Knob Magazine

Bank of America announced yesterday that it would phase out lending to companies engaged in mountain-top removal coal mining as part of their energy policy.

A combination of public protest and inside negotiations prompted BoA to reconsider its the impacts of its lending policies.  The straw that broke the camel’s back might have been an NRDC sponsored visit to see first hand the dramatic impacts of this practice.  Naturally,  BoA’s decision comes amidst a tight credit market and the impending Obama presidency, making mountain top removal a relatively riskier investment.

Nonetheless this decision comes at a critical time.  Just yesterday the  Bush Administration repealed a rule that prohibited surface mining within 100 ft of a stream, thereby reducing a significant hurdle to expanding the practice before the Obama administration takes office. While it is uncertain to what extent BoA’s decision will make this more difficult we can hope it will have a positive effect.

Mountain-top removal mining is a type of strip mining that involves blasting off the tops of mountains to reveal the narrrow coal seams below.  Common in the steeps slopes of central Appalachaia the process is causes signficant water quality, health, deforestation and flooding problems to the down stream communities, who remain amongst the poorest in the nation.  To learn more about the process check out ilovemountains.org