When you cause damage to another individual’s property or
leave behind acid drainage that precipitates an ecological disaster, you’d
expect to be on the hook for paying for these damages, right?
Wrong if you’re a coal mine operator in Virginia.
The Virginia and federal governments are shelving out $1.69
million of our taxpaying dollars[1]
to clean up damage resulting from acid mine drainage from coal mines abandoned
in southwest Virginia.
Ever one to lend a major taxpayer-funded helping hand to his
friends in the coal industry[2],
Gov. Bob McDonnell stated that the allocation is the final step in a “project”
set to restore water quality in the Powell Valley watershed, an area that is
home to numerous threatened or endangered marine species.[3]
The project to restore water quality includes erosion
control and stream bank stabilization.
An obvious question arises, why are taxpayers paying for the
negligence and/or lack of foresight shown by mining companies who mined in the
area of the Powell Valley watershed?
In Virginia, the business philosophy goes something like
this: businesses should be saddled with minimal legal constraints, including
legal guidelines ensuring that coal mines left behind won’t cause ecological
problems in the future. In other words, economic growth at almost any cost.
As taxpayers and environmentally conscious Virginians, we
should be outraged, especially when we consider that Gov. McDonnell and his
administration have made it clear that they’re more concerned with the
interests of their largest campaign contributors than with the average
Virginian.
No one gets a free pass to destroy the earth or their fellow
men and women, especially on someone else’s dime.
No comments:
Post a Comment