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WASHINGTON, Jul 1 (OneWorld.net) - A renowned climate scientist, an actress, a former lawmaker, and local residents in West Virginia were arrested last week while protesting the coal mining method of mountaintop removal, which environmental experts and citizens say destroys mountain ranges and contaminates water.

The aftermath of mountaintop removal. © farukahmetWhat's the Story?

The protest came on the heels of a pledge by the Obama administration to reform regulations on mountaintop coal mining in the United States, which activists and environmental experts say will not alleviate the practice's harmful impact on local wildlife and communities.

"Without a significant change in policy, mining companies will continue to destroy historic mountain ranges and bury communities' drinking water in toxic waste," wrote the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) in a statement about the activists' arrests.

Days before a Congressional hearing on mountaintop removal mining's effect on water quality in Appalachia, Michael Brune, RAN executive director and a principal protest organizer, said: "This is not a practice that needs to be reformed. It is a practice that needs to be abolished. By sacrificing the Appalachian Mountains for the country's coal addiction, we undermine future investments in 21st century clean energy solutions that will protect our planet, produce more jobs, and preserve our natural resources." (Read the full statement from RAN below.)

Energy Alternatives and the U.S. Climate Change Bill

Mountaintop removal mining accounts for only 4 to 5 percent of energy derived from coal in the United States, notes Mountain Justice, an advocacy group that encourages conservation, efficiency, and solar and wind energy as alternatives. "With today's wind turbine technology, wind power could supply 20 percent of the United States' electricity," adds the organization.

Clean and efficient energy use is a focus of the U.S. climate change bill approved last week by the lower house of Congress. In particular, one section of the legislation "establishes Clean Energy Innovation Centers to promote commercial deployment of clean, indigenous energy alternatives to oil and other fossil fuels; to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and to ensure that the U.S. maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying state-of-the-art energy technologies," explains the Washington-based Citizens for Global Solutions.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act would also limit pollution by major companies and industries in the United States, establish economic incentives to reduce pollution over time, invest in efforts to stop deforestation worldwide, and help the most vulnerable communities -- locally and globally -- adapt to the negative consequences of a changing climate.

The bill has been greeted by tempered applause from environmentalists, who are calling it a historic first step for the world's greatest polluter but maintain more needs to be done.

"This bill is not everything we need, but it is a critical starting point, at a crucial time," said Carter Roberts, head of the U.S. arm of the conservation association WWF.

The timing of the bill is considered especially important as the international community prepares to negotiate a global agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change in Copenhagen this December. 

"American families will not be protected from the impacts of climate change without reducing emissions around the world," emphasized Dr. Richard H. Moss, vice president of the WWF-U.S. climate change program. "If we want other countries to put more on the table in Copenhagen, we need to show that the U.S. is finally ready to act. Enacting strong climate legislation is the most effective thing America could do to negotiate the strongest commitments from other countries."

Elsewhere in the world, Scotland recently ordained emissions cuts of 42 percent by 2020. All in all, last week was "an encouraging week," concluded WWF.

Mountaintop Mining: Dirty and Destructive

Mountaintop removal coal mining is a "relatively new and highly invasive form of surface mining," explains Alana Herro of the environmental think tank Worldwatch Institute. The process involves clearing a mountain of all vegetation, blowing up the summit's upper layers (typically about 500-800 feet of rock and soil), and collecting the coal exposed by the blast.

Debris is loaded off into nearby valleys, often burying streams, and dams are built to contain the toxic runoff produced during coal processing. "All of these factors contribute to an increased risk of flooding, damage to nearby homes, loss of biodiversity, and contamination of drinking water supplies," notes Herro.

More than 450 mountains spanning Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia have been subject to mountaintop removal. Meanwhile, estimates the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the practice has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams and could destroy 1.4 million acres of forest by 2020.

Two bills that would help reign in mountaintop removal are under consideration by the U.S. Congress, blogged EarthJustice's Jared Saylor earlier this month. One would ban the dumping of "excess spoil" from mining into rivers and streams while the other would go to even greater lengths to restrict this kind of waste disposal in Appalachian waterways. Nonetheless, maintains EarthJustice, a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to defending the environment, "until the White House announces that it will stop the blowing up of mountains and burying of streams, we cannot support their policies, regardless of what process is used to review the mines on a case by case basis." 

Take Action

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- Article compiled by David Iaconangelo.

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Dr. James Hansen and Daryl Hannah Arrested in Protest on Mountaintop Removal

From: Rainforest Action Network

June 23, 2009

COAL RIVER VALLEY, W. VA-At a peaceful protest on mountaintop removal today organized by coalfield residents and Rainforest Action Network, leading climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen, actress Daryl Hannah, former Representative Ken Hechler, Michael Brune, the executive director of Rainforest Action Network, and Goldman Prize winner Judy Bonds were arrested along with dozens of Coal River Valley residents and allies. They risked arrest by crossing onto the property of leading mountaintop removal coal mining company, Massey Energy-purposely trespassing to protest the destruction of mountains immediately above the Coal River Valley community.

This is part of a string of increasingly dramatic protests on mountaintop removal and comes after the Obama Administration's announcement that the EPA will reform, but not abolish, the aggressive strip mining practice. Tuesday's protest is happening just days before a Congressional hearing titled, "The Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining on Water Quality in Appalachia."

"I am not a politician; I am a scientist and a citizen," said Dr. James Hansen. "Politicians may have to advocate for halfway measures if they choose. But it is our responsibility to make sure our representatives feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient. Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be abolished."

Two weeks ago, the Obama Administration announced steps to end the fast tracking of certain mountaintop removal coal mine permits and to add tougher enforcement in Appalachia. However, it remains unclear what, if any, improvements this will have on-the-ground in Appalachia or elsewhere. Without a significant change in policy, mining companies will continue to destroy historic mountain ranges and bury community's drinking water in toxic waste.

"Every day, mountaintop removal mines use more explosive power than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima," said Bo Webb, an organizer of today's protest and a Coal River Valley Resident. "West Virginians oppose mountaintop removal in our communities. This is not our traditional way of life, and we do not support the destruction of our land or our communities."

Coal companies who engage in mountaintop removal mining are clear-cutting thousands of acres of some of the world's most biologically diverse forests. They're burying biologically crucial headwaters streams with blasting debris, releasing toxic levels of heavy metals into the remaining streams and groundwater and poisoning essential drinking water. According to the EPA, this destructive practice has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams and threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of forest by 2020.

"We are all complicit in mountaintop removal whenever we turn on our lights, so we are all responsible for ending it. Mountaintop removal, the world's worst strip-mining, is unacceptable. Period." said Michael Brune, executive director of Rainforest Action Network, a lead supporter of the action today. "This is not a practice that needs to be reformed. It is a practice that needs to be abolished. By sacrificing the Appalachian Mountains for the country's coal addiction, we undermine future investments in 21st century clean energy solutions that will protect our planet, produce more jobs and preserve our natural resources."

Mountaintop removal coal provides less than eight percent of all coal produced in the United States, and could be replaced with energy efficiency initiatives or renewable energy sources, instead of permitting massive environmental destruction of historic mountain ranges and essential drinking water for a relatively tiny amount of coal.

Recent studies have shown that the Appalachia Mountains could support commercial scale wind energy facilities, which would bring long-term, sustainable jobs to the region - but only if the mountains are left standing. In West Virginia, jobs from mining account for just 3.3% employment in the Mountain State - that is less than 20,000 jobs total. A recent University of Massachusetts study found investing in clean energy projects like wind power and mass transit creates three to four times more jobs than the same expenditure on the coal industry. The wind power sector has grown to employ more Americans than coal mining as demand for clean energy has jumped over the past decade.

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