CHARLESTON, WV - Donald Trump late last week instructed the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to cease all work on studying of public health effects of mountaintop removal coal mining - threatening the lives of thousands of people living near mine sites in Appalachia and across the country.
In response, Bill Price, Senior Appalachia Organizing Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign:
“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. Trump has once again shown the people of Appalachia that we mean nothing to him. From his proposed budget cuts to Appalachian Regional Commission, to pushing to take away healthcare from thousands of Appalachian people, and now stripping doctors and scientists of the ability to warn us about the health effects of mountaintop coal removal, Trump’s showing that he’s only been pretending to care about our communities.
“What did we ever do to him? Everyone knows there are major health risks living near mountaintop coal removal sites, but communities living with daily health threats were counting on finally getting the full story from the professionals at the National Academies of Science. To take that away without warning or adequate reason is beyond heartless. It appears that the only people Trump cares about in Appalachia are coal executives, not the people who’ve lived and worked here for generations. People here trusted him, but he is proving he didn’t deserve that trust.