But Bush Says, Not So Fast!

Charleston Gazette, Sept. 3, 2004
by Ken Ward Jr. and Paul Wilson

The Bush administration moved Thursday to appeal the latest in a series of federal court rulings to limit mountaintop removal coal mining… The formal notice of appeal was filed Thursday morning in federal court in Huntington.

By noon, President Bush’s top environmental adviser was announcing the action during a luncheon at the 68th annual state Business Summit at The Greenbrier.

… In his decision, (Judge) Goodwin said the corps could no longer approve mining valley fills through a streamlined permit process meant only for activities that cause minor environmental damage.

…The judge ruled with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, and ordered the corps not to issue new Clean Water Act permits for valley fills in Southern West Virginia without individual reviews.

Originally, the judge also told the corps to suspend "general" permits for 11 existing operations if they had not yet started valley fill construction.

A month later, on Aug. 13, Goodwin expanded that part of his ruling to suspend all such permits where construction of valley fills had not started as of the July 8 date of his original ruling.

…Joe Lovett, another of the citizen group lawyers, said the Bush administration "is making a mistake by sending the chief bigwig of its Council on Environmental Quality down here to politicize its appeal of Judge Goodwin’s order.

"We know that West Virginians oppose efforts to weaken the laws that protect our mountains and streams, and I am just sorry that the Bush administration is more interested in rewarding its contributors in the coal industry than in carrying out the wishes of the great majority of the state’s citizens," Lovett said.

Through early August, the Bush campaign had received more than $230,000 in contributions from the coal industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

So far this election cycle, the coal industry has contributed $1.7 million to federal campaigns. Almost all of that money – $1.5 million of it – has gone to Republicans.

…The share of coal industry contributions going to Republicans has greatly increased, from about 62 percent in 1992 to 92 percent this election, the center reports.