen to become contaminated just so we wouldn't interfere with coal production, which is the lifeblood of the region.
The sad truth is that nothing like that is happening. Waterways are tested during mining operations, and if certain levels of earth metals or other contaminants are present, the mine gets shut down. We derive nothing but coal severance taxes, thousands of high-paying jobs and mechanical capabilities on a massive scale from strip mining. Any pollution is within the parameters of "normal" as far as the mining itself is concerned. The majority of carbon is produced at electricity generation plants.
Strip mining in the form of mountain top removal is the prime target of Obama's EPA. New regulations have made permitting a new mine close to impossible and made constructing hollow fills illegal for the most part. We are land poor in Eastern Kentucky. Forced to live in the flat creek bottoms, spring flooding destroys homes and other property annually. After a mining operation finished reclamation, which is guaranteed by bonding by the way, we have hundreds of acres of flat land situated outside the flood plain.
Golf courses, prisons, factories, sub divisions and even a modern sports complex have been built on reclaimed mining land. Obama has effectively ended the only economical way of generating flat land we had. He has tried to snuff out our life blood, and even if outsiders protest that they don't want the water spoiled, they don't have to drink it. If the environmentalists want to violate our state's rights and stop us from mining coal, I say they can be the first ones to freeze to death come winter and Obama can draft his anti-coal legislation in the dark.
Published by Adam Justice - Featured Contributor in Automotive, Politics and Technology
Adam works as an Engineering Technician and Web developer for a civil engineering/surveying firm. His engineering experience encompasses mechanical, architectural, civil and mining. He started designing webs... View profile
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10 Comments
Post a Comment*without blanketing the ground with acid containing soot. I have never met an Environmentalist that ever has any science to bak up their claims about strip mining hurting any organic population. Want to know why? Because reclaimed mine land is more hospitable to wildlife, at least in Central Appalachia. Deer populations are so great here due to the improved habitat that the problem isn't lack of deer, its that there are too many deer and people are hitting them on the highways.
Yes Chris, reclaimed land is often a better habitat for the indigenous mammals and birds of this area. There is an abundance of wildlife on the reclaimed strip mines here that you will not find on the steep mountainsides that were previously there.
The environment includes the entire biosphere. All of the plants that are destroyed during mining are replaced, often to levels that were not present prior to mining. New growth happens all the time in nature with fires. Strip mining has the same effect with blanketing the ground with acid containing soot.
Strip mining is good for the environmwnt? you can't be serious
Christopher, the thing about my connection to mining interests is that 95% of my region has some connection to mining interests. Our support of the mining industry is overwhelming and universal, and would be enough to stop the EPA in a government that exhibited checks and balances (like our government is supposed to). After Congress passes a bill to regulate the EPA and unchecked executive powers, we won't be having this discussion, and East KY will slowly rebound economically. The support on my side of this is just too great in this area, which is were control should be excercised.
The pollution in the San Bernadino valley is entirely different than Eastern KY. The EPA is saying that filling Ephemeral streams affects wildlife in ways that just aren't true. Have you ever saw a school of fish thriving in a ,mud puddle? I think most Americans are entirely uneducated on what the EPA actually does and how backhanded and roundabout ways they go about trying to do it.
Surface mining does a lot of good for the environment in this area. The Elk population has increased a hundred fold, deer populations have never been higher and a lot of strip mines are prime habitat for turkeys, geese, and are vast hunting grounds for birds of prey. Respnsible Strip mining has minimal effect on water sources and has many beneficial effects on the enviromnment overall, but the EPA neglects to mention that.
Adam your connection to minning interests is a conflict of intrest and probably is a big influence on your oppinion. think with your brain, not with your pocket book. The EPA protects ther american people from the Corporations.
I grew up in a very polluted area called the Sanbernardino valey wich is coverd with a brown cloud of pollution, the new EPA regulation would keep other places in the country from becoming like Sanbernardino california. The regullations on coal power plants are nessecary. Coal gives of very toci emmissions when burned.
