Call your Representative today to ask her/him to support H.R. 1310, the Clean Water Protection Act, which would help to end mountaintop removal coal mining!

In 2002, President Bush expanded the legal definition in the Clean Water Act of material fill to include mining waste.  This new definition made it much easier for coal companies to engage in mountaintop removal coal mining across Appalachia, dumping the fill in the nearby valleys and streams, polluting the water.  Appalachian coalfield residents face frequent catastrophic flooding, pollution, health issues, and loss of drinking water as a result of this devastated landscape.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that close to 2000 miles of streams and rivers have been polluted and more than 450 mountains and 1.5 million acres of land have already been destroyed by mountaintop removal coal mining. Everyone deserves access to a just economic system and a healthy environment, and this is not currently happening in Appalachia and the situation is getting worse.

This week, nearly 200 citizens from Appalachia and across the US are lobbying as part of the 5th Annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington – and hundreds more will show support by making a simple phone call today. The coal industry is also working overtime to block urgently needed legislation that would protect the mountains and its people.   UU congregations voted in a 2006 Action of Immediate Witness to “End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining.”  It’s time to put our faith into action and take a stand for the mountains and the people who live there.  Call your Representative today!