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Political winds shifting for renewable energy in Virginia?
Late last week, the U.S. Department of Interior announced plans to sell leases for the development of wind energy 27 miles off of Virginia’s shores and another lease block off of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. If constructed, these would be the first offshore wind generation facilities in the United States. While Virginia is far from…
Read MoreSingin’ the Catawba River Blues After Commission’s Decision On Coal Ash
By Hallie Carde Red, White and Water intern, Spring 2013 North Carolina, we have a problem. The waste from burning coal, known as coal ash, continues to threaten our state’s water supply. Seepage from coal ash impoundments is contaminating North Carolina’s water at various sites throughout the state. Unaddressed in the past and denied in…
Read MoreThey’re Here: Alien Species in Appalachia
By Matt Grimley Anything that costs $120 billion every year to control can’t be good. That’s just one estimate of the costs of invasive species in the United States, courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Research Station. In Appalachia, the everyday costs are more apparent: the smear of house sparrow droppings on your windshield, the garlic…
Read MoreA Physician’s Take on Coal Pollution
A few weeks after releasing our report, The Human Cost of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining, and helping launch the No More Excuses campaign through iLoveMountains.org, I was turned on to a interview about the impacts to human health during various stages of the coal use cycle. On Earthjustice’s Down to Earth podcast, Jessica Knoblauch spoke…
Read MoreDon’t Depress, Divest — Reflections on 350.org’s Climate Change Roadshow
On Monday, author and environmentalist Bill McKibben and 350.org’s climate change roadshow, the “Do the Math” tour, packed the Page Auditorium at Duke University. The energy in the room was high, the crowd was diverse and full of familiar faces, and maybe I’m just biased, but my younger brother and I couldn’t help but recognize…
Read MoreElectoral Math for “All You Climate People”
During a campaign season in which climate change featured most prominently as a laugh line at the Republican National Convention, the low point was when CNN’s Candy Crowley addressed “all you climate people” in her explanation of why climate didn’t come up during the presidential debates. Who knew that human disruption of the global climate…
Read MoreSustaining Healthy Appalachian Communities
Editor’s Note: Wendy Johnston is a sixth generation West Virginian from Mercer County and the granddaughter and great granddaughter of coal miners. Her post is the second in a series of guest blogs coinciding with our “No More Excuses” campaign on iLoveMountains.org, where we ask impacted Appalachians why President Obama should make ending mountaintop removal…
Read MoreCongratulations to our conservation allies on a major victory in the fight to end mountaintop removal!
Patriot Coal Co., one of the largest coal companies operating in Central Appalachia, today announced it will phase out mountaintop removal mining coal mining over the next several years, saying its decision is in the “best interests of the company and the communities where it operates.” The announcement is the result of an agreement between…
Read MoreMoving Appalachia Forward!
Editor’s Note: As part of the launch of the “No More Excuses” campaign on iLoveMountains.org, we asked people whose lives have been directly impacted by mountaintop removal coal mining to contribute their thoughts on why President Obama should make ending mountaintop removal a priority in his second term. The first in the series is a…
Read MoreShowing Faith in Appalachia’s Future
Last Saturday, the Office of Justice & Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond and Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., hosted an “Eco-Evening” to discuss how environmental issues in Virginia influence poverty and human health. I was invited to relate the devastation caused by mountaintop removal coal mining. Many attendees were seeing photos of the…
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