Written by Kevin Ridder
Kevin Ridder
Born in Arizona and raised in Tennessee, Kevin’s love of the mountains drove him to move even further east to Boone, N.C., where he serves as The Appalachian Voice's Associate Editor and a communications associate for the organization.
Cletus and Beverly Bohon
After Cletus and Beverly Bohon spent almost 30 years living in their peaceful woods, Mountain Valley Pipeline developers used eminent domain to cut down a swath of trees on their property.
Carolyn Reilly
The Reillys moved to Virginia in 2010 in search of a more fulfilling, farm-based lifestyle — a lifestyle disrupted in the past few years by the developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Elise and Ellen Gerhart
Fighting back against a pipeline company with the worst oil spill rate in the country, the Gerhart family started a tree-sit in March 2017 that was still ongoing a year later.
Ashby Berkley
Ashby Berkley’s plans to renovate Sweet Springs Resort in Monroe County, W.Va., are muddied by fears of the Mountain Valley Pipeline puncturing an aquifer and depleting the resort’s renowned natural springs.
Virginia Law Grants Large Utilities Less Regulation
Massive changes in Virginia’s energy policy were signed into law last month, with many legislators crying foul.
Kentucky Legislators Split Over Solar
A Kentucky net-metering bill that would allow the state to decide how much money residents with rooftop solar earn from the surplus power they produce narrowly passed the state House in March.
Decades in the Making: A Mine Reclamation Backlog
Several charts and maps show the enormity of the abandoned mine problems that still need to be cleaned up — and the inadequacy of the current cleanup fund.
The Ongoing Cleanup of Abandoned Coal Mines
A key federal mine reclamation program is up for reauthorization in 2021 — and the work is far from finished.
