They have no clue as to how business-crushing it is, when businesses have no faith that when they are given permits, THEN invest possibly millions of dollars, the government can still say ‘oops, changed our minds” and pull the rug out from under you.
All those jobs will either go away, or go overseas.

I had an argument with a family member in Texas over the holidays (big, obese, proud texan that thinks the world is ours to develop and use as we please) who thinks endless developement, growth, “progress” is a great thing. Gone are the days in rural central Texas when I was growing up there….very independent people, who minded their own business and loved their large expanses of oak and cedar covered limestone hills with hidden canyons, creeks and waterfalls. They liked hunting and growing things. The woods were packed with ringtails cats, racoons, fox…even porcupines. Now, they prefer bulldozed hills (they level off the tops of many around Austin too to build tuscan style estates) covered in houses and strip centers filled the same chain stores and I can go days and nigths there and never see any of these creatures anymore, save a few dead on the busy, antsy highways.

Just time to save whatever we can..and ask ourselves how happy all this progress, all this abundant energy to move move move really makes us. It boils down to endless, abundant shopping, movies, eating processed foods…that’s where our progress has lead us.

Being an idealist, I’d prefer to see the administration leave the bureaucracy alone to do its job independent of political ideology; and if they have a problem with the actions of an agency, then they change the laws or regulations that the agency enforces. But that would probably cause all sorts of public relations problems…and so they go through the back door and corrupt the public administration.

I still cry when I see my grandfather’s missing mountain and all the missing trees. Mountaintop removal is vile, period. I hope this is the beginning of serious consequences for mining companies.