All Posts

[ Canada ] With dead trees helter-skelter on the ground and scrub bush hither and yon, many Canadian forests look as ”messy” as they are. This was once described with disdain by the Finns whose tidy, high-yield forests created wealth and set the standard for forestry-dependent jurisdictions. But now, with thousands of species on the…

After calling just about everyone who works in the United States Government, it sounds to me like the committee in charge of the MSHA appointments is the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Now, they won’t meet again until next year. Senators Frist and Jeffords are retiring, and DeWine is losing BADLY in the…

I called MSHA ((202) 693-9400) to let them know that their logo was inaccurate and that they should alter it. Unfortunately, no one is there to pick up the phones. They do, however, forward you to this number for general inquiries… Rodney Brown 202-693-9425 Mr. Brown picked up and I told him that I didn’t…

Unions have come out swinging against the recess appointment of coal executive Richard Stickler to head the Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Stickler, a former employee of Massey, was TWICE rejected by the US Senate. The President circumvented this requirement and made a “recess appointment” that put Stickler in charge of all American mining…

To: Joe Manchin III, Governor of West Virginia We, the Undersigned, are against the new state slogan “Open for Business.” We believe that it looks ridiculous on our “Welcome to West Virginia” signs, and is an embarrassment to the hard-working people of this proud state. We all believe that West Virginia is “Wild and Wonderful”…

The FSC-US has a set of nine regional standards that are used to judge compliance at the forest management level with the FSC’s Principles and Criteria. The Forest Stewardship Council requires that national and regional standards be reviewed and revised at least every five years. Over the last year FSC-US has conducted a review of…

As I sit in a gloomy town in Western Michigan, this news is close to bringing me to tears. I want to say something that I share with anyone I speak with on a daily basis doing the Appalachian Treasures road show… What next? What could possibly be worse for the movement that aims to…

New imagery shows a hole in the ozone layer 10.6 million miles wide. Larger than North America.

Last year, the Bush Administration attempted to put coal executive Richard Stickler in charge of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Stickler is a former employee of Massey Energy (famous for it’s 100s of violations now in court.) Because of his poor record on mine safety, Stickler was opposed by the United Mine Workers, both…

Mine safety expert Jack Spadaro addresses WV lawmakers by Stephen Wussow West Virginia lawmakers were confronted Monday with hard evidence of harm inflicted upon rural West Virginians by coal sludge. A new scientific study documents dangerously polluted water around coal slurry injection sites in the Rawl area near Williamson. Residents have been saying for years…