For Immediate Release
Contact: Trey Pollard, Sierra Club, (202) 495-3058
December 12, 2012
67,000+ Americans Ask Secretary Salazar to Halt the Expansion of Strip Mining Near Bryce Canyon
(Washington, DC) – Today, the Sierra Club delivered more than 67,000 petitions to the Department of the Interior, each demanding that Alton Coal’s proposed strip mine expansion on the doorstep of Utah’s beautiful Bryce Canyon National Park be stopped.
Alton’s proposed a nearly 3,500-acre expansion of an existing surface mine that further threatens both local businesses and the experiences enjoyed by the nearly 1.3 million visitors who travel to Bryce Canyon National Park every year. Now, tens of thousands of Americans are speaking out by calling on Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to stop the dirty, dangerous project.
Sierra Club Western Regional Campaign Director Bill Corcoran Released the Following Statement in Response:
“More than a million Americans visit Bryce Canyon every year to experience spectacular scenery, clean air, and beautiful views of the night sky - not coal dust, bulldozers, and destruction. But that’s exactly what they’d get if this dangerous strip mine expansion goes forward. Tens of thousands are speaking up to defend Bryce Canyon because giving coal free rein wouldn’t just bulldoze over our natural legacy, it would threaten businesses and families in the area that rely on the revenue created by having one of the nation’s most majestic parks in their backyard. In a region that is rapidly transitioning to clean, renewable energy, doubling down on the dirty fuels of the past does not make sense – especially when it threatens our local economies and our special places .”
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