Coal mines and national parks don't mix

A message from the leader Sierra Club Sign the Petition to Keith Rigtrup, Bureau of Land Management Posted By: Sierra Club (campaign leader) Dear friend, "This land is your land, this land is my land." And this land is going to be turned into a strip coal mine if we don't act. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is charged with the care of hundreds of millions of acres of public land owned by taxpayers like you. But too often, they grant fossil fuel companies access to that land so they can extract dangerous fossil fuels that put the health of local communities and the planet at risk. Right now, the BLM is considering a proposed Alton coal mine expansion that would put a strip mine just a few miles from Bryce Canyon National Park and Grand Staircase Escalante -- on taxpayer-owned public land. Tell the Bureau of Land Management to stop letting coal companies destroy our public land and our planet! The proposed Alton strip mine would cause hazardous air and water pollution, disrupt critical wildlife habitat for the threatened sage grouse, and expose local communities to toxic coal dust in exchange for access to 50 million tons of coal over 25 years -- a move that is dangerously out of step with the critical goal of cutting U.S. carbon emissions by 26 percent in ten years. Destroying natural wonders isn't just bad for the planet, it's bad for the local communities. BLM's own analysis found that this mine would harm the local economy by creating "an adverse impact to recreation, and adverse impacts to sense of community, social well-being, and tourism-related businesses." [1] In fact, Bryce Canyon created 1,628 jobs in 2009 alone [2] and Grand Staircase Escalante's designation as a national monument lead to a nearly 40 percent increase in both jobs and income in the surrounding area.[3] Tell the BLM that this proposed mine is bad for Utah communities, bad for our natural wonders, and bad for the planet. More than 200,000 people joined with the Hopi Tribe and three federal agencies in speaking out against Alton's expansion. Now, BLM is taking public comments and we have an important opportunity to push them to stand with the American people and save our precious national landmarks by rejecting this proposal. Tell the Bureau of Land Management to keep this coal in the ground and protect our national treasures -- and public land -- from coal's destruction. Thank you for all you do, Bill Corcoran Western Regional Campaign Director Beyond Coal Sierra Club References: 1) Bureau of Land Management. "Alton DEIS Executive Summary" 2) Goad, Jessica. "Obama administration considers dangerous expansion of strip coal mine just steps from Bryce Canyon National Park" Think Progress. 3) Headwaters Economics. "Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument"  SIGN THE PETITION     Causes, 548 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94107 United States  ·  Privacy Policy Don't want to receive emails like this? Unsubscribe now.