All Posts
Service, Music and Community at Appalachian South Folklife Center
The Appalachian South Folklife Center in southern West Virginia has weathered many storms over the past half century, yet continues to provide help to residents in need, education for youth, and a safe harbor for activists.
Read MoreControversy Shrouds Coal Ash Cleanup
In March, the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality held hearings across the state to solicit stakeholder comments on the cleanup plans for North Carolina’s 33 Duke Energy coal ash impoundments. The state also lifted do-not-drink warnings from households with contaminated wells near coal ash ponds.
Read MoreHow coal ash impacts civil rights
Residents of Walnut Cove, N.C., have fought for years to win justice for community members who have been harmed by coal ash pollution at the nearby Belews Creek power plant. In response to the interest in the threats posed by coal ash expressed by the North Carolina Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the Walnut Cove community showed up in a big way.
Read MoreClimbing the Highlands
Appalachia offers climbers challenging routes in beautiful settings, and the region’s geology invites adventurers of all styles and abilities. And in return, the sport of climbing provides an opportunity for economic development for areas around these rock formations.
Read MoreDon Blankenship Sentenced and other news briefs
A former CEO of a coal mining company receives a historic criminal sentence, Atlantic Ocean spared from drilling, new study shows West Virginia is flatter due to mountaintop removal coal mining and other energy briefs.
Read MorePreliminary Draft Plans For Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests Published
The National Forest Service publishes the draft foundations of the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests long-term management plans.
Read MorePeabody Energy joins coal bankruptcy club
While the company no longer operates in Central Appalachia, the story of Peabody Energy’s downfall is similar to those of major producers in the region, where coal mining communities have plenty of first-hand experience with what happens next.
Read MoreAnother step toward clean water in Southwest Virginia
Through a settlement with Penn Virginia Operating Company, a large landholding company, and A&G Coal Corp., a Jim Justice-owned company, several sources of the toxic pollutant selenium in Wise County, Va., will be cleaned up.
Read MoreWhat happened on Pine Creek?
A lot of folks have had questions about last month’s mine blowout on Pine Creek, in Letcher County, Ky. So we’ve put together an explainer that runs through the facts, the science and the regulatory protocols behind spills like this — and offers tips on what you can do about them.
Read MoreDon Blankenship sentence “historic,” but not enough
The coverage of Blankenship’s sentence should shift the public’s focus to the leniency and lacking enforcement of our mine safety laws. Since few observers outside of Blankenship’s defense team and the “Dark Lord of Coal Country” himself would argue the punishment fits his crime, the question then becomes: what punishment would?
Read More