Congress to take up mountaintop removal

In August the Bush administration moved to make it easier for the coal industry to engage in an outrageous, outdated practice known as “mountaintop removal.”

In West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio and other states, coal companies literally blast the tops off of mountains in order to get at seams of coal, dumping the debris into nearby lakes and streams. The administration’s rule change would make it far more difficult to challenge mountaintop removal in court under the Clean Water Act.

Many Environment Iowa members objected to the plans. We’re lobbying members of Congress to overturn the rule change. So far, 107 members of Congress have joined the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), in agreeing to co-sponsor the measure.

The effects of mountain-top removal mining near Whitesville, W. Va.

National forests worth a lot of green

The nation’s national forests, in addition to being a welcome respite from the city and a popular vacation destination, provide a lot of valuable revenue.

Our September report, “Worth More Wild: The Value of Roadless National Forests,” catalogues the many ways that roadless areas are worth more than the logs they could become. The report makes the case for protecting roadless areas—not only for their natural beauty and intangible benefits, but for the actual dollar value these places represent. Lodging and rentals, drinking water and wildlife watching are among the many revenue-generating activities that annually bring billions of dollars in revenue to states with roadless areas.

We’re pushing Iowa’s congressional delegation to support a law in Congress that would permanently protect roadless areas set aside by the Enviornment Iowa-backed Roadless Rule of 2001.