Legislation for the Mountaintop
by Dawn Coppock
A small group of Christian clergy and lay leaders gathered on a ridge
overlooking a flattened mountain that had once been higher than where
they now stood. The ravage and rubble beneath them looked more like the
surface of the moon than the lush Appalachian mountain it had been just
weeks before. The group had just heard grim statistics and shocking stories
of families whose faucets ran with poison water, whose children suffered
from breathing disorders and whose homes no one would buy. But it was
this desolate view that brought tears and powerless despair, as if at
the funeral of a beautiful child. And like a funeral, these Christians
leaned on their faith. Beholding this destruction, this forsaken piece
of God’s Creation, they sang "Amazing Grace."
Even when Christians are choked with overpowering grief, even when we
face destructive demons on a grand scale, we remember that, as children
of God, we are not powerless. Rev. John Gill, of Knoxville’s Church
of the Savior, United Church of Christ, was on the mountaintop that day,
and my friend Pat Hudson and I were in his congregation the following
Sunday. We will never forget John’s powerful description of what
he saw. We will never forget him saying simply, “This is sin.”
The question that came to Pat and me was, “How can we help make
this stop?”
It was a familiar question for Kathy Lindquist, a beloved youth leader
at Church of the Savior, who’d taken a passionate, spiritually-based
stand against the literal removal of mountains to extract coal in Appalachia.
Kathy, who died of cancer in the fall of 2005, saw her work in protecting
the environment--Creation Care, as she called it--as an extension of her
Christian faith. Inspired by Kathy’s spirit, the church resolved
to continue her work. And so it was that in 2005, Pat Hudson and I founded
the Lindquist Environmental Appalachian Fellowship (LEAF).
The primary ministry of LEAF is to draw attention to the scriptural call
for Creation Care in East Tennessee’s Christian churches. We do
this by offering free books and DVDs to interested churches through our
website, www.tnleaf.org We also provide
additional information, materials, and links, including scripture readings,
music, and adaptable church services. Most of all, LEAF feels called to
educate Christians about the devastation caused by mountain top removal
coal mining.
Mountain top removal (MTR) coal mining is a method of mining that blasts
off the tops of mountains, lowering them sometimes as much as 1,000 feet
in order to get to the coal seams which lie within like icing between
the layers of a cake. It has been called strip mining on steroids. The
practice permanently trades water quality, property values, tourism potential
and mountain communities for short-term gains for a few coal companies.
MTR is cheaper than underground mining, which means that while coal companies
make quick profits, few miners are employed. MTR uses one miner for every
five used in underground mining and employs them for a much shorter period
of time because MTR is so much faster than underground mining.
As an adoption attorney who advocates for child welfare laws, I assumed
that environmental welfare advocates must have anti-MTR legislation in
the pipeline; all I planned to do was direct LEAF’s energy to the
ongoing effort. I searched the Web and made phone calls to traditional
environmental groups. But there was nothing. For too many years environmentalists
have had their hands full working defense, maintaining and enforcing current
law. No one had been working on offense against MTR. That is, no one had
been working on new law.
I was frustrated but still never thought of LEAF proposing legislation.
LEAF was small and new. Legislation was not our primary mission. Other
good people had made mining issues their life’s work. We were still
new to the lingo. Just two years earlier, we hadn’t known a stream
buffer zone from ozone.
These were all good reasons for inaction, but God spoke, as He sometimes
will, in an unlikely voice. In the fall of 2007, at a child welfare meeting,
I saw Bob Tuke, a powerful Nashville lawyer and long-time colleague on
child welfare issues. I told him about LEAF for the first time. He said,
“Legislatively what is it that LEAF wants?” Before my brain
engaged, out of my mouth popped, “A ban on mountain top removal
coal mining.” I was a little embarrassed, afraid that I sounded
naively optimistic, but instead Bob said, “We can do that!”
It reminded me of God telling David, “Go choose five smooth stones.”
LEAF now had a powerful political ally but still no legislation. No one
at LEAF had the technical and scientific background to write effective
legislation. But the blessings were just beginning. Later that same day,
I also ran into Don Barger. As the Regional Director of the National Parks
and Conservation Association, Don has a reputation as an effective, yet
moderate environmental voice, and is widely recognized as a reliable source
of technical information. Within two weeks of Don’s “Yes,
I’ll help you,” the first draft of the bill to ban mountain
top removal coal mining in Tennessee was completed. My head was spinning.
People I called for input asked, “Why am I just hearing about this
now?” I had to say, “Because we just thought of it last week
and just wrote it yesterday.” The legislative session was set to
begin January 8th and the idea was first spoken out loud only two and
a half months earlier.
Today, the miracles just keep coming. As we reach out for technical and
political support to Tennessee’s environmental movement, the question
is not, “ What are you Christians doing here?” But, “Where
have you been?” The lobbyists tell LEAF that Christians don’t
know their own strength as spokespeople for creation. It is a message
LEAF is anxious to share with other Christians.
Recently LEAF secured its first-choice sponsors for the bill in the State
Senate and in the House. The sponsors are enthusiastic and optimistic.
The manna we need keeps appearing – in the form of low cost, high
quality help on the LEAF web site; free advice from experienced lobbyists,
organizers and an environmental consultant. We are grateful but not even
surprised by miracles anymore. Every time we need something, we pray,
“Either that or something better, God.” We are getting a lot
of something better.
As Christians we have to work on God’s time. Usually that requires
patience, but in this case God’s time appears to be right now. This
year my children made their own Christmas cookies. I didn’t have
time to help. I gave them a mix and cringed. But when I want to say, “I
don’t have time for this right now,” I remember what Pat Hudson
said when we first started LEAF. We are both busy working mothers. Pat,
a freelance writer, was finishing her first novel. She acknowledged that
a leadership role at LEAF would set back her book considerably, but Pat
said, “There’s not a book in this world, except Scripture,
that’s more important than a mountain.”
Clearly most of the work is still ahead of us. This is by no means a done
deal, but given what has happened so far, I feel sure the Christians in
Tennessee are up to the task. “Grow toward the light,” is
a little phrase I sometimes use to guide me. Just now LEAF is growing
toward the light like kudzu. We are as surprised as anyone; surprised,
delighted and grateful.
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*For educational materials, a copy of the legislation, regular updates
on the legislative progress and how to help see www.tnleaf.org.
*Part of LEAF’s commitment is that the legislators across the state
will hear from Christians in their districts supporting this bill. LEAF
only operates in East Tennessee. All Christians, but particularly those
from Middle and West Tennessee and from the coal producing counties of
upper East Tennessee, are encouraged to take a minute to write a HANDWRITTEN
personal note to their State Senator and house members in support of the
ban on MTR. More detailed information on how to identify the name and
address of your representatives and ideas on what to say in the note are
at the LEAF website: www.tnleaf.org.