Mountaintop Mining Permits to Get More Thorough Reviews

The Obama Administration is going to look more closely at mountaintop mining permits, according to a report in the Washington Post and reports in the Charleston Gazette and Charleston Daily Mail. The plan is a memorandum of understanding entered into between EPA, Interior and the Corps of Engineers to more closely scrutinize mountaintop mining permits for environmental harm. Whether this is merely a closer review of permitting and stream effects of mining, or a method of slowly cutting off permits for mountaintop mining, remains to be seen.