Political Quotes

“The article talked about Preston, WV, and a fire in an abandoned coal mine that smoldered for several years. This mine is one of ``thousands of problem decades-old coal sites in West Virginia awaiting cleanup.'' These abandoned sites include old mines that leak acidic water into streams and killing wildlife. Tunnels and caverns beneath homes threaten water sources where wells are polluted. All of these are examples of the kind of damage that is being done by these mines. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record another article from the Columbus Dispatch. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: [From the Columbus Dispatch, July 20, 2014] In West Virginia, Mountaintop Mining Is Causing Fish Species To Disappear Washington.--In West Virginia's Appalachian Mountains, fish are vanishing. The number of species has fallen, the populations of those that remain are down, and some fish look a little skinny. A new government study traces the decline in abundance to mountaintop removal, the controversial coal-mining practice of clear-cutting trees from mountains before blowing off their tops with explosives. When the resulting rain of shattered rock hits the rivers and streams that snake along the base of the mountains, minerals released from within the stone change the water's chemistry, the study said, lowering its quality and causing tiny prey such as insects, worms and invertebrates to die.…”