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Tree-sit Halts Blasting at Mountaintop Removal Mining Site
Two activists from Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice engaged in a tree sit have halted blasting for a second day at a Massey Energy mine site in West Virginia. The two sitters established themselves on platforms over 80 feet above the ground near the Edwight mountaintop removal mine above Pettry Bottom, within 300 feet…
Read MoreMore than 300 Groups Demand a Stronger Climate Bill from the Senate
(via the Center for Biological Diversity and EEN. -jdub) WASHINGTON- A broad coalition of more than 300 faith, human-rights, social justice, and environmental groups sent a letter to U.S. senators today calling for energy and climate legislation that is much stronger than the Waxman-Markey bill that passed the House of Representatives June 26. That bill…
Read MoreCoping With Contamination
Stories by Sierra Murdoch Maria Lambert Sand Lick, W. Va. Maria Lambert was born in the coal camps at the head of Prenter Hollow. When she moved down the road to Sand Lick in 2000, her father drilled a well. He tested the water and found it safe to drink. In 2003, Massey Energy began…
Read MoreMoratorium Declared on New Slurry Injection Permits
Story by Sarah Vig In a partial victory for citizens and environmental groups opposed to the process, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection declared a two-year moratorium on new permits for disposing of coal slurry by injecting it into abandoned mines. Coal slurry is a byproduct of coal preparation, a mixture of fine coal…
Read MoreNew River Expedition Sees Both Beauty and Problems
By George Santucci, Executive Director National Committee for the New River We started talking last year about a complete trip down the New, from Watauga County, N.C., all the way to the confluence in West Virginia, to celebrate the river’s 10 years with the American Heritage designation. At times we feared we’d bit off more…
Read MoreFirst Colonists Were No Strangers To Drought
Excerpt from a new book: Heart of Dryness / By James G. Workman. Visit www.heartofdryness.com – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – “New hard evidence, accumulated from tree ring data and pollen counts, suggests that devastating droughts have shattered human settlements, dating back to when people first…
Read MorePrivate Wells Raise Concerns for Public Health
Story by Sarah Vig You would think for small, rural communities in central Appalachia, water from a private well—available at the fairly low cost of maintaining a well and without the hassle of a monthly bill—would be a blessing. And if it weren’t for mining operations, slurry injections, radon-rich aquifers, and an often poorly managed…
Read MoreAcross Appalachia Shorts
Will Harlan Runs 72 “Miles for Mountains” The same day members of the Alliance for Appalachia waited in the halls of Congress for the Senate hearing on the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696) to begin, iLoveMountains.org supporter Will Harlan ran 72 miles along the TN-NC border to raise awareness about the campaign to end mountaintop…
Read MoreMusic on the Mountaintop Combines Music, Mountains and Sustainability
The Music on the Mountaintop Festival will be held again at the Old State Fairgrounds in Boone, N.C. on Saturday, August 29, 2009. The event will feature headliners Sam Bush, Keller Williams, The Steep Canyon Rangers, Acoustic Syndicate, and Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, as well as 15 regional and local acts from western…
Read MoreMountaintop Removal Coal Mining’s Summer of Discontent
Story by Bill Kovarik A summer of discontent is rapidly turning into an autumn of confrontation, as Congressional hearings and regional protests increasingly pit environmental activists against coal industry employees. In one of over a dozen full scale protests this spring and summer, scientist James Hansen and actress Daryl Hannah were arrested in a protest…
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