Right now, there are 108 pending permits for mountaintop removal coal mining projects that would irreversibly blast forests down to bedrock and annihilate streams. Recently, without making the documents publicly available, the Obama administration approved one of the only six permits that had been held up, clearing the way for an 800-acre mine that will fill in eight valleys. The mountains, streams, and communities of the fragile Appalachian region of the eastern United States need your voice.
 
Mountaintop removal has already destroyed more than 1.5 million acres of hardwood forest and 1,200 miles of streams in a region that boasts the world's highest diversity of salamanders, crayfishes, and freshwater mussels. The “Stream Buffer Zone” rule, which would prohibit mining near streams, was thrown out last week by a district judge, making it legal for corporations to mine straight through streams. Due to the blasting, noise, and pollution caused by mountaintop removal, Appalachian residents have said they feel they’re living in a war zone.
 
During election season, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama called mountaintop removal mining an "environmental disaster." But now, rather than stand up to coal-mining interests and put an end to this disaster, Obama’s administration has green-lighted the issuance of permits for mountaintop removal in Appalachia -- one of the most important biodiversity areas in the United States -- while simultaneously promising "to ensure mining activities will occur in a more environmentally protective way in or near Appalachian streams."
 
To be clear: There's no environmentally sound way to blow up a mountain and then dump it into a stream.
 
The Center for Biological Diversity is working around the clock to take on dirty energy projects and stop destructive mining that harms our nation’s wildlife and wildlands. Please join the Center’s efforts by sending the letter below to your congressional representatives to ask them to pass the Appalachia Restoration Act (S. 696) in the Senate and the Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 1310) in the House, which would prohibit the dumping of mining waste into streams -- effectively ending mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia.