It’s Getting Hot In Here

Mountaintop Removal Blasting Sends Boulder Into Local Home:  EPA Considers More Permits for Mountaintop Removal in the Region

Last week Frasure Creek Mining Company set off a mining blast that dislodged a massive boulder sending it cascading down the mountain into a nearby home.

The dislodged boulder rolled directly into the bedroom of two local Floyd County residents, who were away from the home at the time of incident.  According to state mining officials, the company has been assessed charges of around $10,000.  For the coal industry, this equals about 2 coal train car loads of coal in profit.

The incident comes at a time when the EPA is reviewing dozens of proposed Mountaintop Removal permits, including more for Floyd County where the boulder rolled into a home.  The EPA is anticipated to release their decisions on the pending permits as soon as mid-September.

To see the full list of pending Mountaintop Removal permits under consideration by the EPA, see: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Coal_Mining_Tracker&autologin=true

Take urge the EPA to deny any further Mountaintop Removal permits, you can take action, here: https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2313

“We gave you 17 percent, what do you mean you want more?”

That was the response of Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers when I told him recently I’d like him to reconsider Duke’s actions to weaken the Waxman/Markey climate change bill. As the U.S. youth representative at a recent meeting of world business leaders in Copenhagen, I approached Mr. Rogers after the Executive Director of one of the world’s largest environmental organizations helped 4 other youth representatives and me “find” our way into the private conference dinner. Explaining my role as a representative of SustainUS and the Energy Action Coalition, I proceeded to tell him that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calls for reductions of 25-40 percent from a 1990 baseline (not the weaker 2005 target in Waxman/Markey) to reduce the chances of catastrophic climate change that threatens future generations.  I told Mr. Rogers that the actions of Duke Energy are unacceptable to the youth climate movement, and that the survival of future generations is being endangered with such a modest climate bill that companies like his have tried to further weaken.

The governments of Denmark, Poland, and France hosted a conference on Monday to discuss the role of the United States at this December’s UN Climate Negotiations in Poznań, Poland. These negotiations will set the stage for a final post-Kyoto climate treaty to be signed in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009. The Poland negotiations need to produce a robust roadmap with a shared vision that leads to a climate agreement in 2009. From the lead climate negotiator of Denmark, to the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning from the UN, the message was clear. The United States must take the lead in ensuring a strong climate treaty by Copenhagen.

Paula Dobriansky, the lead climate negotiator from the US State Department also spoke at the conference; however, no one seemed interested in how the Bush Administration will approach negotiations in Poznań. The Bush Administration’s approach to climate change over the past several years has already been made clear in its refusal to ratify Kyoto or establish federal legislation on GHG emissions reductions. All eyes are on President-Elect Barack Obama and the members of his transition team who are expected to attend the negotiations in December. Representatives of President-Elect Obama will likely be some of the most popular and sought-out people at the negotiations.

Denmark, France, and Poland have a similar set of expectations for the new administration. First and foremost, American leadership on a future climate treaty is essential. Second, all parties agree that, apart from American leadership, US domestic legislation is essential to a global treaty. Will the Obama administration be able to enact serious climate legislation in its first twelve months in office?
Continue reading ‘“Will Obama deliver on the World’s ‘hope’ for a climate treaty?”’