Blair Golson
May 28, 2008 | 3:47 pm EST
I know lame duck Presidents like to sweep dirty things under the rug when they think no one is looking, but by allowing coal mining companies to dump debris into rivers and valleys, Bush has reached a new filthy low. While I’m not entirely surprised Bush and his team would continue to protect their industry friends at the expense of environmental degradation and human health, but I’m dumbfounded once again that the Environmental Protection Agency scurries behind them. The New York Times reports:
The Environmental Protection Agency is trying to finish work on a rule that would make it easier for utilities to put coal-fired generating stations near national parks. It is working on another rule that would allow utility companies to modify coal-fired power plants and increase their emissions without installing new pollution-control equipment.
As if there aren’t enough messes for President-Elect Obama to clean up when he steps into office, Bush (despite claiming otherwise) wants to make sure that the air, water and sky are blackened thoroughly so no one will see him run for the hills. Unfortunately for him, those hills will be leveled for coal mining. Oy.
takepart by telling your representative to not to reverse protections against dirty coal tricks.
Related: Inconvenient Truth of the Day
Benji Burrell, the driving force behind iLoveMountains.org, (see my earlier post here) explains how he leveraged contributions from Leonardo di Caprio, Woody Harrelson, Willie Nelson and Ed Norton to push forward his advocacy campaign against mountaintop removal coal mining.
Video shot at the 3rd annual Netsquared Conference in San Jose, CA.
A David vs. Goliath story:
How did a few neophyte activists from Appalachia get the rest of America and Congress to care about the ostensibly hyper-local issue of mountaintop-removal coal mining?
Background: It’s cheaper for energy companies to extract coal from the earth by slicing the tops off mountains than it is to tunnel underneath them. The result: over 470 mountains in Appalachia have been demolished, leading to a host of environmental problems: destruction of natural habitats, flooding, pollution, etc.
At first, spreading the word was done via old-school Web 1.0 websites, earned media coverage, and face-to-face organizing by local and regional organizations.
Problems with that approach:
Solution: iLove Mountains.org — a Web 2.0-tricked out resource center and action center
Check out the highlights of the site after the jump…
The secret to Jim Hightower’s success lies in a style of political commentary best described as “pleasantly apoplectic;” he’s mad as hell, but in an ultra-affable way. Who else could stoke a fire in the belly with so many belly laughs?
In our climate change crisis, Hightower’s a natural source of alternative energy. He’s got his own brand of windpower, fueled by blowhards and gasbags, of which the right seems to have an endless supply.
And then there’s the wave power he’s helping to generate with his new book, Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow. Swim Against the Current, co-authored by Susan DeMarco, provides heartening proof that citizen activists are turning the tide against the Powers That Be who’ve dragged our democracy through the muck.
If you subscribe to the “Yes-Things-Are-Awful-But-What-Can-I- Do-I’m-Just-One-Person” school of thought, I’m giving you an “F” for fatalism. I’ll change it to an “A” for attitude adjustment after you read this book and get off your apathetic ass and join the ranks of the grassroots greenies and grannies who are the heroes of Hightower’s book.
