Nearly 60 grassroots and national groups, including SEAC, from 26 states have joined together to ask President Elect Obama to think first of the communities impacted by coal when selecting appointees for key positions.

The positions of concern include the Secretary of the Interior, Director of the Office of Surface Mining, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The letter states that “it is absolutely essential that all of these posts be filled by people who fully and fairly enforce laws relating to underground and surface mining, mine safety and health, coal burning and coal combustion waste.”

“For far too long, the regulatory agencies have been led by people with close ties to the coal industry, people who seem to have forgotten that their responsibility is to protect human health and the environment, not the profits of the coal operators. The new administration needs to break this cycle and appoint regulators who will put our land, water, and people first,” said Teri Blanton of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth.

Groups are also opposed to Obama appointing candidates who have called for decreased regulation under the Bush administration, noting that for the safety of communities located near coal facilities, as well as the workers at these facilities, increased enforcement and regulation are needed.

For example, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has been mentioned as a Department of Energy possibility, but citizen groups in Pennsylvania are highly concerned. “Pennsylvania’s carbon emissions have increased by 11% over the last five years under Rendell, and he has called for an even more lax environment for coal power plants and coal combustion waste—despite serious health issues and cancer clusters found in communities near current coal facilities,” said Lisa Graves Marcucci, Pennsylvania Coordinator for Environmental Integrity Project.

The letter also states the need for appointees to the new administration who are responsive to the residents living near coal operations. “Working for enforcement of the law is like having to work against the government agencies and the coal companies to protect our land and our health. I feel we are being taken advantage of by the industry and the lack of enforcement from regulatory agencies,” said Rick Handshoe of Floyd County Kentucky, where more than 21,000 acres have been destroyed by mountaintop removal coal mining.

“Unfortunately for our members who live in the Powder River Basin, increased coal mining has come with significant costs to our air quality and our way of life,” said Shannon Anderson of the Powder River Basin Resource Council. “The mines are woefully behind on reclamation compliant with federal law and some impacts to livestock and wildlife habitat will never be reversed. We urge the Obama Administration to not just generate permits but to balance interests in a manner that will be protective of places and people in Wyoming and elsewhere.” The Powder River Basin of Northeast Wyoming and Southeast Montana provides about 40% of the nation’s coal.

Groups also urge Obama to select candidates who are dedicated to using authentic science for rule-making and enforcement, particularly science related to climate change findings and the impacts of coal on human health.

“With the new administration in Washington, DC and Congresssman Waxman winning the new Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, we hope our issues go forward with a change in coal policy,” said Elouise Brown of Dooda (No) Desert Rock, based in the Four Corners area in Chaco Rio, New Mexico (35 miles SW of Farmington, NM), a part of the Dine Nation. Dooda Desert Rock is fighting the construction of a third coal fired power plant (Desert Rock Energy Project) in their sparsely populated community.

The letter concludes by noting the sacrifices that workers and communities impacted by coal have made to provide America with electricity, despite remaining among the poorest communities in the United States, noting that, “We have a vision of long term economic and environmental prosperity for our communities, but we can’t achieve this without support from our government.”

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LETTER AND SIGNATURES FOLLOW BELOW:

November 24, 2008

Dear President-Elect Obama,

We are writing to enlist your help on a matter of the utmost importance to your constituents living with the impacts of coal. Although you will hear from us both individually and collectively in the future on other issues, our concern today surrounds the appointees for the Secretary of the Interior, Director of the Office of Surface Mining, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Many of us are citizens who are dealing with the devastating effects of the cycle of coal, from extraction, cleaning, transport, burning and the disposal of coal combustion waste. Coal industry abuse has cost many of us our homes, our health, our loved ones, and sometimes our entire community, often because of the systemic lack of enforcement of federal regulatory agencies.

Therefore, it is absolutely essential that all of these posts be filled by people who fully and fairly enforce laws relating to underground and surface mining, mine safety and health, coal burning and coal combustion waste. Many Americans are unaware of the role coal plays in our energy supply, and they would be shocked to learn of the flagrant disregard for the law shown by coal companies and the lack of enforcement by the agencies charged with protecting our communities from these abuses. We need appointees to these positions who understand their roles and are committed to enforcing the laws. Perhaps most important, full and fair enforcement of mining laws will only be possible with an authentic, public mandate from your administration.

Appointees to these agencies should not have ties to the coal industry. For decades, these offices have been filled with people beholden to the coal industry on the argument that they understood the industry best. The reality instead has been that they are loyal to the industry, and often go back to work for it once their terms are finished. Scores, if not hundreds, of other people across the country with no ties to the industry understand these issues just as well and can act impartially.

We also urge you to eliminate from your short list anyone who is on record calling for rollbacks of existing rules and regulations governing coal. As you know, eight years of the Bush Administration has already weakened environmental laws, and we cannot afford further erosion. The laws have been eviscerated by administrative regulatory rewrites, flawed judicial decisions, and poor enforcement practices.

Appointees within your administration must be committed to work to change the government’s chronically weak oversight.

We would expect these appointees to be responsive to ordinary citizens living in affected areas and not be vulnerable to the influence of powerful special interests.

It is also essential that we reintroduce a commitment to authentic science in the formulation of policies and rules—particularly those scientific studies that show the impacts of coal on human health.

The communities in which coal is mined, burned, and disposed have made enormous sacrifices to give America power and yet we remain among the poorest communities in the United States. Many miners and other coal workers have lost their lives as a result of poor safety enforcement. We have a vision of long term economic and environmental prosperity for our communities, but we can’t achieve this without support from our government.

You have given America new hope for an administration that carefully considers the effects of its actions on ordinary citizens. Coal mining laws directly impact coalfield residents every day. When the laws are enforced, people and their land have hope that they will be protected. When laws are violated, disasters can and do occur. You have the power to protect the land and people through your appointments to these important posts. We urge you to consider your decisions carefully.

Sincerely,

Alaska Coal Working Group

Alliance for Appalachia

Alternative Transportation Club & Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada

Appalachian Community Economics

Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center

Appalachian Voices

Bardwell Consulting, Ltd

Caney Fork Headwaters Association

Center for Coalfield Justice

Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Citizen’s Action Coalition of Indiana

Citizens Against Longwall Mining

Citizens Coal Council

Citizens Organizing Project

CLEAN — Citizens Lead for Energy Action Now

Clean Power Now

Coal River Mountain Watch

CoalSwarm

Concerned Citizens of Carroll County

Cook Inletkeeper

Citizens Organizing for Resources & Environment (CORE)

Cumberland Countians for Peace & Justice

Dakota Resource Council

Dooda (NO) Desert Rock Organization

Earth Action Network

Energy Action Coalition

Environmental Justice Advocates (EJA)

Friends of Hurricane Creek

Greenpeace US

Groundwater Awareness League, Inc.

Headwater Productions

HealthLink

Heartwood

Jefferson Action Group

Karst Environmental Education & Protection, Inc.

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

Kentucky Heartwood

Law Office of Gina Hardin, LLC

Lexington Environmental Action Project (LEAP)

Los Alamos Study Group

Massachusetts Climate Action Network

Mountain Justice

Network for Environmental & Economic Responsibility

New York Loves Mountains

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition

Peace and Social Justice Committee of the Charleston Friends Meeting

Powder River Basin Resource Council

Rainforest Action Network

Save Our Cumberland Mountains

Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards

Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC)

Tallahassee Area Community, Inc

Ten Mile Protection Network

U.S. Climate Emergency Council

Valley Watch Inc.

Western Organization of Resource Councils