I'm sure there's pros and cons to Murkowski's actions. There is a greener more efficient method WITHOUT using incineration, that's what she is failing to see. Instead she wants to maintain burning until the EPA designs a low emission incinerator? Don't hold your breath, and she knows it'll never happen.
 There are plenty of green activists who would jump on this challenge to offer a solution to rural villages burning what waste they actually have. They should use this to tackle the problem, not revert to the old ways. 

I think their driving force is the impact on coal mining while using the villages as a moral driving force. I have no knowledge of how coal miners could reduce their environmental impact, but I'm sure people in that industry could come up with some resolution or reduced impact.Why they can't mine away from streams, is beyond me.