Category: Mountain Top Removal
It wasn’t long ago that coal executives were openly discussing their dream of Republicans seizing the White House and making Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe — who believes climate change is a “hoax” concocted by greedy scientists — the head of the EPA.
Coal companies provide a product that causes mercury poisoning, climate change and other environmental hazards. The increasingly profitable way of extracting it, mountaintop removal, the process by which a mountain is blown up and the coal beneath it is gathered with heavy cranes and machinery, is being blamed for poisoning waterways throughout Appalachia.
Now, they have a second chance. As dark money groups and SuperPACs backed by millions of dollars from the fossil fuel industry are propelling Republicans to a Senate majority, climate science-denying politicians are likely to seize control of key committee chairmanships, a coup for companies seeking to pollute the atmosphere with impunity. What’s more, Inhofe is slated to become chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, with oversight of the EPA.
Take a look at how the U.S. Senate would likely change under GOP control..
The Federal Highway Administration is preparing to seal the fate of the Coalfields Expressway project and they need to hear directly from you that this project is nothing more than a mountaintop removal project being disguised as a highway.
Please join us in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Dec. 5th as we rally in front of Federal Highways and ensure that agency officials hear our concerns.
When: 12pm Thursday, December 5th
Where: Federal Highway Administration,
1200 New Jersey Ave SE
Washington, D.C., 20590
>> RSVP now! <<
The Coalfields Expressway is a Virginia highway project that has been hijacked by the coal industry so that they can seize land through eminent domain, blow up mountains, bury streams with mining waste, and ignore environmental protections while doing so.
Federal Highways will determine whether this project moves forward without any additional review or whether it is put on hold until the environmental impacts are fully considered.
Take action and voice your concerns to Federal Highways Administration now!
The choice is clear to us; we need to make sure it is clear to them. See you in D.C. December 5.
For the mountains,
Kate Rooth
Appalachian Voices Campaign Director
WASHINGTON – The Senate voted to confirm Gina McCarthy as the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, ending what had been the longest delay for any of President Obama’s second-term Cabinet picks.
The 59-40 vote was the second such successful confirmation vote Thursday, as the Senate follows through on a deal this week to advance long-stalled executive branch nominations.
Obama announced McCarthy as his pick for the EPA post on March 4, when he also nominated Ernest Moniz to be secretary of Energy. Moniz was unanimously confirmed in May.
Republicans blocked McCarthy’s nomination as they sought answers to what they called “transparency requests” from the Obama administration over its environmental policy. Her status became part of a showdown between Senate leaders over delaying tactics that was resolved this week.
CONTACT US
MCDC
PO BOX 81
MADISON VA 22727-0081
info@madisondems.org
Paid for by Madison County Democratic Committee
