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Number of minutes award-winning mountaintop removal mining activist Maria Gunnoe of Boone County, W.Va. was questioned by U.S. Capitol Police over a photo she submitted to a congressional panel showing a five-year-old girl bathing in mine-polluted water: 45
Date on which the questioning occurred, following Gunnoe's testimony during the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee's hearing on the Spruce No. 1 Mine, a proposed mountaintop removal mining operation in Logan County, W.Va. that's owned by Arch Coal: 6/1/2012
Number of times that Gunnoe previously testified before the committee, experiences she said led her to bring the photo in hopes of getting members to look her in the eye for a change: 3
Number of times committee chair Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) viewed the shot taken by photojournalist Katie Falkenberg before deciding to pull it from Gunnoe's presentation on advice of committee staff: 0
Amount Rep. Lamborn's campaign has received from mining interests since first running for Congress in 2006: $54,500
Rank of mining among the top industries contributing to Lamborn's campaign during the current election cycle: 4
Amount Lamborn's campaign has received from Spruce No. 1 mine owner Arch Coal thus far during the current election cycle: $2,000
Date on which the Environmental Protection Agency announced its veto of a permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine issued by the Army Corps of Engineers over concerns about the impact on streams: 1/13/2011
Miles of streams the Spruce No. 1 Mine would bury: more than 7
Number of public comments the EPA reviewed before making its decision: more than 50,000
Date on which the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia struck down the EPA's veto of the Spruce No. 1 Mine after a challenge by the coal company: 3/23/2012
Date on which the EPA filed paperwork indicating it plans to appeal the ruling, an action that Lamborn's committee criticizes as part of a "'magical' process to revoke an already issued coal permit": 5/11/2012
Minimum number of peer-reviewed scientific studies that have documented harmful human health effects from mountaintop removal mining: 21
Estimated number of people in whom mountaintop removal mining has caused cancer to date: 60,000
Percentage by which people living near mountaintop removal mining sites are more likely to die of cancer than those living elsewhere: 50
Percentage by which the rate of children born with birth defects in mountaintop removal mining areas exceeds that of other places: 42
(Click on figure to go to source.)
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Number of minutes award-winning mountaintop removal mining activist Maria Gunnoe of Boone County, W.Va. was questioned by U.S. Capitol Police over a photo she submitted to a congressional panel showing a five-year-old girl bathing in mine-polluted water: 45
Date on which the questioning occurred, following Gunnoe's testimony during the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee's hearing on the Spruce No. 1 Mine, a proposed mountaintop removal mining operation in Logan County, W.Va. that's owned by Arch Coal: 6/1/2012
Number of times that Gunnoe previously testified before the committee, experiences she said led her to bring the photo in hopes of getting members to look her in the eye for a change: 3
Number of times committee chair Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) viewed the shot taken by photojournalist Katie Falkenberg before deciding to pull it from Gunnoe's presentation on advice of committee staff: 0
Amount Rep. Lamborn's campaign has received from mining interests since first running for Congress in 2006: $54,500
Rank of mining among the top industries contributing to Lamborn's campaign during the current election cycle: 4
Amount Lamborn's campaign has received from Spruce No. 1 mine owner Arch Coal thus far during the current election cycle: $2,000
Date on which the Environmental Protection Agency announced its veto of a permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine issued by the Army Corps of Engineers over concerns about the impact on streams: 1/13/2011
Miles of streams the Spruce No. 1 Mine would bury: more than 7
Number of public comments the EPA reviewed before making its decision: more than 50,000
Date on which the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia struck down the EPA's veto of the Spruce No. 1 Mine after a challenge by the coal company: 3/23/2012
Date on which the EPA filed paperwork indicating it plans to appeal the ruling, an action that Lamborn's committee criticizes as part of a "'magical' process to revoke an already issued coal permit": 5/11/2012
Minimum number of peer-reviewed scientific studies that have documented harmful human health effects from mountaintop removal mining: 21
Estimated number of people in whom mountaintop removal mining has caused cancer to date: 60,000
Percentage by which people living near mountaintop removal mining sites are more likely to die of cancer than those living elsewhere: 50
Percentage by which the rate of children born with birth defects in mountaintop removal mining areas exceeds that of other places: 42
(Click on figure to go to source.)
Number of minutes award-winning mountaintop removal mining activist Maria Gunnoe of Boone County, W.Va. was questioned by U.S. Capitol Police over a photo she submitted to a congressional panel showing a five-year-old girl bathing in mine-polluted water: 45
Date on which the questioning occurred, following Gunnoe's testimony during the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee's hearing on the Spruce No. 1 Mine, a proposed mountaintop removal mining operation in Logan County, W.Va. that's owned by Arch Coal: 6/1/2012
Number of times that Gunnoe previously testified before the committee, experiences she said led her to bring the photo in hopes of getting members to look her in the eye for a change: 3
Number of times committee chair Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) viewed the shot taken by photojournalist Katie Falkenberg before deciding to pull it from Gunnoe's presentation on advice of committee staff: 0
Amount Rep. Lamborn's campaign has received from mining interests since first running for Congress in 2006: $54,500
Rank of mining among the top industries contributing to Lamborn's campaign during the current election cycle: 4
Amount Lamborn's campaign has received from Spruce No. 1 mine owner Arch Coal thus far during the current election cycle: $2,000
Date on which the Environmental Protection Agency announced its veto of a permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine issued by the Army Corps of Engineers over concerns about the impact on streams: 1/13/2011
Miles of streams the Spruce No. 1 Mine would bury: more than 7
Number of public comments the EPA reviewed before making its decision: more than 50,000
Date on which the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia struck down the EPA's veto of the Spruce No. 1 Mine after a challenge by the coal company: 3/23/2012
Date on which the EPA filed paperwork indicating it plans to appeal the ruling, an action that Lamborn's committee criticizes as part of a "'magical' process to revoke an already issued coal permit": 5/11/2012
Minimum number of peer-reviewed scientific studies that have documented harmful human health effects from mountaintop removal mining: 21
Estimated number of people in whom mountaintop removal mining has caused cancer to date: 60,000
Percentage by which people living near mountaintop removal mining sites are more likely to die of cancer than those living elsewhere: 50
Percentage by which the rate of children born with birth defects in mountaintop removal mining areas exceeds that of other places: 42
(Click on figure to go to source.)