Green with Envy, Riddled with Guilt

With less than two months left to finish up all their dirty work, the Bush Administration’s environmental team is as busy as a group of Mongolian Beavers tying up loose ends and signing environmentally devastating rules into action. Unlike its name suggests, the Bush EPA has been less of an “Environmental” Protection Agency, and more like a “Corporate” Protection Agency, as is illustrated by the institution’s most recent move to loosen burdensome regulations on coal companies who have previously just ignored the regulations and polluted anyway. Now that EPA director Stephen Johnson has signed a new rule, Coal Companies that practice Mountaintop Removal are legally allowed to dump rocks and other debris into streams and valleys, a practice that is well known to endanger the health and safety of people and wildlife living downstream.

The new rule is just one of many coal regulation “reforms” expected to come soon from the outgoing administration, including orders that will allow coal-fired power plants to increase their emissions and open up lands near national parks for new coal plants. Sigh, I’m really gonna miss these guys come January 20th. I hope the door doesn’t smack them on their greedy, irresponsible asses on the way out.

For more info on all this, read the NY Times Article, and the NRDC’s press release.  Also, I just happened to be in West Virginia last spring, where I made this video about Mountaintop Removal. Lots of thanks to Chuck and the good people at Coal River Mountain Watch.