Global Warming and CO2 Emissions Blog

In mountaintop removal mining, a coal company literally blasts apart the tops of mountains to reach thin seams of coal buried below. To minimize waste disposal costs, they then dump millions of tons of the waste rock into the valleys below, permanently burying streams and polluting rivers that provide drinking water to millions of Americans.

Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NY) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) have introduced H.R. 2169, the Clean Water Protection Act - legislation that will effectively end mountaintop removal mining by preventing companies from dumping their waste in rivers and streams. Act now: sign our petition asking your representative in Washington, D.C. to support this important legislation.

When President Bush legalized mountaintop removal mining in 2002, this destructive practice had already been banned for a quarter century. Since then, coal companies have jumped with both feet back into the business of obliterating whole mountains.

The federal government has estimated that past and future mountaintop removal mining could destroy more than 1.4 million acres. People, plants and wildlife are at risk from the blasting, coal dust, clogged streams and poisoned drinking water.

Please sign your petition to your congressional representative today and support the Clean Water Protection Act. Your action will help us end this form of mining and move our nations focus to developing clean, safe renewable forms of energy.

Thank you for your support,

Greg Haegele
Director of Conservation

P.S. Our nation's dependence on coal tears up the land, pollutes water, devastates communities, and makes global warming worse. Send your message today and help the Sierra Club stop the devastation of mountaintop removal mining.

Labels: coal mining, legislation, Sierra Club