How many blown up mountains will it take?

As if our state needed more reasons to shift away from coal, North Carolina is the second largest consumer in the US, after Georgia, of coal acquired by mountain-top removal. A bill recently introduced at the General Assembly by State Representative Pricey Harrison (co-sponsored by 27 other state representatives across the political spectrum) aims to phase out mountaintop removal as an energy source for our state. From the linked Facing South article:

"This is a horrific and destructive practice," Harrison said at a press conference held [Feb 26] at the N.C. legislature. "We want to remind North Carolina citizens that when they turn on that light switch, they're blowing up mountains."

Back in February, a panel of federal judges ruled in favor of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a controversial mountaintop removal mining case. The ruling would permit mining companies to conduct devastating mountaintop removal coal mining operations without acting to minimize stream destruction or conducting adequate environmental reviews.

As a result, Appalachia could be facing as many as 150 new mountaintop removal coal mining operations, 90 in West Virginia alone, which would destroy huge swaths of the Appalachian Mountains. It's time for EPA to take charge and end the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.

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