14 DAY TRIAL // After Bush and the EPA made the coal mining industry a going-away present, in the bill that allowed it to dump debris from its mountaintop exploitations – in other words, the sites where they blew the top of mountains and picked the coal that came out – activists from several environmental groups managed to persuade banks that lending money to these enterprises harmed the environment and that they should stop. And it would appear that their plea was heard, at least by the Bank of America Corp (BAC).
"Bank of America is particularly concerned about surface mining conducted through mountain top removal in locations such as central Appalachia. We therefore will phase out financing of companies whose predominant method of extracting coal is through mountain top removal. While we acknowledge that surface mining is economically efficient and creates jobs, it can be conducted in a way that minimizes environmental impacts in certain geographies,” says an official statement on the website of the bank.
"I think it will send a shock wave through the coal industry, because they've been able to do this for a long time on the cheap," says Robert Perks, the campaign director for the National Resources Defense Council. He hopes that the example set forth by the BAC will inspire other financial institutions to withdraw their support from the industry as well, especially now that coal companies are screaming at the top of their lungs that they don't need the financial institutions to pull through.
Various characters from coal companies that own surface mines, including Massey Energy Co, International Coal Group, Alpha Natural Resources and Patriot Coal Corp, say that the move does not affect their business and caution that, if the turmoil continues, many miners could end up unemployed. "It would be hard for me to believe the bank fully appreciates the employment that depends on mountaintop mining in Appalachia,” says Luke Popovich, a spokesman for the National Mining Association.
BAC's decision comes after EPA's ruling, which decided to nullify an old law, stating that mountaintop removal coal mining operations were not allowed to dump debris within 100 feet of running water. Environmentalists harshly criticized the measure, and president-elect Barack Obama is now being targeted by a fearsome lobby campaign, whereas coal industry representatives welcome the legislation.