Mountaintop removal is hard to ignore when it’s in your backyard. Bo Webb, whose home on Cherry Pond Mountain lies near an active mountaintop removal mine. In his recent letter to President Obama, asking him to take executive action against the destructive mining practice, Webb painted a picture of how living near a mine site has dramatically impacted his life. “Outside my door,” he wrote, “pulverized rock dust, laden with diesel fuel and ammonium nitrate explosives hovers in the air, along with the residual of heavy metals that once lay dormant underground.” In addition, the destructive form of strip mining is responsible for the burial of over 1000 miles of Appalachian streams, the leveling of over 470 Appalachian mountaintops and the ecological devastation of over 800 square miles of one of the most bio-diverse regions of our planet.

Yet, in the places where mountaintop removal coal is used to generate electricity, mountaintop removal is not happening in anyone’s backyard. The connection between flipping on a light switch and the blasting of one of the world’s oldest mountains is one not many consumers make. This year, citizens and legislators are trying to change that.

States connected to mountaintop removal are taking legislative action in an unprecedented way. The Appalachian Mountains Preservation Act (AMPA), would phase out state electrical utilities’ contracts for mountaintop removal coal. The AMPA, which was first introduced in the North Carolina House in 2007 by Representative Pricey Harrison (D-57), came back with serious momentum this session; not only was the bill reintroduced in the North Carolina House with 30 original bi-partisan co-sponsors, Senator Steve Goss (D-45) introduced a companion bill in the North Carolina Senate. The bill was introduced in Maryland and Georgia by Rep. Tom Hucker and Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, respectively. As the number one and number two consumers of mountaintop removal coal, the fact that Georgia and North Carolina have introduced this bill makes a statement: business as usual is not an option going into the future.

By protecting ratepayers from potential rate spikes, and moving the state away from this ecologically destructive and morally reprehensible practice, this bill is “going to save taxpayers money in the long run, and it is simply the right thing to do,” according to lead sponsor Harrison.

Passage of the bill would be a significant step by North Carolinians towards a more just and sustainable energy economy. It builds on the momentum that has already begun; North Carolinians especially have already made significant strides towards this future:

* North Carolina’s Salem Presbytery was the first to pass a resolution in opposition to mountaintop removal - a resolution that was carried to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and passed in 2006.
* In 2002, North Carolina passed The Clean Smokestacks Act, which mandated the implementation of modern pollution control devices at North Carolina’s coal-fired power plants. The Act was among the strongest air pollution control measures in the country at the time; thanks in part to the Clean Smokestacks Act, North Carolina’s Attorney General was able to win a lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority for allowing harmful air pollution in to our fair state.

With AMPA, North Carolina has the opportunity to maintain its status as a leader in creating and passing legislation that places the lives, health and safety of its citizens, as well as those of Appalachia, above the desires of coal companies and corporate interests.

“I am firmly convinced that mountaintop removal is a moral issue that begs our hearts and minds to do the right thing,” Senator Steve Goss said. “When this bill becomes law in North Carolina, once again we will take our place as a leader in the nation concerning environmental issues.”

“We are part of the cycle of coal consumption, and we must take responsibility for Georgia being the nation’s greatest consumer of mountaintop coal,” observed Representative Oliver, Georgia’s lead sponsor of the bill, which also place a five-year moratorium on the permitting and construction of new coal-fired power plants in the state. “We need to step back and look at how we can do things differently.”

Links to check out:

North Carolina: Appalachian Mountains Preservation Act
House Bill
Senate Bill

Select news coverage:
http://wunc.org/programs/news/Isaac-Hunters-Tavern/thurs-does-nc-3-mountains
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/mar/01/an-unhealthy-alliance/opinion/
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/story/576728.html

Maryland: House Bill 743
http://mlis.state.md.us/2009rs/bills/hb/hb0743f.pdf
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/rperks/momentum_building_against_moun.html

Georgia: Appalachian Mountains Preservation Act
http://www.southeastgreen.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=568:the-appalachian-mountains-preservation-act&catid=1:metro-atl-news&Itemid=2

Kentucky: The Stream Saver Bill
http://www.kftc.org/our-work/general-assembly/stream-saver-bill
http://www.kftc.org/blog/archive/2009/02/18/i-love-mountains-day-2009

Tennessee: The Scenic Vistas Protection Act
http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/billinfo/BillSummaryArchive.aspx?BillNumber=SB1406&ga=106
http://www.tnleaf.org/

Coming Down the pipe:
South Carolina, Maine, and New York!

Oh, and in case you havent heard, the Federal Clean Water Protection Act is back!
http://www.ilovemountains.org/action/write_your_rep/