The Sierra Club is one of the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organizations in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president. The Sierra Club has hundreds of thousands of members in chapters located throughout the US, and is affiliated with Sierra Club Canada. Sierra Club was given $50 million to end coal-fired electric plants and to return our country to a healthy nation once more by 2020.
But they left one thing out. Ending Mountaintop Removal. The donation from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York announced that his main charitable organization would donate $50 million over four years to the Sierra Club’s campaign to shut down coal plants and move the United States toward cleaner sources of energy according to the New York Times. Yet nothing in the Times mentions anything about ending Mountaintop Removal.
Bob Kincaid of the progressive online radio show Head On Radio Network: HORN, and an activist for ending Mountaintop Removal is urging Congress to pass the ACHE Act (Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act) H.R. 5959. According to Kincaid, “Timothy McVeigh used ammonium nitrate and fuel oil explosives when he blew up the Murrah Federal Building. Now imagine 700 Timothy McVeigh explosions in West Virginia everyday…about 5 million pounds of explosives a day.”
Also according to Kincaid, the Mountaintop Removal is taking down the oldest mountains on earth to remove between six inches to one foot thick of coal and this goes on over thousands of acres. Kincaid said, “If we aggregate everything that Mountaintop Removal has done so far, the State of Delaware would be gone. ‘It poisons the air, it poisons the stream, it eliminates community…it devastates economy because it does not require many people to work on it. [All you need is] 14 to 15 people to take down a 5,000 acres in a few years.” And kills according to Kincaid, 3,975 “excess deaths” annually in West Virginia alone.
Kincaid also said that because of Mountaintop Removal, the waste from the removal also produces selenium, arsenic, barium, mercury, cadmium, manganese, magnesium, aluminum, the whole heavy metal spectrum of the periodic table. Did you know that these heavy metal are toxic? These known heavy metals are seeping into the lungs of every man, woman and child living near the Appalachians and are dying.
Because the mountaintops are being blasted, the climate has changed drastically. West Virginia had a derecho, which is the lowering of the jet stream, and caused havoc all across West Virginia. But not just in West Virginia, but states east of West Virginia.
Here are some facts about the effects of Mountaintop Removal:
The key health effects that we will be sharing information about are as follows:
Babies born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy HAVE AN 18% HIGHER RISK OF BIRTH DEFECTS; however, babies born to mothers who live in areas with mountain top removal mining HAVE A 26 % HIGHER RATE OF BIRTH DEFECTS. Additionally, it was found that this risk is 42% higher over the course of the study period from years 2000-2003 and 181% higher during more recent years, specifically for a heart or lung defect.* (Ahern, MM, et al, Environ. Res., (2011), DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2011.05.19)
Babies born to mothers who live in areas with high levels of coal mining HAVE A 16% HIGHER CHANCE OF BEING BORN UNDER WEIGHT.* (Ahern, et al, Maternal and Child Health J, DOI: 10.1007/s10995‐009‐0555‐1)
People who live in areas with mountain top removal mining HAVE HIGHER DEATH RATES compared to people who do not live near MTR mining.* (Hendryx, Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice Volume 4, Number 3, Spring 2011, pp. 44‐53)
People who live in areas where there is mountain top removal mining HAVE HIGHER RATES OF DEATH FROM CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, (HEART DISEASE).* (Esch & Hendryx; The Journal of Rural Health; 00; 2011; 1‐8)
People who live in areas with high rates of coal production HAVE HIGHER RATES OF DEATH FROM CERTAIN CANCERS, (BREAST, LUNG, DIGESTIVE, URINARY).* (Hendryx & Hitt; Ecohealth; 2011, DOI: 10.1007/s10393‐101‐0297‐y)
People who live in counties with mountain top removal mining report significantly MORE DAYS OF POOR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH AND LIMITATIONS OF THEIR ACTIVITY.* (Am J Public Health. 2011;101:848-853. DOI: 10. 2105/AJPH.2010.300073)
Even if all coal-fired plants have ended in the U.S., Mountaintop Removal would continue and coal would be exported out of the U.S. Sadly, the Sierra Club is not funding the ACHE Campaign. Thus far the ACHE Campaign has subsisted on individual donations from people like you. Sierra’s Beyond Coal project does only so much, and it has not recognized to date that ending Mountaintop Removal for the human health disaster science is now demonstrating that it is. Ending Mountaintop Removal once and for all should be AT LEAST as important as shutting down coal-fired power plants.
