Current:Home > ScamsTrump Admin. Halts Mountaintop Mining Health Risks Study by National Academies-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Trump Admin. Halts Mountaintop Mining Health Risks Study by National Academies
View Date:2024-12-23 20:30:56
The Trump administration has ordered a halt to an independent study looking at potential health risks to people living near mountaintop mining sites in Appalachia.
The U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement sent a letter to the National Academy of Sciences on Friday instructing it to cease all work on the study.
The study had been launched at the request of two West Virginia agencies, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and Bureau for Public Health.
The agencies sought federal assistance with a research review after several dozen scientific papers found increased risks of birth defects, cancer and premature death among residents living near large-scale surface coal mines in Appalachia. The Office of Surface Mining had committed $1 million to the study under President Obama in 2016.
The letter calling for an end to that study stated that the Department of Interior “has begun an agency-wide review of its grants and cooperative agreements in excess of $100,000, largely as a result of the department’s changing budget situation,” the National Academy of Sciences said in a statement.
The Interior Department has drawn criticism for moves seen as silencing scientific expertise. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke froze several science advisory boards earlier this year, and a prominent Interior Department climate scientist blew the whistle on the department last month, alleging that he and dozens of other scientists had been arbitrarily reassigned. A group of senators subsequently called for a probe to investigate the reassignments.
President Donald Trump has also been touting efforts to bring back coal. He has scrapped regulations that were opposed by the fossil fuel industry, and his proposed 2018 budget would cut funding for the Office of Surface Mining, which is responsible for protecting society and the environment from the adverse effects of surface coal mining operations.
Environmental advocates and the top Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources denounced the shutdown of the health study.
“It’s infuriating that Trump would halt this study on the health effects of mountaintop removal coal mining, research that people in Appalachia have been demanding for years,” Bill Price, Senior Appalachia Organizing Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, said in a statement.
“Stopping this study is a ploy to stop science in its tracks and keep the public in the dark about health risks as a favor to the mining industry, pure and simple,” Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said in a statement.
The federally funded National Academies, whose mission is to provide “independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology” said it will go forward with previously scheduled meetings for this project in Kentucky on August 21-23 but will await the results of the Interior Department’s review before taking further action.
“The National Academies believes this is an important study, and we stand ready to resume it as soon as the Department of the Interior review is completed,” the National Academies said.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Horoscopes Today, November 13, 2024
- BP and Shell Write-Off Billions in Assets, Citing Covid-19 and Climate Change
- Inside a Southern Coal Conference: Pep Rallies and Fears of an Industry’s Demise
- Vermont Doubles Down on Wood Burning, with Consequences for Climate and Health
- South Carolina lab recaptures 5 more escaped monkeys but 13 are still loose
- NYC could lose 10,000 Airbnb listings because of new short-term rental regulations
- Fox News' Sean Hannity says he knew all along Trump lost the election
- You People Don't Want to Miss New Parents Jonah Hill and Olivia Millar's Sweet PDA Moment
- Garth Brooks wants to move his sexual assault case to federal court. How that could help the singer.
- Two Louisiana Activists Charged with Terrorizing a Lobbyist for the Oil and Gas Industry
Ranking
- TikToker Campbell “Pookie” Puckett Gives Birth, Welcomes First Baby With Jett Puckett
- The blizzard is just one reason behind the operational meltdown at Southwest Airlines
- Manhunt on for homicide suspect who escaped Pennsylvania jail
- For 3 big Alabama newspapers, the presses are grinding to a halt
- Prominent conservative lawyer Ted Olson, who argued Bush recount and same-sex marriage cases, dies
- The Real Story Behind Khloe Kardashian and Michele Morrone’s Fashion Show Date
- Shop the Best Last-Minute Father's Day Gift Ideas From Amazon
- For the Sunrise Movement’s D.C. Hub, a Call to Support the Movement for Black Lives
Recommendation
-
'Heretic' spoilers! Hugh Grant spills on his horror villain's fears and fate
-
Chicago officers under investigation over sexual misconduct allegations involving migrants living at police station
-
How a scrappy African startup could forever change the world of vaccines
-
Feds sue AmerisourceBergen over 'hundreds of thousands' of alleged opioid violations
-
Bull doge! Dogecoin soars as Trump announces a government efficiency group nicknamed DOGE
-
A Call for Massive Reinvestment Aims to Reverse Coal Country’s Rapid Decline
-
Ohio’s Nuclear Bailout Plan Balloons to Embrace Coal (while Killing Renewable Energy Rules)
-
How new words get minted (Indicator favorite)