House Republicans Vote To Overturn Rule Protecting Waterways From Mining
Source: HuffPo
Earlier this week, lawmakers in both houses announced bills to BLOCK the stream protection rule, an update to regulations that the Department of Interior finalized toward the end of President Barack Obama’s tenure. The update overhauled requirements for coal mining operations in order “to avoid mining practices that permanently pollute streams, destroy drinking water sources, increase flood risk and threaten forests.”
The stream protection rule mandates testing and monitoring of waterways before, during and after mining operations, and requires companies that have used controversial practices like mountaintop removal mining to restore land to its “previous condition” after operations are finished. It updates regulations that were more than three decades old.
The House also voted to overturn a Securities and Exchange Commission regulation, passed last June, called the “extraction rule.” The provision would require energy companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments for oil, gas and mineral developments and were intended to promote “greater transparency” among the sector. Fossil fuel interests rallied hard against the rule, including now Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who fought it while he was still the head of Exxon Mobil.
Scott Slesinger, legislative director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, disputed McConnell’s claims, saying the rule has had “virtually no impact on jobs.” “As everybody really knows, the number of jobs in the coal industry is not a factor of environmental rules, despite local claims to the contrary, but of the competitiveness of coal to natural gas,” Slesinger said. “It’s a myth that these are coal states anymore.”
Coal production has fallen steadily since 2006 as cleaner-burning natural gas has became cheaper, according to the Energy Information Agency. Many industry analysts have expressed doubt about the fossil fuel’s resurgence as other leading coal users, such as China, have vowed to end their reliance on coal in an effort to tackle climate change.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stream-protection-rule-coal_us_5891385fe4b02772c4ea2a31?p5qu6qa475yk9ms4i&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
GOP Bastards - no sense of honor or dignity or truth.
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