The Tennessee Valley Authority was created in the 1930s to bring cheap electricity to the most rural reaches of the Tennessee River valley. Almost a century later, many residents are struggling to pay electric bills that can be hundreds of dollars a month for their modest homes. Utility-sponsored financing to help with energy-efficiency improvements would go a long way.
After two years of pressure from citizens, West Virginia permanently halted mining at the KD#2 mountaintop removal coal mine. But the mine has already damaged land and water. This guest post features a statement from the Kanawha Forest Coalition.
Education is a key part of our work, and one way we are helping residents lower their energy costs is by creating and sharing some short videos with Do-It-Yourself energy efficiency tip. This video features John Kidda, founder and President of reNew Homes, Inc., in Boone, N.C., discusses programmable thermostats as a way to save on heating and cooling.
For the Schmidt family of Tazewell, Tennessee, managing their budget is a balancing act, and one they have become very good at. But high electric bills–up to $300 in the winter–makes that balance tricky to maintain, sometimes leaving very little for emergency funds, much less for the home repairs they need that could actually lower their energy use.
Our democratic responsibility should not be confined just to voting on Election Day. We have opportunities throughout the year to participate; whether it’s speaking before our town council, meeting with our congressional representatives, writing a letter-to-the-editor, attending a rally or signing an online petition, each action represents a voice or idea that would otherwise not be heard.
While North Carolina is rightfully focused on the coal ash scandal, another environmental tug-of-war is strengthening in some of the state’s poorest areas. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would cut 170 miles through eastern N.C. where a quarter to a third of people live in poverty. And this is precisely why these types of projects are placed in low-income communities: to reduce the chance of resistance.
Appalachian states are burdened by millions of tons of toxic coal ash. Without firm federal standards, it’s up to states to determine much of the cleanup process — and regional states are taking varying approaches.
Trail advocates in Pound, Va., Elizabethton, Tenn., and Wyoming County, W.Va., are working with community members and partners to develop new hiking paths.
The next generation is overcoming barriers to achieve their goals By Molly Moore Answers to broad questions about Appalachia’s future — such as how coal-bearing counties will transform as the region’s chief industry declines — are invariably traced back to…
