RockingChair

Front Porch Blog

Updates from Appalachia

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EPA announces rollback of decades’ worth of regulations

On March 12, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced what it called the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history,” a rollback of dozens of important environmental health protections that will put communities across the nation at risk and let polluters go wild.

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Kara Dotten, New Economy Program Coordinator, and Matt Allenbaugh, Virginia Campaign Coordinator, table during the 2025 Virginia General Assembly session.

Virginia’s 2025 General Assembly session wraps up

Matt Allenbaugh shares a few highlights from the Virginia General Assembly. We’ll share more updates on the bills we’ve worked on after the governor’s veto session wraps up on April 2 and we know which bills are becoming law! 

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Residents fight for Kentucky water

SB 89 would strip protections for Kentucky’s groundwater, headwater ephemeral streams and many wetlands, increasing pollution risks, raising water treatment costs and exacerbating flood risks for communities across the commonwealth.

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TVA doesn’t make public participation easy, but showing up is making a difference

On a cold and rainy Wednesday afternoon in mid-February, nearly 20 advocates and community members trudged to downtown Knoxville to speak and show support for our concerns as the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors met for its first public listening session of the new year. 

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Federal regulators shut down illegal WV coal haul road — Interior quietly reopens it at company’s request

In a whirlwind of conflicting decisions, the U.S. Department of the Interior has quietly allowed South Fork Coal Company to resume hauling coal through the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia — just weeks after Biden administration regulators shut down the unlawful haul road.

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