EPA revokes permit for coal mining project

[Stan In FL]

the obamites' war on fossil fuel continues.   they don't have the guts or the votes to just outlaw it, so they are going to regulate to death.

this is something else that they weren't honest enough to do before the midterms, or manchin would still be in WVA today.

EPA revokes permit for hilltop mining project in West Virginia
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday revoked a permit for one of the nation's largest mountaintop removal mining projects, saying it would destroy water, wildlife and Appalachian communities in West Virginia.

The controversial decision was condemned by the permit holder, Arch Coal Inc., and mining representatives, who said it would hurt industry investment and the economic recovery.

But adversaries praised the ruling as "a major victory" for environmentalists opposed to surface -- or mountaintop-removal -- mining, which uses explosives on hilltops to expose underlying coal.

The EPA invoked the Clean Water Act in killing a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Spruce No. 1 Mine project, proposed for a more than 2,200-acre area in Logan County, West Virginia.

The agency has used that authority only 12 times since 1972.

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[JohnBrowdie]

manchin is going to be unemployed in 2013 if he can't turn this around.  he needs to stop having press conferences, and call his buddies in the white house.  

Sen. Manchin Weighs in on EPA's Veto of Mine Permit
Senator Manchin expressed his displeasure in the EPA's decision to retroactively revoke a permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County saying it's, "absolutely wrong," on Monday in Morgantown.

He added they're now trying to regulate what they can't legislate.

The EPA retroactively vetoed a permit granted after a 10-year regulatory process.

They said the mine would cause irreparable damage to the environment, and would bury about seven miles of streams.

Manchin said something like this veto should raise some serious concerns.

"You've gone through all the process and been granted, through the process, a permit, and they decide that they don't like it now and want to change it, there's no certainty now.  So, with that, there'll be no investments with that.  You're going to have a lot of challenging to more of our jobs, high unemployment.  It just doesn't make any sense to me at all that they would take this callous approach," says Senator Joe Manchin, D-WV.

This marks the first time the EPA has pulled a permit after it was already approved.

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[GeronL]

Obie Won's campaign promises.

Bankrupt coal industry
skyrocketing electricity prices
spread whatever wealth is left around (except for wealth of the super rich elite who support him)

[JohnBrowdie]

I'm surprised that the obamites haven't been more aggressive in telling GM what sort of cars they can build.  or, more importantly, what kind of cars that cannot build.

[Stan In FL]

renewable energy will be the choice americans only when all other options are illegal or prohibitively expensive.   of course, the unintended consuequences are going to starve thousands since ethanol has served to couple food prices to energy prices, and energy prices are going up because the EPA is regulating the oil industry out of business.

[Vonne]

Mountain top coal removal is undoubtedly a pretty horrendously unhealthy form of coal mining, for the environment.  I'm quite enthusiastic about coal as a fuel, but even I'm quite leery of those mining practices.

[Stan In FL]

seems like we should leave that to the people that live in that state.

[natstew]

seems like we should leave that to the people that live in that state.

exactly!

[JohnBrowdie]

manchin is going after the EPA.  from his senate website:

Washington, D.C. – Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has delivered a letter to his Senate colleagues urging them to join with him and cosponsor legislation to oppose last week’s unprecedented regulatory actions by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that threaten jobs and investments in every state.

Sen. Manchin told his fellow lawmakers that he will introduce legislation in the coming weeks to prevent the EPA from retroactively vetoing permits that have already been granted and are in operation. Just last week, the EPA retroactively vetoed a coal mining permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine in West Virginia - even though the mine had received approval after an exhaustive, approximately 10-year regulatory process that included time for an extensive review by the EPA.

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[Vonne]

manchin is going after the EPA.  from his senate website

That could very well be an excellent challenge, if rationally carried out.  The EPA IS politicizing their enforcement and more damaging, their interpretations.

[Vonne]

seems like we should leave that to the people that live in that state.

If we did, it would likely be banned.  It's only allowed because of special interest and hired DC lobbyist.
There are other economically feasible methods of coal removal.

[Stan In FL]

it was allowed because people like to be employed.  it was banned because of the obamite war on fossil fuels.

If we did, it would likely be banned.  It's only allowed because of special interest and hired DC lobbyist.
There are other economically feasible methods of coal removal.

[Vonne]

it was allowed because people like to be employed.  it was banned because of the obamite war on fossil fuels.

The war on fossil fuels began before Obama, as did much of the regulation around the fossil fuel industry.  Successful companies adapted before Obama took office.  Are you against successful companies who'd thrive in a free market?  The employment preferences of a few hundred people, are easily outweighed by the property value and preferences of millions.

[Stan In FL]

the central government didn't jump into the war on fossil fuels with both feet until the obamites used the economic fears of millions of americans to funnel TENS of BILLIONS of dollars to doomed and poorly envisioned boondoggles with the flaccid stimulus.

if there was a market for alternative energy, then the free market would have capitalized on it.  it very seldom overlooks a winner.

what we are seeing from this administration is a totally different thing.  they are doing their utmost to actively deny readily available, cheap, and plentiful, and efficient fossil fuels simply because they don't fit into their doctrinaire world view.

it really does look like the country is being run out of the pages of an unproven textbook on utopian nirvana.

[apples]

the obamites' war on fossil fuel continues.   they don't have the guts or the votes to just outlaw it, so they are going to regulate to death.

this is something else that they weren't honest enough to do before the midterms, or manchin would still be in WVA today.

This is a huge event. EPA needs to go.