Environmental groups and Appalachian activists are criticizing new Obama administration rules on mountaintop removal as too lax on the coal industry. On Thursday, the White House unveiled new regulations governing mountaintop removal, the controversial coal mining practice that has caused extensive environmental damage in the Appalachian region. The changes include ending fast-track approval for new mining permits, imposing more extensive environmental reviews, and asserting federal authority over state-level regulators. But critics say the rules offer few specifics and will have little effect, if any. Joan Mulhern of Earthjustice said, “The administration is proposing…to essentially [rearrange] the bureaucratic deck chairs on the disastrous ship that is mountaintop removal. They announced…no substantive policies to actually stop the destruction [it’s] caused.”