President Obama is systematically increasing the chances that mountaintop removal mining (MTR) permits may not be granted by insisting on compliance with the law. One tool that mining companies, and other corporations that harm our environment for their own profit, hate is an environmental impact statement (EIS). An EIS is generally a document based on scientific studies and data that analyze the environmental impacts of a proposed project, such as MTR. When a project might have a significant environmental impact, then an EIS may be required to answer questions, such as what are the environmental impacts, are there alternatives to the project, and can mitigation measures lessen these impacts. Corporations that want to rape our environment dislike EIS because it reduces the chances of their projects being approved as they want. Not only is the decision maker better informed of the facts, but the public is allowed to participate in the EIS process and environmental organizations have been successful in terminating projects by litigation. Bush used one tool to increase the chances of project approvals, and now Obama has nixed this tool, paving the way for more EIS required for MTR.
continued at Daily Kos....
