Appalachian Voice welcomes letters to the editor and comments on our website. We run as many letters as possible, space permitting. The views expressed in these letters, and in personal editor responses, are the opinions of the authors and are…
Monthly Archives: February 2009
Letters to the Editor
TAGS: American Electric Power Cumberland Park Fly Ash Giles County Mountaintop Removal Natural Gas New River Viewpoint Virginia
How TVA Could Lead Utilities Into the Future
Story by Bill Kovark Old fashioned utilities used to make money by selling electric power. In a bygone era, making money by NOT selling electric power seemed unthinkable. A few weeks ago, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine stood the old logic…
Coal Ash Cleanup Effort Comes in Phases
Story by Sarah Vig “A clean-up can either be done right or it can be a ticking time bomb,” California Senator Barbara Boxer cautioned TVA CEO Tom Kilgore during the Environment and Public Works committee’s oversight hearing on the recent…
Opinion
Citizens and Advocates: The New Newsmakers By Bill Kovarik and Sarah Vig From the standpoint of public information, the TVA Fly Ash Disaster was unlike any other environmental disaster in recent history. Immediately following the spill, TVA’s public relations department…
TAGS: Appalachian State University Appalachian Voices Don Gilmor editorial opinion TVA TVA Fly Ash Disaster
TVA must clean house
Recent events clearly show the need for a clean sweep of TVA’s leadership. It’s not just Tom Kilgore, the CEO of TVA, who needs to be held accountable. The nine-member board of directors, entirely appointed by the Bush Administration as…
United Mountain Defense: On the Front Lines at TVA Spill Site
Story by Sarah Vig Call them the environmental movement’s equivalent of an emergency response team. Within only 14 hours of the dam failure at the Kingston Fossil Plant, United Mountain Defense mobilized. Having gained years of experience organizing and conducting…
TAGS: air quality Bonnie Swinford Coal Ash Matt Landon Mountaintop Removal TVA Kingston coal ash spill United Mountain Defense
Emory River System: Beauty and Biodiversity in Peril?
By Dr. Anna George, Tennessee Aquarium “There is nothing more eloquent in Nature than a mountain stream.” On September 12, 1867, John Muir crossed the Emory River on his 1,000-mile walk to the Gulf of Mexico. He had set out…
TAGS: biodiversity Clinch River Emory River hydroelectric dams Obed River River preservation South Cumberland Plateau
Altered Lives- The Human Side of an Environmental Disaster
Story by Sarah Vig When looking at photographs of the TVA coal ash disaster in Roane County Tennessee, the enormity of the spill’s environmental impact is immediately apparent. According to some, the disaster could only be put into perspective from…
4th Annual Week In Washington To Promote Clean Water Protection Act
Help Lobby Members of Congress to Pass an Anti-Mountaintop Removal Bill In mid-March, the Alliance for Appalachia will be sponsoring the fourth annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington, a week of direct lobbying by Appalachian residents and others from…
TAGS: Appalachian Mountains Preservation Act Appalachian Voices Clean Water Clean Water Act Dave Reichert Frank J. Pallone Georgians For Smart Energy Mary Margaret Oliver Mountaintop Removal Water Pollution Control Act Week in Washington
Field Coordinator and Riverkeeper Canoe Into Tennessee Coal Sludge
Narrative by Sandra Diaz December 26th, 4:30pm – 4 days after the 1 billion gallon toxic coal ash spill in Harriman, TN. I’m on the phone with Donna Lisenby, the Upper Watauga Riverkeeper in North Carolina, who was planning to…
