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At the behest of a Knoxville-based Christian group, State Sen. Raymond Finney, R-Maryville, is pushing legislation that would prohibit the controversial practice of mountaintop removal mining in Tennessee.

Basically, mountaintop removal mining is what is sounds like -- mining companies blow the top off of mountains with explosives to get at coal seams and avoid the expenses related to digging mines.

Finney's Senate Bill 3822 would prohibit this practice in Tennessee.

"It doesn't harm the coal mining industry," Finney said. "It doesn't keep Tennessee from having all the electricity we want. It's not going to affect electric power rates, but it is going to prevent destruction of the resources we can use for year after year after year -- that is the tourist attraction of our mountains. If that is gone, we've lost a great resource for the area."

Finney sponsored the bill after being contacted by Dawn Coppock, legislative director of the Lindquist Environmental Appalachian Fellowship, a Christian group established by members of the Church of the Savior, United Church of Christ, in Knoxville.

"Our bills says you can mine that coal anyway you want to ... but, you can't blow a chunk out of a mountain to get it," Coppock said.

Although mining companies are required to reclaim the damaged sites once the mining is complete, they cannot restore the mountains to their original condition, Coppock said.

"A man can never build a mountain as well as God did," she said. "They can say what they want about reclamation, but they can't compete with God. It's not going to grow back."

The mountains of Blount County aren't directly threatened by mining. Mountains with accessible coal are generally found in Middle Tennessee on the Cumberland Plateau, Coppock said.

"It is so important that we limit these practices in Tennessee," Finney said. "We just can't let our mountains go the way of the mountains in Kentucky and West Virginia."

LEAF advocates good stewardship of natural resources.

"Our primary mission is to raised awareness of the Christian responsibility for creation care," Coppock said. "'The earth is the Lord's,' Psalm 24:1. We sometimes act like it is ours."

For more information about LEAF, visit its Web site at www.tnleaf.org.