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Appalachian Regional Commission receives citizen input
On June 4, the Appalachian Regional Commission held one of its five 2016-2020 Strategic Plan Listening Sessions in Morehead, Ky. The session successfully facilitated the sharing of ideas by Appalachian stakeholders that will inform the commission’s plan for improving economic opportunities in communities across the region.
Spreading the Word at FloydFest
It’s not too late to get tickets to this year’s FloydFest: Fire on the Mountain, but don’t delay, as they won’t last long. Appalachian Voices staff is gearing up for an unforgettable event. We’re collaborating with festival staff to create a special Tattoo Parlor in the middle of the festival, where we will spread the…
Read MoreTennessee Rivers at Risk
By Cody Burchett According to a report released this May by the nonprofit Tennessee Clean Water Network, surface water enforcement actions issued by Tennessee state regulators have dropped 75 percent since 2008. Of the 53 enforcement orders issued last year by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, more than a quarter were related to…
Read MoreReworking the Region
From innovative job-training models and worker-owned business to the prospect of federal funding to reinvigorate Appalachia, people across the region are working for a stronger economy.
Read MoreSolidarity in the Tar Heel State
Story by Julia Simcoe and staff Appalachian Voices joined representatives of the National Society for the Advancement of Colored People in Stokes County, N.C., last May to stand in solidarity against disproportionate polluting in low-income communities of color. Representatives from local and national levels of the NAACP spoke at the event, joined by Karenna Gore,…
Read MoreMountain Ingenuity
Citizens Advance Solutions to the Pressing Issues of Our Time Appalachia has its scars along with its beauty, its struggles along with its triumphs. But mountain people are resourceful, and across the region citizens are making strides toward a better tomorrow — one that builds on the strength of our past while sustaining healthy environments…
Read MoreAnother challenge facing coal: Cleaning up
From The Appalachian Voice Online: Yet another aspect of the financial perils facing U.S. coal companies is coming into full view. As even some of the nation’s largest coal producers run the risk of caving under their debts, regulators and analysts are voicing urgent concerns about cash-strapped companies’ ability to pay for reclamation land after mining.
A story found “In the Hills and Hollows”
Filmmaker Keely Kernan is currently producing In the Hills and Hollows, a documentary feature that follows the lives of several West Virginians in the middle of the state’s natural gas boom. By juxtaposing the boom and bust coal industry that has long dominated the landscape with the current natural gas boom, Kernan hopes to promote an important conversation about the type of future West Virginians want to create.
One month, two hearings on mountaintop removal
It’s rare that Appalachians have their voices heard in Congress. But twice in the past month, residents have had the opportunity to testify about mountaintop removal mining at two different U.S. House hearings. The lesson we learned? Congress does not want to help end mountaintop removal and they’d prefer not to hear about it.
Keep the Clean Water Act going strong
Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ended a decade of confusion with the release of a long-awaited Clean Water Rule, which clarifies the scope of waters that are protected under the Clean Water Act. As the EPA pursues updates to the “effluent limitation guidelines,” we hope the Obama administration ready to continue the trend of strengthening and modernizing the Clean Water Act.
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