Written by Guest Contributor

AVMountainBorder-frontporch1

Guest Contributor

Welcome to our special feature where we invite guests to pull up a chair, sit a spell, and share their views on issues important to you.

Guest post: New SkyTruth research reveals legacy of mountaintop mining — and the policy implications

Explosives and heavy equipment: the perfect combination for mine owners to extract coal from a pristine Appalachian landscape. Too bad this process, known as mountaintop removal mining, is terrible if you live near the mined mountain, or in a watershed downstream, or on a planet faced with the imminent threat of ever-increasing temperatures brought about by greenhouse-gas emissions.

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Guest post: Alabama electric cooperatives rank last in new regional scorecard

If you haven’t heard, Energy Alabama has released an updated scorecard evaluating the performance of Alabama’s rural electric cooperatives in areas such as democratic governance, member services, and access to clean energy, to name a few.

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Why we will win

Mara Eve Robbins, a stalwart activist in the movement against the Mountain Valley Pipeline, reflects on community and hope in this special guest blog.

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Congress: Now is the moment to clean up acid mine drainage

Congress can clean up orange water by removing red tape. Join the efforts of community leaders across the country and tell Congress to let states use their infrastructure funding for acid mine drainage treatment!

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Bill and Lynn Limpert

The ACP was canceled but we still lost our land

A lot of irreparable harm can be inflicted during a fossil fuel pipeline fight. Just because a pipeline is eventually canceled, doesn’t stop it from bulldozing through precious land and water and exhausting community members to the bone as they fight for their lives.

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Amanda Pitzer headshot and Cheat River

Restoring waters damaged by acid mine drainage: A conversation with Amanda Pitzer

Amanda Pitzer with Friends of the Cheat discusses the specific impacts of acid mine drainage on the Cheat River, analyzes abandoned mine lands funding pending before Congress and charts a path for future success in collaboration with state and federal decision-makers.

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How acid mine drainage fits into pending mine cleanup legislation: A conversation with Joe Pizarchik

Joe Pizarchik, former head of OSMRE and one of the nation’s foremost experts on complex and sprawling abandoned mine lands issues, provides an essential overview of how acid mine drainage fits into pending legislative proposals and where we should look next.

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Confronting acid mine drainage: A conversation with Rural Action’s Marissa Lautzenheiser

In this conversation, Marissa Lautzenheiser of Rural Action lays out the basics of the acid mine drainage challenge, discusses the unique funding needs for AMD clean-up, and talks about some of the innovative work Rural Action is doing to tackle this problem.

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abandoned mine portal

Senate passes victory for abandoned mine lands – On to the House for improvements

The Senate just passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill that includes the LARGEST-EVER investment in abandoned mine land clean-up. Now we need the House to pass this bill with a few small changes that will make a big difference for local communities.

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Biden must stop methane pipelines to deliver on climate change and environmental justice

In the USA Today, Indigenous leader Crystal Cavalier and climate scientist Michael Mann team up for this op-ed calling out the Mountain Valley Pipeline as a nail in America’s climate coffin and environmental injustice.

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