I do however appreciate your Sentiment Michal. I don't know where you live, but I can tell you picked up on the extreme viewpoint presented in this article. It is my biggest concern in politics going forward that we get the support needed to make the EPA and other Executive branch entities seek congressional approval for the tactics they used in the War on coal. Luckily, Kentucky has a pretty heavy hand in national politics for the size of it's body, and they are all united on this issue as well.
Our state's rights have been violated badly. I believe the Liberal machine has been keeping the loophole used here a secret for when they had a man in office because it was one of the first things Obama moved on. I just hope we can make some headway in closing it. Bush did the same thing with the Patriot act, making the Presidency a more powerful office than it already is. It just so happens that my region was directly affected, immensely, on this occasion. The rest of the country is largely unaware of the problems it has caused here with our economic prospects. We were finally in a place where residents were actively investing in the diversification of the economy, and Obama single handedly tried to cut out our single source of income under the guise of the environment. Its really just a ploy to make coal prices soar so people will use Solar and wind power. It doesn't work though because out of all wind production that was added, we have lost that in Nuclear reactors that haven't went online because of the Japan scare. Solar power is stagnint. Even with an influx of federal funding alternative energy cant work, so that is probably why Obama backed off this time around.
There are some instances were strip mining has affected the ground water, but they are very rare. The only reason it was even noticed is because Eastern KY is one of the last places in the US where a lot of people still get drinking water from a Well. There are roughly an equal number of instances where we have had massive development of commercial, industrial, public use and service sector development worth millions of dollars carried out on reclaimed MTR mining sites.
If the permited designs are engineered correctly and the Mining and reclaimation plan is followed through the life of a surface mine, the water table is largely unaffected and sediments as well as erosion is captured in mine impoundments. Its a well known fact that reclaimed mining sites provide a better habitat for wildlife, and the use of straight pipes in the sewer system does significantly more damage to our streams than mining could ever do. We're just moving dirt around, there is hardly anything new added to the environment here. If it is in the ground anyway, it is already subject to leeching into the water table. Some people argue that mountains need peaks, but you're required to submit a reclaimation plan prior to mining that gives post mining land use. Usually the peaks are restored and the land goes back to wilderness. Sometimes landowners ask that the companies leave it flat for grazing cattle or horses. In the best cases, we develop it for homes that aren't subject to annual flooding, businesses and industries which help diversify our economy for the future, or expand on adventure tourism / our golf industry. Eastern Ky needs MTR a lot worse than West Virginia, which was more sparsely populated needed it.
Well, I personally do not drink Schlitz beer, or any beer for that matter. I would outsource my bottle water, I was just trying to get across the extreme view that the entire region shares. It is very rare that a group of people agree on something, but residents of central Appalachia are radically pro-mining. I never said we didn't need regulation, and most coal corporations could operate efficiently under the regulatory atmosphere or 2007. We should definately punish irresponsible coal corporations, but we should reward the ones that have a proven track record for safety and positive reclaimation practices.
WIth that being said, I think you are terribly uneducated on the subject. ""We allowed for that sort of thing in the early 1900's. Look back at all the damage it caused."" In the early 1900s the only form of mining that was practiced was underground drift mining. Obama's administration and the EPA have not targeted this form of mining at all, however MSHA has recently added regulations that put most of the smaller privately owned companies out of business, such as requiring digital tracking systems and safety pods. The form of mining that supposedly does all this damage is Strip mining, particularly MTR which didn't start until the 1970s.
While I do agree coal production is important, at the same time, we shouldn't allow Corporations to destroy the environment.
"Over 90 percent of the population would gladly start drinking Schlitz beer if our drinking water did happen to become contaminated just so we wouldn't interfere with coal production, which is the lifeblood of the region."
Even if the above statistic is true, the mining companies should avoid polluting the worlds limited fresh water supplies. Sure the people might be able to drink Schlitz beer, but can the animals do that?
I think you need to ease some of your statements, and not go to the extremes. Some regulations could be laxed, but we can't get rid of them completely for the sake of "steady coal production". We allowed for that sort of thing in the early 1900's. Look back at all the damage it caused.
Some form of regulation, no matter how small; is defiantly needed.