Moutaintop Coal Mining is literally blowing the top off of the iconic Appalachian skyline. High explosives blast loose the very stones of the mountain, and the scraps are shoved into valleys and streams, forever changing the topography of the mountain range and causing massive water pollution. The biological diversity of one of the planet's oldest mountain ranges is at risk of being devistated by a recent court ruling which states that the Clean Water Act 'as written' will not protect streams. According to The Stop Mountaintop Removal Campaign 'About 100 mountaintop removal mining permits were on hold pending this case. The ruling potentially opens the floodgates for more destruction in Appalachia. These permits will destroy 432 valleys and 213 miles of streams in Kentucky and West Virginia alone.'Do you have your own thoughts about what America's energy future should look like? A new PBS special called Planet Forward is looking for your ideas in the form of videos, photo essays, commentaries, songs, and salsa recipes (ok, we made up that last one). When the special airs on April 15 (one week before Earth Day), the best submissions will be part of the program.
So if you're feeling creative and/or opinionated, check out the submission guidelines at planetforward.org. Your contribution could be seen on prime-time TV.
As Carl Pope wrote in a recent blog entry: "What a four weeks!" Congress and the Obama administration continue to deliver a steady stream of environmental milestones.
The best environmental good news came in response to economic bad news: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains approximately $80 billion in funding for promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy, and higher-mileage cars.
Specifically, that means:
The significance of this funding for putting America on the path to a clean-energy economy can't be overstated.
The Obama administration also checked off another item from the list of "Clean Slate" actions that the Sierra Club suggested before the inauguration, when EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson indicated that the agency will likely change course and begin regulating as pollutants the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. (Reconsidering an EPA clean-car waiver to California and other states was the first. See below.)
Then, just this week, a years-long stalemate on mercury emissions appears to have broken after the White House Council on Environmental Quality issued a statement saying, "The United States will play a leading role in working with other nations to craft a global, legally binding agreement that will prevent the spread of mercury into the environment."
Let's hope the good news keeps coming from Washington, D.C.
Yes, lets hope, fingers, toes, and eyes crossed! Just don't try to drive like that.
