Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, my amendment seeks to return abandoned mine lands funding to its originally intended focus, which is to support the communities that are struggling due to their legacy of mining. This funding, roughly $600 million over 10 years, will assist struggling coal communities in diversifying their economies, increasing human capital development, and stimulating economic growth. The funding for this investment in mining communities comes from States that have been certified by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement as having already reclaimed their abandoned mines. These States are, therefore, receiving money from a program dedicated to helping communities deal with the impact of mining, but the Federal Government has certified that they have already dealt with those impacts. In fact, one State took $10 million of this funding to renovate a basketball arena. Meanwhile, States in Appalachia are facing the combined calamity of a collapsing coal industry and the environmental legacy of over a century of mining. In Scranton, Pennsylvania, for example, that legacy includes 65 million gallons of acid mine runoff every day. Every day, there are 65 million gallons of acid mine runoff flowing into the river. Across northeastern Pennsylvania, there are thousands of miles of streams impacted by mine drainage, many of which are totally devoid of aquatic life.…”