Rep. Johnson Pledges to Continue Fight to Save Tennessee Mountains from Chinese Mountaintop Removal

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- State Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) pledged to carry on her fight to protect Tennessee’s mountaintops and the state's multi-billion dollar tourism industry despite this year's special interest setback in the state legislature.

Rep. Johnson's companion bill -- the Scenic Vistas Act, a measure that would prohibit mountain top removal above 2,000 feet in Tennessee -- died Wednesday in the Senate Energy, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Committee.

"It's clear that big special interests control too many politicians in legislature," Johnson said. "If we do nothing to protect our mountaintops, we will be left with nothing. Our irreplaceable mountains will be destroyed, the economic benefits will be shipped to China, and our multi-billion dollar tourism industry will be left in shambles."

According to MarketWatch, Guizhou Guochuang Energy Holding Company, based in Guiyang, Guizhou China, is the "first Chinese company to invest in coal in America," The Chinese corporation now owns 30,000 acres of East Tennessee ridgelines.

The Scenic Vistas Act would protect East Tennessee mountain ranges from the destructive practice of mountaintop removal employed by coal companies, including Guizhou Guochauang Energy Holding's Tennessee-based operations.

Mountaintop removal not only kills tourism jobs, but it eliminates coal-mining jobs, too, because it requires fewer employees to blow up a mountain, Johnson said.

"It’s past time the politicians who run the legislature put the interests of everyday Tennesseans above the concerns of corporate special interests," Rep. Johnson said. "Regardless of today’s outcome, we will carry on this fight. As long as there are mountains in Tennessee, I will be standing beside the business owners and families who are working to protect our mountains for the future."

BACKGROUND:

"We are what you might say a Chinese company." Triple H's operations manager, Alex Housley, said in a telephone interview that the family owned company is being sold (to Guizhou Guochuang Energy Holding Company, based in Guiyang, Guizhou China). [Timesfreepress.com, 3/20/13]

Guizhou Guochuang Energy Holding raised $616 million to acquire and develop Triple H Coal, which operates in Jacksboro, Tenn. According to MarketWatch, "This is the first Chinese company to invest in coal in America."

Chinese Company Owns 30,000 Acres of Tennessee Mountaintops. With this corporate acquisition, Guizhou Guochuang Energy Holding Company now owns 30,000 acres of mineral rights. [triplehcoal.com, accessed 3/20/13]