Appalachian Voices

The EPA put the coal industry on notice today: Mountaintop mining won't be getting a free pass from the federal government any more.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that her agency has serious concerns about the damage mountaintop mining is causing in the streams of Appalachia, and she said the EPA will be carefully reviewing mountaintop mining permit requests.

The move sends a strong signal that the new EPA will be steering the federal government back to the original intent of the Clean Water Act.

“It certainly doesn’t resolve the issue of mountaintop removal permanently, but it’s an enormous first step,” said Matt Wasson, executive director of Appalachian Voices.

“It restores hope that we can get past the legacy of the last eight years and really start working toward building a new green jobs economy in the region – that’s what we’re hoping is the next step the Obama administration will be taking.”

Touting US coal as cheap and abundant is a favorite pastime of fans of coal expansion.

Want proof that it’s not true? Just look at this shocking new data from the Energy Information Administration on the costs of Appalachian coal, parsed here by Appalachian Voices.

It’s hard to know where to start: maybe that Central Appalachian coal, which accounts for roughly one-fifth of US coal production, has zoomed suddenly to nearly $140 ton. In 2007, prices were at $40 ton. That represents a jump of 350% in a single year.