Country stars against MTR

[CoolBreeze]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A group of music figures has begun a campaign against mountaintop coal removal.

The campaign, Music Saves Mountains, is sponsored by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Gibson Foundation.

Those at the gathering included Emmylou Harris, Randy Travis, Big Kenny Alphin, Dierks Bentley, Delbert McClinton, Kid Rock and J.D. Souther.

http://www.wvgazette.com/ap/ApTopStories/200911110216

[Big Media]

They really don't understand their core audience, do they?

[jag]

Maybe they see it as addressing their core audience.

[Bob Campbell]

Damn tree hugging country singers. We pay 'em to sing, not think.

[Jay Nunley]

Unless they spout off with right wing douchebaggery, then we pay them to think... well, we pay them to validate ourselves.

Don't get into a twist my conservative brethren. Just a joke. U2 and Bruce Springsteen serve the same purpose for left wing douchebaggery.

[Dave Allen]

I would have a really hard time thinking Kid Rock is against MTR. Seems to me this must be his spin machine telling him what he SHOULD be against. He hangs with Hank, Jr, for God's sake! The others...maybe, but not Kid Rock. What a find so funny is that there hasn't been a bigger outcry locally about this. When the Dixie Chicks controversy popped up people lost their frigging minds. Kid Rock is huge down here and no one has said a word about it, even though it has been all over the news and was on the front page of the local paper.

[Bob Campbell]

Maybe the Kid Rock fans haven't sobered up enough to have heard the story yet.

[fearpeddler]

dave, I think you're one of the last 100 people to actually get the logan banner down there, you should call and see if you win a prize....

[AmpedNow]

I don't know how anyone could be "for" MTR... It's just a modern fact of business of the mining industry.

On an instinctual level, we all know it's not "natural" to do this much destruction.

[genlock]

But not a word from the south-side liberals about mountaintop removal for
Dudley Farms and Southridge shopping centers.
Nothing about Mountaintop removal for airports, highways or office complexes.
Just coal mining, especially evil mostly non-union mining.
The Fourteenth Amendment may not apply to non-union companies.

[Dave Allen]

Of course I get the Banner. I was a columnist for them for around 10 years, that is until they decided to no longer pay columnists. They (The Banner) are truly sad. They are owned by some out of town company who has no clue about newspapers in small town and how (even in 2009) important they can be. They just recently raised their rates, however, they cut out their Monday edition. Their writers are only allowed so many hours, and when those are up for the week, that's it. If some big story comes along and the writes have reached their limit on hours for the week, the story doesn't get covered. They pick up their editorials directly from AP without even reading them first. Case in point last week they ran an editorial supporting "Cap and Trade" even though 99.9% of their circulation is against it. Back to MTR, that was a great point by Genlock. Why does no one ever say a word about reclaimed sites being used for malls or golf courses?

[genlock]

In Logan nobody complained about the excavation where the WAl*Mart is located,
Until they uncovered some coal and then sold the coal. That made it a mine and
the liberal tree-huggers had a shit-fit. At that point Fountain place was terrible.
It took years for the enviro-wackos to realize that you can't dig anywhere in
southern WV and not hit coal. It's ok now as the place has shops and stores for the
upper crusties that have never seen an MTR operation, never had to work in
mining for a living, never seen a properly reclaimed mine like Twisted Gun.
A point that is forgotten in all this is that these Mountain-Top Mines are owned by someone.
Just like the liberal enviro's front yard. Once a community group starts to dictate how private
property in rural areas may be used, It will not be long until you garbage is inspected and
your breakfast cereal is dictated from Charleston's South side women's club.

[AmpedNow]

Changing the elevation of an entire mountain by 500 ft. is a little different than a hillside cut or valley fill to put in a shopping center.

I'm not against mining at all. I realize the economic necessity it is -- even if people in our federal government do not. I just wish they could find a different way to do economical mining while keeping the mountaintop.

[genlock]

What if the mountaintop is owned by someone else? Not by you.
Is that different than someone wanting to put in a swimming pool or garage on their property?

[Hoosier Daddy]

There are liberals in Logan?

[AmpedNow]

What if the mountaintop is owned by someone else? Not by you.
Is that different than someone wanting to put in a swimming pool or garage on their property?

If moving that much dirt affects the ecosystem and water flow patterns for miles, turning neighbors' farms into useless mosquito pits, Then yeah, maybe they should have a say...

It would be neat to turn my backyard into a coal mine. But I doubt if my neighbors would appreciate all of that drilling and the dump trucks rolling down the street at all hours. Even if I technically have the right to do it (it's all about property rights, right?), the odds of me being allowed to are next to none.

But here, we are talking about mining companies who buy acres by the thousands to strip mine. Should we just rubber stamp their proposals, regardless of how it affects the neighbor's land?

[genlock]

Do we want the enviros to dictate how everyone uses their PRIVATE property?
The Mining operations have also to content with changing regulations.
Once an operation is decided upon, the company must spend millions of dollars on the
legal permitting process whic takes a considerable time. If allowed, preparation for mining is begun.
The government, prodded by the environmentalists then may change the rules in midstream
for the proposed operation, costing millions of additional dollars. Remember that mines have to
be approved via a rigorous process to even start. It is the ever changing and sometime arbitrary regulations
that make the mines expensive to run. The changing of the rules mid-game is a well thought out process.
As described on video tape by Senator (vp candidate) Biden in an interview, "You can start a coal (plant)
if you want, we will just make it so expensive (that) you won't want to". This same tactic is at work in the
permitting process for Nuclear plants, Hydro dams, power lines and for virtually anything that
involves infrastructure in America. Activists are waiting to kill any kind of progress at all.
Answer this, If not coal, what? And what do we do in the period between coal and your answer?

[Bob Campbell]

[quote="genlock"]Do we want the enviros to dictate how everyone uses their PRIVATE property?

So you'd be cool with it if I bought the lot next to your house and dumped a couple dozen tons of toxic/radioactive waste on it, right? Or used it to train Al Qaeda?
As in all things, there are limits to what rights you have for anything public or private.

[genlock]

Yes there are.
If the toxic waste affected me and I could prove it, I would have civil recourse.
If the Al Qaeda showed up, criminal penalties would be in line.

But if you owned the house and I suspected you might dump waste or house Al Qaeda,
could I sue to keep you from enjoying the ownership of your property? And then change the rules every time you proved differently?
Harrass you in the press and handcuff muself to your barbeque because you might have Bin Laden over for ribs?
Could I stop you from using your property before you did anything improper?

[Bob Campbell]

No, but if I had a prior track record of , oh say, dumping waste and fouling streams, or training terrorists, then you sure could.
As long as they haven't screwed up any other mountaintops or streams, give them a chance to prove they can leave it like they found it. Then if they don't , make them rectify the situation.

And how come when I hit the "quote" button it doesn't come up in those neat little gray boxes like other folks' posts?