Friday, November 16, 2012

Patriot Coal Agrees to Stop "Mountaintop Removal"

Good news! "Mountaintop removal" is what it sounds like, only uglier. When all the coal that can be efficiently shovelled out by traditional mining has been removed, and there's not enough left to make even "stripping" profitable, real greedheads just blast through the rock, destroying the whole ecosystem of a mountain and leaving most of the remaining rock dust...er, well...in people's yards, roads, gardens, and springs.

A coal mining town is grimy, but livable, sometimes even scenic; the damage being done is mostly reparable. A "mountaintop removal" area is not livable, nor is the damage reparable.

So the following Bloomberg story comes as good news:

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-11-15/patriot-coal-to-stop-mountaintop-removal-mining

Now if the other companies will follow this one's lead...

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