Obama Appoints Mining Advocate
President Obama has elected a coal proponent to head the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM). Simply put, this is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house.
After months of internal debate, Obama passed over prominent mining reform candidates to select Joseph G. Pizarchik, a Pennsylvania mining regulator. Pizarchik has taken a pro-industry line on acid mine drainage and has become a leading advocate for disposal of toxic industrial coal ash in coal mine sites. He claims this is a “beneficial use” of the same coal combustion waste involved in the disastrous TVA spill in December that devastated 300 acres.
During his August 6th confirmation hearing, Pizarchik astonishingly claimed ignorance about mountain-top removal or what changes the Obama administration might propose, since that mining technique is not widely used in his state. That would be like the cybersecurity czar claiming ignorance of the Internet.
Obama’s choice signifies yet another broken campaign promise: to end environmentally destructive coal mining practices such as mountain-top removal. According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), placating the coal industry has become the central plank of the administration’s environmental agenda.
“It is appointments like this that are causing many to become disillusioned with the Obama presidency,” said PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. He noted the Obama administration has approved tens of permits for mountain-top mining. “Putting forward a nominee who claims ignorance on a central issue so that his true position cannot be discerned is the sort of cynical politics I thought President Obama vowed to change.”