E-Answer.Net

Personally I would love to see Mountaintop Mining to be illegal.

But practically it is unlikely to happen beause it would be a very one-sided take. More likely there will be a compromise, one suggestion has been to make it the law that mining companies (well, energy corporations such as BP) buy into a 'bond' that will mean they must leave the valley in its original condition and pay for any further damage as a result of industrialisation of a previously ecologically pristine area.

One example of a battle between the US government and environmentalists both sides of the border and the Canadian provincial government. A strip-mine has been proposed in area of pristine wilderness where there are low-grade coal reserves, The Flathead Valley in south eastern British Columbia.

Such plans to industrialise an area of rich biodiversity and with a river of exceptional water quality for the sake of poor quality coal that can be shipped to China to make money quickly seems ridiculous and utterly selfish.

While people still consider extractine resources from such wilderness's there needs to be much tougher legislation and environmental protection for these areas. Businesses saying they will undertake an environmental impace assessment isn't good enough. The landscape won't be the same for hundreds of years after the mining, they need to pay for that and be held accountable.

"MTR in the United States is most often associated with the extraction of coal in the Appalachian Mountains, where the EPA estimates that 2,200 square miles (5,700 km²) of Appalachian forests will be cleared for MTR sites by the year 2012." Leaving such scars as this seems unacceptable. Hence why I would support a permenant ban on mountaintop mining.

If that happened the USA would need to change they way it produces power seeing as over 50% of its electricity is produced from coal power plants.

No, the law should be amended so that if a mining company removes the top of a mountain to acquire minerals then, when they're done they should have to put the top back onto the mountain. The same for strip mining, If they dig a huge pit to remove something then they need to fill in the pit when they're done. Same for shaft mining, fill in the mine when they're done.



Brightest Blessings,

Raji the Green Witch

I would have to say yes, it should definitely be illegal. As the author put it, the process "annihilates ecosystems." Perhaps there is another side to the story, but I doubt there is much evidence to show it's not doing major damage.



"A federal judge has twice ruled that most valley fills are illegal under the Clean Water Act (CWA). His first ruling was overturned on a jurisdictional issue, and his second ruling is now under appeal by the Bush administration. In case the appeal doesn’t go the way he wants, Bush has rewritten a 25-year-old rule of the CWA, thus legalizing illegal valley fills. The federal judge reminded Bush that only Congress can rewrite the laws of the land."



Unbelievable.

That's right. Environmental pollution of that kind should be under criminal law,not just under civil law,especially in it involves ruining lives of other human beings. Those guys who own stock or run the companies should be given long prison sentences in max security prisons,with no possibility of parole as well.

I agree with Raji. Anything that mining does to destroy the natural environment (which it REALLY destroys!), the company should attempt to "reverse" when completed. Not just filling holes in with dirt, but replanting trees and other vegetation.

Why are the "conservation" and "green living" sections all about banning this or that?



I'm sure your position on abortion is, if you don't want one, don't have one.



If you don't like a certain commercial activity, do something else for a living.

If thats true shouldn't all mining be illegal???

Yes, rocks have right too. Corporations suck and so do rich people.