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October/November 2009 issue in downloadable PDF
View the complete issue now! (9.2MB pdf file) TO DOWNLOAD A COPY: PC Users: right-mouse click on the link above and choose SAVE AS or DOWNLOAD LINKED FILE AS… Mac Users: control+click on the link above and choose SAVE AS or DOWNLOAD LINKED FILE AS…
Read MoreApp Voices’ Matt Wasson Finds Major Flaws in the Nature Conservancy’s “Energy Sprawl” Report
As Congress was returning from the August recess, there wasn’t much news about the climate bill. The only energy-related news breaking through the coverage of the rancorous health care debates and town-hall tea parties was a study on “energy sprawl” published by five staff members of the Nature Conservancy. “Renewable Energy Needs Land, Lots Of…
Read MoreWCHS-TV Eyewitness New: Boone County (West Virginia) Residents Sue Coal Companies, Parts 1 – 3
Watch this insightful piece from WCHS-TV Eyewitness New. From the WCHS-TV Website: “More than 200 people living in Prenter Hollow in Boone County are suing nine coal companies, claiming toxic coal slurry has seeped into their private water wells making some of them sick, even killing some of their neighbors. The coal companies adamantly deny…
Read MoreThank You Senator Byrd, Congressman Rahall, and Senator Rockefeller
Appalachian Voices is pleased to commend West Virginia Democratic Senator Robert C. Byrd, Senator Jay Rockefeller, and Congressman Nick Rahall for standing up to Massey Energy, and demanding that the company pay to relocate Marsh Fork Elementary. Their words are an encouraging sign that the efforts of coalfield citizens to protect their health and communities…
Read More7th Annual AMPC Photography Competition Focuses On Appalachia
Photographers of the world, it’s time to focus your lenses on Appalachia. Amateur and professional photographers alike are encouraged to enter The 7th Annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition (AMPC), which focuses on images that portray various aspects of Appalachian life. The competition is divided into seven separate categories, and over $4,000 in cash and prizes…
Read MoreSerena: Historical Fiction with a Taste for Blood (and Timber)
By Sarah Vig Set in the mountains of North Carolina during the early years of the Great Depression, the landscape of Ron Rash’s “Serena” (Harper Collins, $24.95) is at once familiar and foreign. Serena is the new bride of timber baron George Pemberton–she is anything but! Smart, beautiful, and fiercely independent at a time when…
Read MoreAs Natural Gas Heats Up, Issues With Extraction Expand
By Maureen Halsema Natural gas is one of the cleanest burning fossil fuels, but as it grows in popularity, concerns are expanding about extraction methods and the gas’ inherent volatility. The Appalachian Basin region is home to one of most expansive reserves of natural gas—the Marcellus Shale. This reserve lies over a mile beneath the…
Read MoreJudge Recused in Mingo Water Trial
By Julie Johnson This summer, 735 Mingo Co, W.Va. resident’s quest for civil restitution and medical monitoring was the focus of a series of judicial controversies. Since 2004, these individuals have been involved in litigation with Massey Energy over their water. They claim that coal slurry—the byproduct of washing raw coal to remove combustible elements—infected…
Read MoreTennessee Student Environmental Alliance Connects Children with Nature
By Julie Johnson Students in eight Chattanooga-area schools are helping to clean up the greater Tennessee River watershed. Focusing their efforts on the “Ridge to River” system, the students learn about their water and the effects of pollution on its quality, from the small streams at the tops of mountains to the large rivers in the…
Read MoreEPA Grants Temporary Stay of Execution for Over 79 Mountains
Story by Sandra Diaz In line with an interagency “memorandum of understanding,” the Environmental Protection Agency announced their recommendations on 79 valley fill permit applications associated with mountaintop removal coal mining. In a move that pleased environmentalists and coalfield residents in central and southern Appalachia, the EPA wants to further review all 79 permits for…
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