September 20, 2017
Duke Energy wants to raise NC rates
The company responsible for the Dan River coal ash disaster is asking state regulators to approve a 16 percent rate hike for residential customers — even though North Carolinians are already paying the cost for Duke’s coal ash mess.
[ Join fellow North Carolinians at these important hearings. ]
NC hits pause on pipeline
Earlier this month, Gov. Cooper’s administration delayed its decision on whether to permit the controversial fracked-gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline, requesting additional information about the project's potential impacts on more than 300 waterways in the state.
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Two new staffers in Tennessee
We’re delighted to welcome Bri and Nina to the Appalachian Voices team. Brianna Knisely hails from rural southern Ohio and focuses her career on community-driven sustainable development for rural areas. Nina Levison has experience organizing around environmental justice and energy issues. They are in our Knoxville office and work on bringing the benefits of energy efficiency to the people of East Tennessee.
It’s still happening: Mountaintop removal in Tennessee
The Clearfork Valley of Tennessee has been intensely surface-mined for decades. Now, KopperGlo Mining is moving forward with a nearly 1,500-acre mountaintop removal mine on nearby Cooper Ridge.
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Cultivating Appalachian wild medicinals
Harvesting plants like ginseng and ramps from Appalachian forests has long helped to sustain area families. Now, a movement called “forest farming” is emerging to grow these plants on private land to help strengthen the market for Appalachian botanicals.
[ Read the Appalachian Voice story ]
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A coal baron shirks his civic duty
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice clearly favors Central Appalachian coal — it’s largely how he made his fortune, after all. It’s less clear whether Justice is thinking about Central Appalachian people and the future of the region.
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