Interior Dept. Poised to Relax Mountaintop Removal Regulations

The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration wants to quit requiring coal operators to prove that their surface mining will not damage streams, fish and wildlife.

Under proposed new regulations being issued Friday for public comment, strip mine operators would have to show only that they intend "to prevent, to the extent possible using the best technology currently available," such damage.

Ben Owens, a spokesman for the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining, said Thursday that the proposed changes are intended to clear up "confusion regarding the requirements pertinent to mining in and around streams."

Current policy says land within 100 feet of a stream cannot be disturbed by mining unless a company can prove it will not affect the water's quality and quantity.

Interior officials have said that complying with that buffer zone requirement is impossible in "mountaintop removal mining," which involves shearing off the tops of ridges to expose a coal seam. Dirt and rock are pushed below, often into stream beds, a practice known as valley fill.

The new regulations would allow mining that would alter a stream's flow as long as any damages to the environment are repaired later.

Valley fills allowed under the old, 1983 regulations will still be permitted. The volume of rock that can be displaced to get to the surface of a coal seam and the area where that rock is put can be "no larger than needed," according to the proposal.

Environmentalists want such fills banned entirely.

"The Bush administration just doesn't give up in its quest to give away more and more legal protections to the mountaintop removal polluters," said Joan Mulhern, an attorney for the Earthjustice legal firm.

The latest changes to the buffer-zone rule were first proposed more than three years ago.
At a hearing in March 2004, opponents talked of floods and flattened peaks and of homes swept away or devalued in central Appalachia.

A lawyer for the National Mining Association said the mines' preference was to get rid of the rule entirely, because it is confusing and there are other protections for streams in federal law.
After a 60 day-comment period on the proposal, a final rule probably would not be issued before next year.

A Perfect Storm Gathering on the U.S. Horizon

A perfect storm is gathering on the U.S. horizon, and it begs the question, what will our way-of-life look like after the skies clear, should we as a nation not reach political consensus - and fail to act.

The convergence of elements relating to America's dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil represent profound and ominous consequences: expanding extremism abroad, compounded by indifference at home, both being byproducts of our dependence on fossil fuels:

• Deeply Entrenched Special Interests
  
• Increasing Fossil Fuel Induced Air and Water Pollution
  
• Unabated Nuclear Proliferation
  
• Intensifying Effects of Climate Change
  
• Looming Implications of Peak Oil
  
• Deeply Rooted Oil Dependence in Volatile Regions
  
• Escalating Middle East Tension and Conflict
  
• Increasing Global Confrontation over Decreasing Resources
  
• Mounting Environmental Threats via Mountaintop Removal and Oil Exploration
  
• Economic Volatility via Rising Fuel Costs
  
• Swelling World Population and Industrialization

Each inseparably intertwined with U.S.energy and foreign policies…

Yet, when it comes to the precarious (fossil fuel induced) situation we find ourselves in today, as much as we may want to lay the burden of blame on the doorstep of Capitol Hill and the White House, the real problem lies in our own indifference and failure to hold our past and present leaders accountable.

Perhaps as a nation have we forgotten, democracy is not, nor has it ever been, a spectator sport. In the final analysis...we are response-able!

Since the oil embargo of the early 70’s, it has been an abundance of talk and scarcity of action by lawmakers and leaders, that has brought us to the precipice we now face.

Therefore, with a high degree of confidence, we can assume talk is not the answer, but rather action.

Throughout history we have seen the incredible change one person can bring about when totally dedicated to a cause; Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., to name a few examples. Likewise, monumental change also occurs when many dedicated even a small amount of effort to a worthy cause.


So, how do we as a nation get from here to there?

We must start by asking ourselves, do we care as much as we say we do. Do we care enough to make subtle the changes in our lifestyles indicative of foresight to take a different path, a sustainable path where our children and theirs can follow?

Do we care enough to pick up the phone…to send an email…to sign an online petition? Do we care enough to contact other like-minded people within our circle of influence to ask them to do the same?

In a few weeks time, a bi-partisan effort will be under way to produce a cohesive piece of legislation for presidential approval. The conference committee which will convene on or about September 4th to reconcile the Senate & House bills, will be debating hotly contested items.

Specifically, whether to require electric utilities to produce 15 percent of their power from renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass by 2020 (today only 2.3 percent of the country's electricity is produced via renewable sources). And, to raise fleet-wide fuel economy standards for cars and trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 (efficiency standards have not been increased in over two decades).

