When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet? Ezekiel 34:18

Action: Please sign the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Ministries' petition to the EPA asking for an end to the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.

Background: As part of our prophetic witness, we take a stand against the injustice of mountaintop removal coal mining and the devastating impacts it has on Creation and local communities' health and livelihoods. Over the past 20 years, mountaintop removal mining has left thousands of communities in extreme poverty, destroyed 14 million acres of forest and 2,000 miles of headwater streams, and leveled 501 mountains. Mountaintop removal puts nearby communities at risk from: mudslides, flooding, loss of crops, and increased levels of birth defects, respiratory disease, and cancer. Though the EPA has successfully rejected a permit early in 2011 and objected to 19 more late in the year, they  must commit to ending the practice completely.

Faith Reflection: As stewards of God's creation, we are responsible to cultivate and preserve the Earth’s resources. We are also called to care for our neighbors and the vulnerable. This includes communities that have been harmed by practices such as mountaintop removal which not only unnecessarily destroys God’s creation but also damages the livelihoods of many Appalachian residents and contributes to economic injustice in the region. Read more.

Mountaintop removal resources  |  NCC Eco-Justice Ministries MTR worship resources

Action: Please sign the National Council of Churches' petition to the EPA, endorsing the statement below:

We are called to protect Earth, for as the Psalmist declares: The Earth is the Lord's, and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it. I urge you to protect God's Creation by acting as a steward of the abundant Creation God has given us to share equitably among all people. Please stop the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.

Sign the petition here.

Alert prepared by Emily Wilson-Hauger, Public Policy Intern. Posted on 2/15/2012.

Adapted from an announcement by the NCC Eco-Justice Ministries.