State Mountaintop Mining Ban Killed in Committee

A proposal to ban blowing up mountaintops to mine coal in Tennessee died Tuesday in the state legislature.

The Scenic Vistas Protection Act would have made it illegal to cut away ridgelines above 2000 feet. Portland Democrat Mike McDonald says without mountains Tennessee wouldn’t be the same state. He argues the bill would protect ecosystems, people’s health – and jobs.

That was disputed by coal-company workers. Dozens wearing hard hats and shirts with slogans like ‘Legalize Coal’ picketed the legislature, saying the proposed ban would cost jobs. Among them was Jeff Slone, a pastor who works for an engineering company:

“The resources that are here were provided by God for the use of man. And what is more important, really, the environment or people’s jobs?”

A House subcommittee sent the proposal to a “summer study committee,” effectively killing it for the session. And McDonald, the House sponsor, won’t come back to fight another round – he announced his retirement last week.

WPLN’s Joe White contributed to this report.

Web extra forthcoming.

Meanwhile at the federal level the EPA released a proposal that could effectively stymie construction of new coal power plants – full story from NPR here.