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Opinion: Editorial

Making a molehill out of mountaintop removal

Monday, March 17, 2008 12:11 PM EDT

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I hope the phone call Rep. Mike Denham took on Tuesday afternoon was an important one.

Denham missed a critical vote on the issue of mountaintop removal in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky when a phone call took him out of a meeting of the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee just when the vote was taken.

The bill would have prevented coal companies from disposing of the debris from this type of surface mining into valleys and streams, and some say such legislation would have meant the end of mountaintop removal as a viable method of coal extraction.

The bill failed to pass out of committee by two votes.

Denham says his phone call from a constituent was incredibly important, and that he intended to abstain had he been in the meeting at the time of the vote.

But Mike Denham wasn't the only one missing from the meeting. Those of us here at The Ledger Independent were missing also. Not just in a physical sense because we were not in Frankfort, but also in the sense that, in spite of the critical nature of this issue, we have not informed ourselves or taken a stand. Chances are, our readers and Mike Denham's constituents were also absent.

How many phone calls did Mike Denham receive on the issue of mountaintop removal?

How many of us care that entire mountains less than three hours' drive from Maysville are disappearing? Or that the jobs of thousands of people are at stake? Or that the price of coal could be affected which in turn could affect jobs right here in our area -- not to mention the price of electricity? Or that pollution from "valley fills" makes its way from the Tug Fork and the Big Sandy into the Ohio River and past the intake pipes that provide drinking water for us.

The fact is, there are strong arguments on both sides of what Denham correctly describes as a "contentious and emotional issue."

Robin Webb, the state representative for Lewis County and several eastern Kentucky counties that are at the center of the controversy, voted against the bill and is sponsoring alternative legislation.

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, a respected environmental group that has fought coal companies and industrial polluters for many years, says the legislation is our last opportunity to save these beautiful mountains before they are lost forever.

When Kentuckians for the Commonwealth sponsored a march in Frankfort to support the bill, coal companies and coal miners answered with an equally impressive show of force in opposition.

Not knowing the nature of the phone call that took Mike Denham out of the meeting, it may be unfair to criticize his action, but we wish he had been on hand, and we wish he would not have abstained.

Denham listened to the testimony and is in a unique position to cast a vote on such legislation. He is not beholden to coal companies or the coal miners whose jobs depend on modern techniques for removing coal. Although influential and respected, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth is not a major player in Denham's district and the area could not be considered a hotbed of environmentalism.

Denham is a thoughtful, honest and intelligent legislator who listened to testimony from both sides of this issue. His vote -- in either direction -- would have been crucial and could have signaled how thoughtful Kentuckians outside the coalfields feel about mountaintop removal.

All of us, not just Mike Denham, should commit to educating ourselves on mountaintop removal, and we should vow to take a stand the next time a vote is called.

We are Kentuckians and we care about our state, whether it is pollution in the Ohio River, urban sprawl in the Bluegrass or bulldozers in the mountains.

We can no longer afford to be absent.

Reader Comments

Comments are limited to 200 words or less.

Anon wrote on Mar 19, 2008 2:47 AM:

" Forgive me for saying so, but I don't know why you spent so many words criticizing Mike Denham for not caring, and criticizing everyone else for not caring, while in the same breath saying that you yourself didn't care enough to follow what goes on in Frankfort. It would have made more sense to have worded it as an apology for not caring enough to tell us about important issues in Frankfort. What you've got here reads like a preachy "note to self: care more", preachy because it's directed at everyone else. "

whatever wrote on Mar 17, 2008 3:05 PM:

" His phone call is actually not of importance here. He already stated that he would have abstained from the vote. "

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