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Obama takes a small step… but we need a giant leap
The following email was sent to the 36,000+ supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here. Dear mountain lover, Yesterday, the Obama administration took a small step in the right direction. The administration announced an agreement between the EPA, Department of Interior, and the Army Corps of Engineers that will…
Read More:( Obama fights ruling that blocks streamlined mine permits
The brave and relentless Ken Ward Jr. reported today on his blog: Lawyers for the Obama administration this morning filed a notice that they plan to appeal the latest federal court ruling that — if not overturned — would require more stringent regulation of mountaintop removal coal mining. Read the entire post on his Coal…
Read MoreRemembering the Whooshies of ’79
Appalachia’s first industrial scale windmill attracted praise, condemnation and cranks Story by Bill Kovarik They said that Boone, NC’s wind turbine didn’t work, that it was too loud, and that, like some kind of gigantic drunk, it attracted wierdos. Well, two out of three. Appalachia’s first wind power project, built in 1979, did work –…
Read MoreGood Things Come in Small Packages
Story by Sarah Vig Though the image of large industrial-scale wind turbines has become common, seen on PowerShift T-shirts and sprouting out of cornfields in Iowa and mountains in Tennessee alike, not every wind turbine towers on the skyline. Wind turbines are made in a number of smaller sizes, more suitable for residential application and…
Read MoreFlooding Takes Its Toll In West Virginia
Story by Penny Loeb Tina England knows why flood waters rose seven feet on the road up Big Huff Creek: recent logging and new roads to gas wells at the top of the mountain. “Coming off a big mountain like this, there’s nothing to hold it (the dirt from the roads) back,” England said. “All…
Read MoreMountaintop Removal Activist Receives Goldman Environmental Prize
Maria Gunnoe’s family connections to her land in Boone County, W. Va, stretch back to Cherokee ancestors who hid from forced removal by the government in the 1830s. Her Cherokee grandfather purchased land there in the 1950s; she herself was born and raised there, learning how to hunt, fish and gather plants in the surrounding…
Read MoreCoal Sludge Protests Rock West Virginia
Two women in hazmat suits and respirators were arrested in May after floated a 60 foot banner in the Brushy Fork impoundment “lake” which contains 8 billion gallons of coal sludge. The banner read: “No More Toxic Sludge.” Ironically, the two were charged with trespassing and littering the 8 billion gallon sludge reservoir. Other mountaintop…
Read MoreSome Permits Suspended But Mountaintop Removal Fight Goes On
The ongoing controversy over mountaintop removal mining see-sawed this spring, as the Obama administration stopped seven high-impact mining permits but then proceeded forward with 42 others. Perhaps 150 more are waiting in the wings, according to an EPA spokesman. One of the projects halted was an expanded mountaintop removal mining operation at the Ison Rock…
Read MoreEPA Assumes Oversight of TVA Coal Fly Ash Disaster
Story by Chris Martin On Monday, May 11, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would oversee the cleanup of coal fly ash in Roane County, Tenn., after last December’s dam failure at the Kingston Fossil Plant flooded the Emory River with 1.1 billion gallons of wet ash. The EPA opened a month-long period…
Read MoreGreen Jobs Show More Growth In Past Ten Years Than Traditional Jobs
According to a report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts, green jobs—Pew dubs these “clean energy jobs”— across the country grew at a national rate of 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, while traditional jobs grew by only 3.7 percent, a difference of nearly two and a half times. State levels also showed growth…
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