July 9, 2009

RFK Jr. Testimony on Mountain Top Removal

Starting at 3:10 in this video testimony before Congress (last December), Robert F Kennedy Jr., states the issues regarding mountain top removal as clearly as anyone I have ever heard.




Consider that coal mining costs Appalachians five times more in early deaths as the industry provides to the region in jobs, taxes and other economic benefits. This is according to a new study which finds that coal is more a curse than blessing for the region.

"Coal-mining economies are not strong economies," said West Virginia University researcher Michael Hendryx, who co-authored the study. He added that coalfield communities "are weaker than the rest of the state, weaker than the rest of the region, and weaker than the rest of the nation."

No comments: