Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Legislature / Woods Preachers Join Battle Against Coal Companies
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Mar 18, 2009 at 12:25 PM
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Environmentalist is a dirty word in Tennessee. So the ones trying to stop coal companies from blowing up our mountains have formed an alliance with a much more popular group of people. Religious leaders joined the call for a law to ban mountaintop removal mining today at the Capitol. Their PR campaign theme? "Only God Should Move Mountains."
It might seem like a slam dunk, this bill to ban such an ecologically devastating mining method. Forget the environment. Just think about the economics of this. Coal companies employ roughly 400 people in this state, and most of them work in other kinds of mining. They don't blow the tops off mountains. So the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act would cost only a few jobs while saving thousands in the tourism industry. Who could oppose it? Have you noticed who's running the legislature these days? Even the governor won't get behind this bill. He's offering his own version. It's relatively pointless, so it'll probably pass. That will allow legislators to beat their chests and claim they did something good for the environment while actually doing nothing and keeping the coal companies happy.
LEAF, the conservation group behind the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, presented legislators today with resolutions from various statewide church organizations in support of the bill.
The Rev. Ryan Bennett, senior pastor of Pleasant View United Methodist Church in Cheatham County, called on all Tennessee denominations to take a stand:
"Stewardship of the environment should be something all Christians are concerned with as it is an integral part of our faith. A disregard for the state of God's creation shows a lack of love for the creator. We enjoy the majesty of God's mountains so we take steps to prevent them from being blown up in the name of business. This earth is on loan from God so we are responsible to show our love of God by how we care for it."
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