Foundation News

This month, we have received good news on major proposed coal projects that pose threats to communities and beautiful places from both the eastern U.S. and the western U.S.

First, a federal court cited climate change as a major reason for rejecting the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service approval of a coal mine expansion plan that would bulldoze roads through the pristine and beautiful Sunset Roadless Area wilderness in Western Colorado. Last year, Earthjustice, on behalf of the Sierra Club, High Country Conservation Advocates, and WildEarth Guardians, filed suit to overturn the authorization on the grounds they had failed to adequately consider the environmental harm the project would cause.

On the other side of the country, the Federal Highway Administration announced the Virginia Department of Transportation will be required to conduct a full environmental review for a controversial 26-mile section of the Coalfields Expressway that would run through southwest Virginia. More than 85,000 citizens sent comments to VDOT and FHWA expressing their concerns about the harm mountaintop removal coal mining associated with this project would have on drinking water, community health, and quality of life.

Coal projects like these continue to threaten wilderness and communities nationwide, but more and more often, they are being met by robust opposition from local residents whose livelihoods depend on a healthy environment. Americans want clean air and clean water, and they don't want communities and beautiful places devastated by coal mining.