The Front Porch Blog, with Updates from AppalachiaThe Front Porch Blog, with Updates from Appalachia

BLOGGER INDEX

ReImagining Your Community with the help of EPA’s Environmental and Justice Community Change Grants

Wednesday, December 13th, 2023 | Posted by Guest Contributor | No Comments

The EPA’s Community Change Grants could be an opportunity to engage key community stakeholders in strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to promote climate resilience, and to simultaneously create good jobs for local residents. Check out the ReImagine Your Community resource page for resources to help guide community visioning and project development. [ Read More ]


Guest post: Apply for a bonus 10 to 20% credit for solar project funding

Thursday, October 19th, 2023 | Posted by Guest Contributor | No Comments

Low-income communities across Appalachia can apply for a bonus 10 to 20% tax credit available to eligible solar projects. There’s a limited priority application window for this tax credit, which can be stacked on top of other solar incentives! [ Read More ]


Appalachian success stories from climate infrastructure funding

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023 | Posted by Guest Contributor | No Comments

In November 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly known as the bipartisan infrastructure law, followed by other landmark legislation that, together, unlocked a wealth of federal climate infrastructure funding. [ Read More ]


Appalachia receives major benefits from federal Inflation Reduction Act to power solar projects

Thursday, August 3rd, 2023 | Posted by Guest Contributor | No Comments

Going solar has become more accessible and affordable for nonprofit organizations, businesses, and local governments in Appalachia. Communities near a recently closed coal mine or coal-fired power plant directly benefit from significant federal funding flowing into the region. [ Read More ]


Gaming the system — Part III

Saturday, June 10th, 2023 | Posted by Guest Contributor | No Comments

In 2021, the Government Accountability Office found big problems with the Labor Department’s current rules because they do not require sufficient collateral to cover both current and future black lung liabilities. [ Read More ]


Gaming the system — Part II

Friday, June 9th, 2023 | Posted by Guest Contributor | No Comments

Congress stated clearly that coal operators, instead of taxpayers, would shoulder the cost of black lung when it set up the Black Lung Trust Fund. The trust fund was intended to be a backstop for miners rather than a means for coal operators to underinsure their liabilities. [ Read More ]


Gaming the system — Part I

Thursday, June 8th, 2023 | Posted by Guest Contributor | 1 Comment

At its core, this is the age-old story of corporate greed whereby rapacious mine operators, who have subjected generations of miners to disabling and fatal black lung disease, managed to transfer their responsibility to pay black lung benefits to suffering coal miners from their corporate coffers to the taxpayer’s pockets. [ Read More ]


Guest post: New SkyTruth research reveals legacy of mountaintop mining — and the policy implications

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023 | Posted by Guest Contributor | No Comments

Explosives and heavy equipment: the perfect combination for mine owners to extract coal from a pristine Appalachian landscape. Too bad this process, known as mountaintop removal mining, is terrible if you live near the mined mountain, or in a watershed downstream, or on a planet faced with the imminent threat of ever-increasing temperatures brought about by greenhouse-gas emissions. [ Read More ]


Guest post: Alabama electric cooperatives rank last in new regional scorecard

Tuesday, February 7th, 2023 | Posted by Guest Contributor | No Comments

If you haven’t heard, Energy Alabama has released an updated scorecard evaluating the performance of Alabama’s rural electric cooperatives in areas such as democratic governance, member services, and access to clean energy, to name a few. [ Read More ]


Why we will win

Thursday, September 29th, 2022 | Posted by Guest Contributor | No Comments

Mara Eve Robbins, a stalwart activist in the movement against the Mountain Valley Pipeline, reflects on community and hope in this special guest blog. [ Read More ]


Congress: Now is the moment to clean up acid mine drainage

Thursday, March 3rd, 2022 | Posted by Guest Contributor | No Comments

Congress can clean up orange water by removing red tape. Join the efforts of community leaders across the country and tell Congress to let states use their infrastructure funding for acid mine drainage treatment! [ Read More ]


The ACP was canceled but we still lost our land

Monday, February 21st, 2022 | Posted by Guest Contributor | 1 Comment

A lot of irreparable harm can be inflicted during a fossil fuel pipeline fight. Just because a pipeline is eventually canceled, doesn’t stop it from bulldozing through precious land and water and exhausting community members to the bone as they fight for their lives. [ Read More ]



 

 


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