FACEOFF POLL: Should mountaintop-removal mining be banned?

I think in the time that we're living in, it's about time we speak out....My husband is a strip coal miner....it doesn't hurt the ground, after stripping the coal they go back and cover it...and no one would ever know that it had ever been done...just think how many would be without a job, I think there is enough unemployed people without putting more out of jobs...if you have never been on the unemployment line, how about you that haven't go join them and see how it feels...go to keep ourselves warm, I guess the next thing you guys want is take heating wood stoves from people....as you can I'm VERY upset....Yes, I know it's a very dirty industry, but, someone has to do it...I just hope our leaders from the PRESIDENT get their heads out of sand and see life as it is....MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA.....

This really is a double edge sword. On the one hand strip mining brings much needed jobs. And, because of living here in W.V. we all know how it is not having a job. On the other hand, it poisons the water and soil. The sludge is horrific. It kills the wildlife and us. The mining companies don't care about us. Their employees or the communities that are affected. I think they should continue mining as they did in the beginning by going into the mines. And Judy has every right to be upset, but don't blame the people, blame the mine owners. They are the ones that put millions of dollars into lobbying for their interests that do not include us. They don't care about any of us. They never have and never will. I am not an environalist or tree hugger. And we the people in the communities are not your enemies.

Mountaintop-removal mining is not strip mining. The process of mountaintop-removal mining "involves the removal of up to 1,000 vertical feet of overburden to expose underlying coal seams. The overburden is often scraped into the adjacent drainage valleys in what is called a valley fill." Valley fills not only radically alter surface topography, they also permanently destroy perennial streams. Educate yourself at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaintop_removal