Is Obama Tearing Down Appalachia Because He Couldn’t get their Vote?
He said the country also needs a forward-thinking energy policy, and he alluded to his disapproval of the coal mining process of mountaintop removal.
“We’re tearing up the Appalachian Mountains because of our dependence on fossil fuels,” he said, sparking loud applause.
“I want strong enforcement of the Clean Water Act. I will make sure the head of the Environmental Protection Agency believes in the environment and enforces the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act.
What I want to do is work with experts here in West Virginia to find out what we need to do to protect the waterways here. That’s going to be a primary task of the head of my Environmental Protection Agency.
Appalachian Voices asked Obama in August 2008 what he thought of strip mining, and he answered, “Strip-mining is an environmental disaster!” He went on to say, “We have to find more environmentally sound ways of mining coal, than simply blowing the tops off mountains.”
[T]he Obama administration has cleared for approval nearly all of the mountaintop removal mining permits that the EPA has been reviewing.
Change, but not the kind I can believe in. And what exactly changed between 2007 and 2009?
See that swath of red? That’s the Appalachians, aka the region that voted against Obama in 2008. Funny, that.
Now, far be it from me to suggest that the Obama administration is carrying out a little payback for the region’s lack of support (hopey changey politicians NEVER do things like that, right), but it sure does look ugly. All those people who didn’t vote for Obama, and suddenly he’s turning his back on some pretty explicit language he used while campaigning. Funny, that. How many reversals and broken promises does that make?
I think Ralph Stanley may want to cut a new ad.
May 19th, 2009 at 11:33 am
My father was born and raised in West Virginia. When I was growing up, we would go there to visit family and vacation often. My husband and I take our kids to visit family and go camping in the mountains whenever we can. It hurts to see such disrespect for one of the most beautiful and wild states in our union. I believe they are the “canaries” in the coal mine and we aren’t paying attention. Guess what happens next.