Why US Rep. Nick Rahall Is Not the Eco-Hero Many Claim Him to Be

By Jeff Biggers, AlterNet. Posted June 10, 2009.

Sure, Rahall can be poetic when speaking about protecting certain forests -- as long as there are no coal seams underneath. In dedicating a new wilderness area in West Virginia, in January 20, 2008, he declared: "Our southern mountains have been yielding their coal for generations and our northern ridgelines are being targeted by the merchants of wind power. More development is coming and, in most cases, it is welcomed. But as West Virginians, we are intimately connected to our land. We know that we will be judged by future generations on our stewardship of this land that is West Virginia. And so I believe it is of paramount importance that we, once again, set aside some of God's handiwork in our forests by preserving these federal lands in their pristine state."

How will Rahall's legacy be judged by future generations?

This spring, when the EPA under the Obama administration announced its intention for greater scrutiny of mountaintop removal permits, Rahall's true green colors came out to bloom. While Rahall openly admitted in April that West Virginia's "most productive coal seams likely will be exhausted in 20 years," he aggressively fought any review of mountaintop removal permits. He announced at a Logan County Rotary Club meeting in West Virginia on May 27th, when the "media erroneously reported that EPA was putting an end to mountaintop mining...Nick Rahall did not take this matter lying down." Rahall went on to say he "immediately began working with numerous Administration officials, as well as industry officials - including area coal companies - and the United Mine Workers. I met in my office with officials of the Army Corps of Engineers. I met in my office with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. I met with EPA Office of Water Chief of Staff Greg Peck. I met with White House Council of Environmental Quality Chairperson Nancy Sutley. I even talked with my former colleague in the House and now the current White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel."

In fact, on May 15th, Rahall held a much ballyhooed press conference to announce that the EPA had cleared 42 out of 48 permits for mountaintop removal. He crowed again: "EPA made it very clear that it has no concerns about the remaining 42. In its letter to me, the EPA states: "The Corps may proceed with appropriate permit decisions on those remaining permits."

When the great environmental (Appalachian) writer Edward Abbey wrote that: "The idea of wilderness needs no defense. It only needs more defenders," he most certainly wasn't thinking about Rep. Rahall.

Perhaps the Wilderness Society needs to remind Rep. Rahall how it feels to be stripmined -- of his Ansel Adams Award. What would Ansel Adams think, having been honored as the namesake for his award for "preserving America's wild lands and to caring that future generations know a part of the work," if he knew the main cheerleader for mountaintop removal had been recognized in his name?

In the meantime, here's a clip of a virtual flyover over the wilderness and once populated hollows that have been destroyed by mountaintop removal for Rahall's neighbors in Wise County, Virginia:

See more stories tagged with: mtr, mining, appalachia

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from Environment! Sign up now »