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Gretchen Harwood (@livegreenordie)
Aug. 23rd, 2012 at 8:21 pm
It’s because the Sierra Club was founded with oil money. It’s a front group who coordinates their efforts & partner with legitimate unknowing environmental groups to make themselves seem legit. Once you know this, it is not surprising.
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Tim From LA
Aug. 24th, 2012 at 1:21 am
Even with Obama care, we still need to make sure that everyone is protected. I get disgusted with Mountaintop Removal and the Sierra Club lack of action. But with enough pressure, we can end this detrimental form of capitalism. Even if President Obama wants to end this, Congress will say no. We need to keep the pressure up
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Dan
Aug. 24th, 2012 at 11:34 am
I lived in West Virginia and even though I believe that the mining contributes to the statistics that are quoted, I think the crushing poverty is a greater contributor. West Virginia is very rough country. Farming is hard. The terrain makes roadways, power lines , infrastructure etc. extremely difficult and expensive to build, therefore companies will not locate there. The population is very small. There’s no tax base. The very thing that makes West Virginia such an amazing place is the very thing that stunts its development. Coal is all they have. Wind turbines are springing up everywhere. That also strips off the tops of mountains. I’m not equating the two except for the fact that they both destroy the mountaintop. I personally like the wind turbines. I don’t think they make as much power as they should but they look nice up there. My point is, correlation does not necessarily imply causation.
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Tim From LA
Aug. 24th, 2012 at 9:33 pm
There is something in West Virginia that corporations in California would love to have and that’s wind. Wind-powered generators can create jobs, and if the state is smart, create a statewide power grid and sell electricity to neighboring states.
I live in Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles use: wind, solar, hydro power and now trash to turn the turbines. We will be ending coal by 2020 and with enough pressure, end nukes.
We are building more solar plants too, and our cost? $.0825 per KwH and the average rate on a house for power is around $160 every two months. The bill includes trash and water.
And if you’re under the poverty level, and make say $400 a month off of social security, you pay a percentage of your check, but your house must have a smart meter and low-powered bulbs. Oh and the power company have 5,000 plus employees and for example, a custodian can makeup to $120,000 a year in overtime. Oh and…
The utility is publicly-owned too and no one is complaining.
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Joan Mulhern
Aug. 29th, 2012 at 12:33 pm
This article is not correct. The Sierra Club hs worked for years to end mountaintop removal. Especially in DC their policy staff has been a leader on national efforts to urge fedderal agenciess and Congress to end this abomination. Their lawyers have also done a lot to protect Appalachian communities. No doubt it would be great if they could spend more money on the effort. But it is wrong to call them out for their work not being enough. Along with Earthjustice, they work with local groups to make this a national issue. Why not comment on the FACT that no othernational environmental group has done the same. Most have done nothing. Why not call them out instead of singling out one of the few groups who have done a lot for 10 years???????
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Dan Radmacher
Aug. 29th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Appalachian Mountain Advocates has worked closely with Sierra Club for years fighting the legal and policy battles aimed at stopping mountaintop removal, and we know the depth of the resources Sierra Club has devoted, and they are considerable. It is true that the Beyond Coal campaign is focused on issues beyond mountaintop removal, but the Sierra Club’s commitment to ending mountaintop removal mining predates that campaign, and has only strengthened since. The Sierra Club has devoted both financial resources and thousands of hours of both staff and volunteer time to ending mountaintop removal, establishing a model that other national organizations would do well to follow.
As an aside, mountaintop removal does enough legitimate damage. It is unnecessary and counterproductive to attribute things like the June derecho – which began in Ohio, not West Virginia, to mountaintop removal mining. The derecho was unrelated to that – though it might be possibly linked to global warming. The coal-fired power plants that Sierra Club’s Beyond Campaign are targeting are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the world.
Dan Radmacher
Appalachian Mountain Advocates
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Bob Kincaid
Aug. 31st, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Since I am mentioned by name in this article, I think it only appropriate that I comment on the criticism it offers and the rebuttals those criticisms engendered.
I do not think this article claims that Sierra isn’t doing anything about Mountaintop Removal. I certainly don’t hold that opinion. The Club has, in fact, pumped tremendous amounts of money into litigation, as well as having, in the past, supported efforts to raise public awareness of Mountaintop Removal’s environmental impacts. I have and do now acknowledge and applaud those efforts.
