I am not entirely certain that this new legislation would eliminate the enforcement of restoration of surface mining, but it seems at first reading that it relies on the national standards.  I want Virginia to go beyond the national standards in all cases since the EPA is lost and can't find it's own nose.

I recently moved my son into a home in Grundy, VA so he could attend law school.  During my visits (he is a hunter and an outdoorsman) he has taken me to visit all of the blow off mountain tops in both SW VA and Kentucky.  Gee what a wonderful thing we are doing to what God gave us.  Sorry, but that's all I could think on these hikes where sometimes we actually weren't allowed to hike!

Anyway, if my state government is at all thinking that they don't need to watch over these coal companies because for some reason they are going to be able to audit themselves, then I'm not sure where my government lives or if they've ever visited these areas.  It is quite obvious that numerous water sources have been destroyed and that many more will be destroyed if we continue to allow surface mining and the sludge that it produces.  

Please don't allow this any longer.  Put the mine people to work in a cleaner industry such as building solar panels or wind turbines for all the desert areas across the world.  Even if we can't use them in the mountains, we can build them here and save our natural resource.  

Please start thinking what we are doing to our earth or we aren't going to have it to sustain us any longer.  Thank you.

Barbara Scheid

School Teacher

Giles High School