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Mountaintop Removal Mining Linked to Poor Community Health
Cross-posted from Facing South, the Online Magazine of the Institute for Southern Studies. By Sue Sturgis. Living in a community where coal is mined by mountaintop removal can be bad for your health. That’s the finding of a new study conducted by researchers at the West Virginia University School of Medicine. Based on a random…
Read MoreDancing a beat to faith, economy and environment
By Jillian Randel Our planet, and the humans on it, are in great peril. God provided the world with beauty and bounty — enough for all to live happy and healthy, yet the origins of evil have fostered greed and corruption. In a wonderfully written one-woman show, Leaps and Bounds, Tevyn East weaves together religious…
Read MoreAnother Mercury Emitting Coal-fired Power Plant in Hampton Roads, Va: Adding Insult to Injury
Everyone knows that mercury is a toxic substance. We have all been told to never hold the mercury from a broken thermometer and to handle broken compact fluorescent light bulbs with care for the miniscule amount of mercury they contain. Mercury thermometers are now no longer allowed on many public school campuses. You may have…
Read MoreVulcan’s Boone Quarry Pollution Problem
Last night I was driving home, and noticed that Laurel Fork (along Hwy 105, just outside of Boone) was running a grayish color. I tracked down the source of the gray water, and it turned out to be the discharge from the Vulcan Boone Quarry (Just south of Boone on 105). Here is a video…
Read MoreBP Oil Spill Parallels Mountaintop Removal
Our Collective Voice By Jillian Randel Upon returning from a visit to the so-called “Coalfields”, author and activist, Terry Tempest Williams commented, “Just when you thought you can’t see anything worse than the Gulf Oil Spill, we went to Coal River Valley and I was shattered.” Today marks the one year anniversary of the explosion…
Read MoreGreat Smoky, or Great Smoggy Mountains?
Declining Air Quality in the Great Smoky Mountains By Kerri C. Weatherly Burning fossil fuels in the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi valleys convert into harmful secondary pollutants that are carried by wind into southern Appalachia. Research and observation of air quality in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park over the past few decades shows that…
Read MoreBartering for the Economy
By Jillian Randel Consider the effects that a warming earth will have on the global economy. Ecological and environmental systems provide enormous benefits to the goods and services sector, reminding leaders that we live in a multi-layered, interconnected world. The Appalachian region presents a diverse array of economies susceptible to the impacts of climate change.…
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Top 10 Arguments Used By Climate Skeptics
(And Why They’re Wrong)
By Dr. Matthew Wasson, Ph.D. The debate is over — at least in the scientific community. Over ninety-four percent of experts in the field agree that the climate is warming due to human activity. In 1998, nearly 75% of Americans believed that “solid evidence” of climate change existed. Due to a well-funded campaign by the…
Read MoreAcme McCrary: Shaping legs and sustainability in the textile industry
“A successful merchandise lineup hangs on the right products…and the right partner. Coincidentally, we offer both.” – Acme McCrary —Story by Kyle Wolff Textile plant Acme McCrary is out to prove that big industries can make a big impact. The company’s Pritchard Street facility in Asheboro, N.C., is home to one of the country’s largest…
Read MoreSolar decathlon, JOBS solar project… see what’s happening Across Appalachia
ASU in the Running for Solar Decathlon By Jesse Wood Students at Appalachian State University are striving to be shining examples of sustainability by building the best model home on the planet. ASU’s Solar Homestead team is one of 20 universities from around the globe competing in this year’s U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon,…
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