Jim Sconyers jim_scon@yahoo.com 603.969.6712
Remember: Mother Nature bats last.
----- Forwarded Message ---- From: "Greg Haegele, Sierra Club" membership.services@sierraclub.org To: jim_scon@yahoo.com Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2008 8:00:22 AM Subject: Sign Our Petition: Stop Mountaintop Removal Mining
Sierra Club
Mountaintop removal mining is devastating and permanent - please sign our petition and help put a stop to the irreversible damage caused by this form of mining.
Dear Jim,
Mountaintop removal mining is exactly that, instead of digging tunnels to mine for coal, the tops of whole mountains are blown off with explosives to expose the seams of coal hidden underneath. Beautiful mountain ranges are reduced to leveled worksites while the dirt, rock, trees and other debris are bulldozed into the surrounding valleys, blocking and contaminating local rivers and streams, flooding and polluting the water in local communities, and threatening countless animals and plants.
This practice was banned for over a quarter of a century until President Bush legalized mountaintop removal mining again in 2002. It is now estimated that this process will destroy more than 1.4 million acres of American mountain ranges, chiefly in the Appalachian area. That’s why I am asking you to please act now and sign our petition urging Congress to stop this deadly practice.
To make it more difficult for the coal mining companies to use mountaintop removal, we are pushing Congress to pass the Clean Water Protection Act. This important legislation, if passed, will make mountaintop removal impossible by preventing mining companies from dumping their waste into the surrounding valleys and the rivers and streams which flow through them. Since there is nowhere else to dump the resulting huge deposits of waste, the practice will become impractical to continue.
Help us bring a permanent end to this process - tell your representatives to pass the Clean Water Protection Act - now!
The Coal Industry has financed an army of lobbyists and a major ad campaign to sway the opinion of lawmakers and the public to their side. You may have seen one of the many “Clean Coal” television ads that have saturated our airwaves in recent months. But simply adding the word “clean” or any other positive adjective to the word “coal” doesn’t change the many negative unhealthy effects of this dirty fossil fuel.
Fact is, coal emissions are the top contributors to global warming. Increasing our dependence on coal will intensify and expand the effects of global warming. That’s why we must oppose mountaintop removal coal mining. Please sign our petition and put a stop to mountaintop removal - right now!
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Greg Haegele Director of Conservation
P.S. Mountaintop removal mining permanently destroys vast tracts of our rapidly disappearing wildlands and wildlife habitat, and poses dire consequences for our environment. Please take action today and urge your representatives to oppose this hideous and destructive form of mining.
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