As a founding member of the A.C.H.E. Campaign, I can also say, though, that the words about how the A.C.H.E Campaign has been funded are absolutely true. It is also true that we have had magnificent support from the tireless team at Earth Justice. I can also say that literally thousands of dollars of funding for this monumental, historic, first-ever-of-its-kind bill, the ONLY bill ever introduced that would actually END Mountaintop Removal, have come from the pockets of those least able to afford it: people of exceedingly modest means who are tormented and poisoned daily BY Mountaintop Removal.
It is absolutely true that litigation has, perhaps, occasionally slowed some Mountaintop Removal operations. It has never stopped any, nor, if I understand the lawyers correctly, is it likely ever so to do. No one knows quite as well as a lawyer how exceedingly slowly grind the wheels of Justice. We have seen how ineffectual are administrative attempts to stop it via intransigent wholly-owned subsidiaries of the coal industry like WV’s Department of Environmental “Protection.” The last, best hope we have of ending Mountaintop Removal is the A.C.H.E. Act. We can pass it and we can end this torment. I do agree with the author when he says the A.C.H.E.Act should be accorded the same degree of urgency as stopping coal-fired power plants.
I also agree with Joan above and hereby do what she suggests.
Where ARE the big…
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Bo Webb
Aug. 31st, 2012 at 3:25 pm
First, I appreciate all the things in the past that the Sierra Club has done to support the efforts of grass roots organizations to end MTR. They have been supportive of many organizing events, special projects, and campaigns to bring more national attention to MTR. Their efforts are much appreciated by myself and others that live directly beneath the toxic fallout of MTR. Recently, the SC has supported the filing of lawsuits based on coal company self reported violations of excess selenium discharges from MTR sites, resulting in settlements costing coal companies millions of dollars. Some folks have referred to that strategy as cherry picking, but bottom line, it has discouraged coal companies to not conduct MTR in areas with heavy selenium. But, just as with everything in life, there are two sides to every story. Filing lawsuits on selenium discharges is appreciated, but they won’t end MTR. Many MTR sites do not have heavy discharges of selenium. And, who is to guarantee that selenium discharge regulations won’t be increased under a Romney like administration anyway?
We’ve all heard the saying; that was then, this is now. Things do change. If we are to be successful at ending MTR we must accept the fact that since SMCRA law of 1977 we have had basically the same approach to battling strip mining; regulation interpretation followed by litigation, from both sides. It has been an endless back and forth struggle in the courts. Thirty five years is a long time for things to change, yet remain the same. Thirty five years ago no one realized just how pervasive MTR would become and how invasive it would afflict human health. MTR has now contaminated our mountain communities where real people live, where real people are forced to breath ammonium nitrate, silica, sulfur compounds, metals, benzene, carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and nitrogen dioxide. MTR is killing us at an ever accelerating rate. We cannot afford…
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Bo Webb
Aug. 31st, 2012 at 5:14 pm
To continue what I was saying in my previous post……………………..
We cannot afford to continue with the status quo.
We have been forced to act on our own, and therefore the Appalachian Community Health Emergency campaign was formed and launched. SC was asked to be a part of the campaign from the beginning but chose to do otherwise. So, please understand how we must feel when we see the SC receives a 50 million dollar donation and then refuses to help us financially. We feel exploited, or at least that is how I feel. As I said, things change. Watching your neighbors and family gasp for their last breath is an unpleasant experience, and then to realize that your child or wife may be next is about as scary as it gets. So, forgive us Sierra Club if we have offended you, but you were not the first to be offended. I truly hope we can get beyond this bickering and get down to actually ending MTR. We can do that with the ACHE Act. Read it, absorb it, get behind it and let’s all do something really great; let’s work our asses off to get the ACHE Act passed and save the lives of a culture that has suffered far too long.
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Bob Kincaid
Aug. 31st, 2012 at 5:18 pm
To the first post by Dan above:
Your observation about poverty doesn’t jibe with the peer-reviewed science involved. In those reports, poverty was accounted for and factored into the results. As such, it cannot be, as you assert, a greater cause for the 4,000 excess deaths every year or the host of diseases extant in West Virginia’s Mountaintop Removal communities.
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Dan Radmacher
Sep. 5th, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Just in case it wasn’t clear, the first post by “Dan” was written by another Dan, not by me.
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