Reflecting on EPAs Announcement

by Dianne Bady 

Lisa Jackson said that she wants to assure that mountaintop removal/valley fill "permits issued are protective of water quality and affected ecosystems."

Ive spent a lot of time in federal courtrooms over the past few years, listening to coal officials and experts and Bush government officials defend MTR/valley fill mining with really, really bad science.

It has always seemed to me that our (OVEC, Coal River Mountain Watch and WV Highlands Conservancy) lawyers and scientific and engineering experts demolished the "scientific" testimony of the coal guys and their friends in government. Joe Lovetts team knew what they were doing.

I learned in those courtrooms that there just doesnt seem to be a way to do large scale mountaintop removal so that the "permits issued are protective of water quality and affected ecosystems."

Will EPA ever have the political ability to admit that?

Will Obama be willing to blatantly reverse (in practice) his strident campaign promises regarding how sound science will lead decision making in his administration?

I certainly hope we dont have to go through the torture of watching the Obama administration, which has pledged to utilize valid science, bring out fake science like the coal industry does to rationalize continuing mountaintop removal / valley fill mining.