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Friday, July 15, 2011
News / Biz Coal lawyers blame birth defects on inbreeding, deny coal's role
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 11:01 AM
In WOW! WTF?! news from Grist.org:
Babies born in areas with mountaintop-removal mining have higher rates of birth defects -- we know that from a study that came out last month. But, say coal companies, that doesn't mean the mining CAUSES the birth defects! They could easily be caused by something else -- like, say, rampant inbreeding.A letter from law firm Crowell & Moring, representing the National Mining Association, rebutted the study's findings by saying they failed to account for "consanquinity." That is not a thing, but "consanguinity" is inbreeding. And inbreeding is a nasty (and false) rumor about West Virginia, where a lot of mountaintop-removal mining takes place.
Read the entire post here.
I bring this up because here in Charlotte there's a good chance that every time you turn on your lights you're burning a piece of the Appalachian Mountains and, apparently, contributing to birth defects in the communities immediately surrounding those mountains.
That's your coal FYI for the day. Now, take a minute to find out where the electricity in your home and office comes from with this handy database from iLoveMountains.org.
Have a look at the people who are being accused of being inbred and learn a little bit about the history of coal protests at Blair Mountain. I think you'll agree that these people aren't simpletons. No, they're citizens standing up for themselves and exercising their rights.
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