February 21, 2005

Name change could bolster mining fight

People opposed to mountaintop removal mining have a new name for the process: mountain range removal mining.

"It used to be called mountaintop removal, but so many mountains have been destroyed that it is now referred to as mountain range removal. It is a war against the earth," said Vivian Stockman of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, which has fought mountaintop removal mining for years.

"In West Virginia alone, three million pounds of explosives are detonated every day, perhaps 500 square miles of mountains have been reduced to barren wasteland, and more than 40,000 mining jobs have been eliminated. Valley fills have buried more than 1,200 miles of Appalachian streams forever. Billions of gallons of chemical-laden sludge, restrained only by leaky, failure-prone earthen dams, loom above our communities and schools," Stockman said.

The new name could be important if it catches on, or if it doesnt. Names are important. Thats why some people are pro-choice or pro-life instead of pro-abortion or anti-abortion. The success OVEC has in changing the name of this mining method could help determine the groups success in fighting it.