This was a vote on an amendment by Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) prohibiting federal funds from being used to enforce a regulation requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review permits for mountaintop coal mining in order to ensure that they were not polluting nearby rivers, lakes, and streams.  This amendment was offered to a continuing resolution funding the federal government through September 2011, and cutting $61 billion in federal funding for many government programs.

Griffith urged support for his amendment: “President Johnson had a war on poverty. There are some in my district and in Appalachia who believes that President Obama and his EPA have a war for poverty in the Appalachian region….There is a bumper sticker that is very popular now in my district. It says if you think coal is ugly, wait until you see poverty. There are some who believe--and I think that there are some in Washington who think--that southwest Virginia and other parts of Appalachia should just be a giant park for rich folks to visit, and that those of us who live there, the folks in Washington think, ought to be happy to have the jobs changing the sheets for the rich folks.

Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) opposed the amendment, arguing it was “designed to kill regulation of mountaintop mining. The amendment would prevent EPA from working with other federal agencies and mining companies to ensure that mountaintop mining is carried out in a manner that protects public health, the environment, and the economy using the best available science. Mountaintop surface mining removes entire mountaintops to access the coal underneath but then deposits toxic mining waste in nearby streams. Practices not carried out carefully and responsibly can be devastating to the environment and to local economies.”

The House agreed to this amendment by a vote of 235-185. Voting “yea” were 227 Republicans and 8 Democrats. 175 Democrats and 10 Republicans voted “nay.” As a result, the House agreed to an amendment prohibiting funds provided by a continuing resolution from being used to enforce a regulation requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to review permits for mountaintop coal mining in order to ensure that they were not polluting nearby rivers, lakes, and streams.