West Virginia Sues Over Mountaintop Mining Limits

[phantom power]

States rights!
Bad Science!
Way of life!
Conservative Democrats!

We must not waver in our dedication to the coal industry!

:woohoo:

West Virginia says it is filing a lawsuit against two federal agencies that seeks to reverse the stricter controls on mountain-top coal mining adopted in 2009 by the Obama administration.

Announcing the action on Wednesday against the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, Gov. Joe Manchin III said that the regulations were unlawful, usurped state rights, were based in inadequate science and harmed the state by preventing new mining projects.
Gov. Joe Manchin III announcing a lawsuit against two federal agencies.Associated Press Gov. Joe Manchin III announcing a lawsuit against two federal agencies.

He condemned what he called the administration’s “attempts to destroy our coal industry and way of life in West Virginia.”

Mr. Manchin, a conservative Democrat, is a popular governor but is in an unexpectedly close race for the Senate seat left open by the death of Robert C. Byrd. His Republican opponent, John Raese, has accused him of wavering in his dedication to the coal industry, a mainstay of the state’s economy.

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/west-virginia-sues-over-mountaintop-mining-limits/

[Radical Activist]

1. And this is why Manchin doesn't belong in the Senate

no matter what party label is after his name.

[pscot]

2. The unwreckers want this post

to go away. Do they get paid by the click, I wonder.

[foxfeet]

3. Manchin is trying to 'distance' himself from Obama.

[jdlh8894]

4. Maybe he is trying to rep. the people in hs state. n/t

[foxfeet]

5. Raese, The Repubs and the teabaggers have been hammering him as too compliant toward Obama.

Besides, to represent the people of his state he would need to take into account the many who are opposed to mountaintop removal.

[appal_jack]

7. those people who don't need to drink water?

If he's truly representing W. Virginians, it's those people who don't need to drink water.

Pretty small demographic, that.

-app

[Leftist Agitator]

6. And what kills me is that coal miners swallow the propaganda hook, line and sinker...

More than once, I've had conversations with West Virginia coal miners who support Mountaintop removal mining (because Don Blankenship says they should, usually), and asked them, "Why do you support mountaintop removal?"

They inevitably reply, "Coal mining is the only decent job around!"

To which *I* inevitably reply, "You know, you're right. The only problem is that if mountaintop removal proceeds unabated, all of the coal will be gone within 25 years. Then what 'decent' job will be left?"

I'm happy to report that I've made more than one convert that way.

P.S. Feel free to borrow my line of argument. Trust me, it works with all but the most Rightist miners.