This afternoon, Gina McCarthy cleared the first hurdle in replacing Lisa Jackson as the next Administrator of the EPA. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted in favor of McCarthy in a 10-8 vote which followed party lines.

Republicans on the committee have vowed to continue to oppose her confirmation until she sufficiently responds to a list of questions and demands. John Walke from the Natural Resources Defense Council has an interesting take on those demands which you can read about here.

Next up for McCarthy is a vote on the Senate floor, where she will need support from both Democrats and Republicans to be confirmed. Appalachian Voices continues to urge the Senate to swiftly approve Gina McCarthy for the position.

The Obama administration’s pick to run the Department of the Interior, Sally Jewell, had her confirmation hearing last Thursday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Jewell is the chief executive of REI, the outdoor equipment company, and has experience as an engineer for Mobil, a banker for Washington Mutual, and a board member of the National Parks Conservation Association.

During the hearing, she was questioned by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). He predictably focused on coal and the potential for any new regulation on the industry. Manchin asked Jewell for the definition of a stream, which apparently she does not carry around in her pocket at all times. After not giving much of a response, Manchin seemed content to offer his own:

“Is it basically a flowing water stream,” he said. “Twelve months a year, mostly a wet water stream that flows 12 months a year.”

That definition is somewhat similar to the official definition of a perennial stream. According to the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement, a perennial stream is “a stream or part of a stream that flows continuously during all of the calendar year as a result of ground-water discharge of surface runoff” — an interpretation that is commonly used by state regulators too.

Manchin and the coal industry would prefer that perennial streams be the only interpretation of “stream” under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. But it does not include intermittent or ephemeral streams, which carry water for most of the year, but not perennially. If OSMRE were to finalize a rule-making prohibiting the dumping of waste into streams according to Manchin’s narrow definition, mining companies would continue using valley fills to dump mountaintop removal waste, polluting ecosystems and communities.

President Obama’s Inaugural address was full of promise for those of us working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global climate change and put an end to mountaintop removal coal mining.

The president has long been a proponent of clean energy investment and the jobs it will bring to the United States, but for much of the last election comments on climate change were rare and uninspiring. Today we were treated to something a little more direct and powerful.

“We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.”

The mention of climate change brought an immediate cheer from the massive crowd. I

The 113th Congress officially began last Thursday, January 3. A group of 67 freshman Representatives (29 Republican, 38 Democratic) were sworn-in that morning. A few hours later, Appalachian Voices staffers were in their offices telling them about mountaintop removal mining and the Clean Water Protection Act. I joined the dream team of Matt Wasson, Lenny Kohm and Kate Rooth as we crashed some welcome-to-Congress parties, handing Congressional staffers their first bit of homework.

The D.C. District Court yesterday said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took the wrong procedural path last year in protecting Appalachian stream health from mountaintop removal coal mining permits by issuing a so-called agency “guidance” instead of a formal rule. The guidance was based on strong science showing that high levels of heavy metals in surface coal mines impair aquatic life and pose a threat to public health.

The coal industry and its allies jumped the gun yesterday in declaring victory over EPA in the first round of media stories. The court did not say the agency lacks the authority to ensure that Clean Water Act permits are consistent with that science.

Very importantly, the ruling does not prevent the Administration from denying valley fill mountaintop removal permits that violate the Clean Water Act.

We expect nothing less than for the EPA to defend its science-based guidance.

Appalachian Voices is also strongly calling on the Obama Administration to fulfill its responsibility to protect the health and environment of Appalachia by issuing new rules — with full public participation — to replace the coal industry-friendly rules that have been harming Appalachian communities for far too long.

Now more than ever, Americans need to stand by the Appalachian people and mountains and call for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining.