Written by Brian Sewell
Brian Sewell
Brian is an environmental news junkie concerned with our lagging energy policy and revealing the true cost of coal on our health, the environment and the climate. He is Appalachian Voices' Director of Strategic Advancement.
For Patriot Coal, Ending Mountaintop Removal is a “Win-Win”
A little more than a year ago, Patriot Coal announced it would phase out its use of mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia as part of a settlement with environmental groups over selenium pollution. Taken at face value, statements made at that time by Patriot’s CEO Bennett Hatfield held promise that the movement against mountaintop removal, focused on exposing the poor economics as well as the irreversible environmental impacts of the destructive practice, had reached a pivotal turning point.
Five Years After the TVA Coal Ash Disaster, What Do We Have to Show For It?
It’s been five years since more than a billion gallons of coal ash flooded rivers and neighborhoods surrounding the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency promised to take action, but to this day Americans are asking the EPA: “Where are you?”
We went back to December 2008 to track political and social progress around the globe, and put it side-by-side with the lack of progress the EPA has made toward protecting clean water and our health from toxic coal ash. Check out the timeline below and click it for a larger version.
However Long Overdue, Our Energy Efficiency Opportunity Is At Hand
Today’s Bloomberg View editorial bears a headline at once forehead-slapping simple and frustratingly complex: Energy Efficiency Is Long Overdue. “On a global scale, we humans are becoming more energy efficient with each passing year,” the Bloomberg piece begins. “Even so, we’re exploiting only a fraction of the technological opportunities to use energy more cost-effectively.”
North Carolina fails to adopt national water quality standards for heavy metals — Former state employee to speak out at DENR hearing today
Contact: Cat McCue, Communications Director, 434-293-6373 Raleigh —…
The Clock is Ticking on Coal Ash: EPA Given 60 Days to Set Deadline on Regulation of Toxic Coal Waste
After years of delays and setbacks, the clock…
Appalachian Coal Losing Another Customer: Eastern Kentucky as a Case Study
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Paradise Fossil Plant sits…
In Wake of Shutdown, Polls Point to Congress’s Unpopularity and Public Support of EPA
Two recent polls reveal that North Carolinians and…
In Defense of the Earth: An Appalachian Poet’s Presence
Stream “Wendell Berry, Poet & Prophet” below or…
Appalachian Coal Losing Another Customer: High Prices Push Utilities to Competing Reserves
We posted a piece yesterday about the retirement…
Appalachian Coal Losing Another Customer: New England’s Largest Coal Plant to Close
The Brayton Point Power Station, a 1,600-megawatt power…
