Enviro groups pan Obama's mining pick

Environmental activists say President Obama's nominee to oversee the nation's coal mines leaves much to be desired. As Pennsylvania's top environmental official for mining since 2002, Joseph G. Pizarchik rarely sided with interest groups arrayed against the mining companies, argued Jan Jarrett, president of the state environmental nonprofit PennFuture, in a Monday letter to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The Senate panel is poised to approve Pizarchik's nomination Thursday. "[T]hough Mr. Pizarchik formally entertains the views of coalfield residents, sporting organizations, and environmental and community groups, very rarely do those views prevail against industry lobbying or cause significant deviation from a forechosen path," Jarrett wrote. Jarrett said Pizarchik was "not the appropriate person" to lead the mining office, part of the Interior Department.