Controversial Coal Mining Operations Linked To Birth Defects In U.S.

Monday, June 27, 2011 Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Operations Linked To Birth Defects In U.S. Researchers found "significantly higher" rates of birth defects in babies born near mountaintop removal mining sites than those in non-mining areas, according to a new study released last week. Mountaintop removal mining is a particularly environmentally destructive type of resource extraction that involves using explosives to blow the tops off of mountains to expose coal underneath the soil and rock. The unusable dirt and gravel are then disposed of in adjacent valleys and streams. MTR is used prominently in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States. "This is monumental," said Bob Kincaid, the president of Coal River Mountain Watch (CRMW). He told The Huffington Post that this latest research is just one more among a dozen or so earlier studies "that shows that the coal industry, especially mountaintop removal, is engaged in the wholesale poisoning of Appalachia." Asteroid Passes Earth Closer Than The Moon Lawmakers Urge Obama To Pursue Energy Security Through Natural Gas Is 56.2 The Magic Number For Fuel Efficiency? China Eyes Canada's Oil Sands Captive Chimps Show Signs Of Mental Illness BLOG POSTS Bill McKibben: If Brazil Has to Guard Its Rainforest, Why Does Canada/U.S. Get to Burn Its Tar Sands? Shouldn't Canada feel the same kind of responsibility to keep carbon safely in the ground that Brazil feels to keep its trees rooted? Absolutely. Ellen Kanner: Meatless Monday: It's Good to be a (Veggie) Queen Jill Nussinow's recipes are meatless, marvelous and nourishing, but Nussinow doesn't advertise any of that. "I don't talk about my food being healthy -- ever. I don't do nutrition analysis. Real food is good for you." David Schonauer: Weather as Entertainment: An Increasingly Dangerous Allure Photographer Jim Reed's business is severe weather, and this year business has been good. Brenda Peterson: Are You Blue? Ten Things You Can Do to Help Heal Our Oceans If we take the long view of geology, natural selection may simply disappear our self-destructive, short-sighted species. And the seas will recover, with or without us. Michael T. Klare: The New Thirty Years' War A 30-year war for energy preeminence? You wouldn't wish it even on a desperate planet. But that's where we're headed and there's no turning back.

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