coal mining

Half of all electric power in the U.S. comes from coal-fired power plants. Barack Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle he intends to make that industry go bankrupt.

President Bush took action this week with more than 90 new laws deregulating rules put in place for public safety. He approved measures which will insure dirty drinking water, dirty air and decreased counter-terror operations.

Click to listen to this week’s song, Silk Mill Worker.

Don Surber wonders why Congress banned offshore drilling but allows coal mining in Appalachia. I’m not opposed to coal mining (with the exception of mountaintop removal), but it is a good question.

The conclusion that we are in trouble is unavoidable. I report the assault on nature evidenced in coal mining that tears the tops off mountains and dumps them into rivers, sacrificing the health and lives of those in the river valleys to short-term profit, and I see a link between that process and the stock-market frenzy which scorns long-term investments -- genuine savings -- in favor of quick

Film reporter Betsy Pickle gets the brush off from friend of the earth, Al Gore:

An effort to ban mountaintop removal looked dead in the water less than two weeks ago. But now it has been revived:

Here's another entry in the puzzling story of our missing-in-action governor. This week, the House killed legislation to place new environmental safeguards on strip mining, and Bredesen admitted that, although he favors such restrictions, he wasn't familiar with the bill and hadn't lifted a finger to help it.

A bill that would have banned “mountain top removal” coal mining in Tennessee was killed by a state House subcommittee yesterday.

Yes, that's right. If you think about it, a stance such as John Brown's puts the "conserve" in "conservative."

There are more responsible, and sustainable, ways to remove the valuables from under the ground. Blowing up an entire ridgetop, which enables massive erosion and chokes a watershed with toxic sludge, ain't one of 'em.