Yet, each proposal is strongly opposed by the utility industry and automotive industry respectively, each having lobbied hard to defeat these initiatives.

Both measures are profound in their impact on reducing GHG emissions and reducing our dependence on countries that do not have our best interest in mind.

Thus, It is up to us to lobby hard for their enactment and provide congress with the support and political confidence to make the right choices!

Take the time now to contact your Senate & House legislators, and let them know you support the 15% renewable by 2020 amendment - as well as raising vehicle fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

Let's use our collective power to lead our country to "greener" pastures.

Thank you,
Energize Now Initiative

Start by signing the Fueling the Renewable Energy Movement Petition

FYI...

Edison Electric Institute - call (202-508-5000) and / or environment@eei.org

Atlanta-based Southern Co – call (202-261-5000) and / or email

Ford Motor Company – call 800-392-3673 and / or email

General Motors Company – call 800-462-8782

Chrysler Motor Corp – call 1-800-992-1997 and / or email

"Fueling the Renewable Energy Movement"

When it comes to addressing the security of our nation and planet, we cannot afford politics as usual. Help insure America’s voice is heard in Washington. Please sign the “Fueling the Renewable Energy Movement” petition below:

"The years teach much which the days never knew"
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dear U.S. Legislators,

Energy is the common thread running through every aspect of our society; interweaving economic, trade, agriculture, environmental, defense and foreign policies, inseparably linking one to the next. Accordingly, it is no coincidence energy is at the epicenter of the unprecedented challenges facing America today, challenges in the form of fossil fuel & foreign oil dependence.

The energy bills recently passed by the Senate & House of Representatives represent real progress toward addressing America's fossil fuel dependence, environmental and national security concerns.

However, as these historic Senate & House bills make their way to committee and becoming law, more partisan progress is needed.

To act in a manner consistent with that which is best for our nation, final legislation must contain a renewable energy standard requiring electric utilities to produce 15% of their power via clean renewable sources such as wind, solar, etc. It must also include fuel-efficiency increase for automobiles to 35mpg by 2020, and a nationwide utility net-metering standard, a prerequisite to wide-scale adoption of solar energy.

Awareness and understanding of the profound implications of our nation's past and present energy policies is increasing among constituents and the nation's social and political conscience as a whole. Similarly, the consequences of politics as usual, pandering to special interests, and placing party before principle is becoming better understood by many.

Whereas a growing, energized and informed non-partisan movement is under way across the nation, clearing a path for reason to prevail regarding the most important issues of our time: The overriding need to safeguard our planet while obtaining energy independence through conservation and clean, domestic renewable / alternate energy sources.

Be it through indifference, ignorance or blind faith, our actions or lack thereof, all of us have participated in creating the precarious (fossil fuel induced) situation that exists today. Likewise, it will require everyone's participation to bring about a new level of thinking with regard to the environment and our nation's energy independence.

In recognition of our shared responsibility, by signing this petition, we the undersigned each pledge to act for the good of the many...not the few...by making every reasonable effort to promote and practice energy conservation, and supporting clean, domestic renewable energy initiatives. We respectfully request your pledge in doing the same.

With world oil production nearing or at peak capacity; energy demand and climate-change increasing unabated, man's law of supply and demand, coupled with nature's law of cause and effect, will inevitably bring about change. The only question is for better or worse. Will we as a nation have the will to act now...not talk...nor posture or politic, but act out of conscience endeavor to usher in a new energy era, or through indifference will we be acted upon by the environmental, economic and geo-political threats now gathering on the horizon?

Dating back to the Arab oil embargo of 1973, each new administration and congress has pledged to lead our country toward greater energy security. Yet, in the absence of accountability, our previous leaders have been far more proficient at following (money & power) than leading. Consequently, our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels has increased year-over-year, as the security of our nation and planet decreases at our own peril.

For these reasons Ladies and Gentlemen, via the inherent power of "we the people" energy security and safeguarding our planet can and will be elevated to the level of national priority... we request your assistance in the effort. For the influence, this legislative session has over America's continued prosperity, our personal future well-being, and that of generations to come, is as powerful as its willingness to exert it.

Our Nation requires your leadership, not to the left neither to the right, but rather to a state of stainable independence...it is time to end the era of fossil fuel and foreign oil dependence!

Respectfully Submitted,

The undersigned