iLoveMountains.org and many Virginians are now fighting to save a Ison Rock Ridge Standing. Why would it come down? Well, have you heard of mountaintop removal coal mining?
This week, “Virginians who live at the base of Ison Rock Ridge, a mountain threatened by a pending mountaintop removal permit, have been joined by hundreds from across the region for Virginia Rising: The Rally to Keep Ison Rock Ridge Standing,” iLoveMountains.org reports.
They’ve gathered at the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency and have asked the agency to deny the proposed mine, a mine which would destroy 1,200 acres of land and “bury three miles of headwater streams above several Appalachian communities.”
So, how can you help? You can send a message to the Environmental Protection Agency, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, President Obama and your elected officials asking that the permit be denied.
As one more call to help, here’s the sad reality those in the region will face if this project is not stopped:
If the EPA grants the permit these families will have to deal with constant dust coating their counter-tops and lungs, and machine noise interrupted by the occasional foundation-shaking explosion. For several years they would have to watch their mountaintop flattened and their headwater streams buried with toxic mining waste – then the coal company would leave, and the communities would be left with the mess, the health bills, and a community diminished by almost every measure.
Seriously, who thinks this is at all acceptable when we’ve got plenty of good, clean energy options?
Help stop this project. Take Action Here.
Virginia mountains photo via iLoveMountains.org petition page above.