Americans celebrated the first nationwide Earth Day 39 years ago, in 1970. Usually we remember such events when they fall on a decade or a century mark, and of course, next year’s 40th anniversary will be on everyone’s calendar. It’s…
Monthly Archives: April 2009
Test Results from TVA Ash Spill Warn of Serious Environmental Impacts
Story by Sarah Vig A respected team of scientists and water quality experts from North Carolina and Tennessee recently released a report analyzing water, sediment, and fish tissue samples taken near the site of the 1 billion gallon coal ash…
6th Annual Dine Out for the Mountains
April 22 Earth Day event to benefit Appalachian Voices If troubled economic times have meant cutting back on your charitable giving or if you’ve been looking for a good reason to go out to eat, Dine Out for the Mountains…
Citizen Lobby Effort Wins Cosponsors for Clean Water Protection Act
Week in Washington Results In New Sponsors For H.R. 1310 Story by Sarah Vig In the largest lobby effort to end mountaintop removal to date, nearly 150 people from 30 states joined forces in Washington, D.C. March 16 through 19…
Film Explores Appalachia’s Environment
Story by Linda Coutant A new film about the Appalachia region underscores a universal truth Western Civilization seems to struggle remembering: humanity is part of the environment, not separate from it. Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People airs on…
Scientists Describe Champion Trees of Virginia
Story by Maureen Halsema As I scrambled down the hill along the Appalachian Trail in Craig County, I could see gargantuan branches protruding in every direction. I realized that I had found the Keffer Oak. The massive branches spiraled around…
Historic Blair Mountain Battlefield Wins Recognition
Organizers Hope Register Status Will Help Protect The Mountain Story by Peter Slavin The nearly 30-year struggle for federal recognition of the Blair Mountain battlefield in West Virginia, scene of an epic military clash in 1921 between thousands of armed…
Clean Energy Corps
A Benefit for the Economy and the Environment By Linda Brinson The Clean Energy Corps has the potential to be an economic as well as an environmental boon for the Appalachian region. At the national level, the Clean Energy Corps…
Photovoltaic Prospects Are Sunny
Story by Bill Kovarik The phones are ringing off the hook at Solar Connexion in Blacksburg, Va., but Brian Walsh is out in the field installing photovoltaic panels. Keeping up with the rising number of inquiries is a dilemma that…
Green Entrepreneur Offers Energy Solutions to NC High Country
Story by Sarah Vig Boone, N.C. resident Kent Hively says he considers himself a “green collar worker,” but in truth, he’s also somewhat of a green entrepreneur. Hively started his business High Country Energy Solutions five years ago, before the…
