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Boxer vows to block Clean Water Act veto legislation
Manuel Quiñones, E&E reporter Published: Wednesday, May 7, 2014 Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) vowed yesterday to block legislation to limit U.S. EPA’s Clean Water Act veto power. Last month, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a bill to prevent the agency from vetoing Army Corps of Engineers Clean Water…
Read MoreToxic Warnings: Recent Spills Underscore Lack of Water Oversight
By Kimber Ray In the early morning hours of Jan. 9, Kim Thompson was getting ready to leave her South Charleston home in Kanawha Co. — the most populated region in the mountains of West Virginia — and head out to her job as field supervisor for a local telecommunications company. As she twisted the…
Read MoreEnvironmental Summer Camps 2014
By Kelsey Boyajian Would you like to splash in a mountain creek and identify tree frogs? Study marine biology and learn about sea turtles in the sandy dunes of North Carolina? Or go on backpacking, horseback riding and tubing adventures in the foothills of eastern Tennessee? Browse our online listing of summer camp programs for…
Read MoreMountaintop removal bill passed by U.S. House imperils Appalachian waters
Contact: Thom Kay, legislative associate, 864-580-1843, thom@appvoices.org The U.S. House of Representatives voted today to make it easier for coal companies to dump mining waste from mountaintop removal sites into Appalachian streams and the headwaters of rivers that provide drinking water to millions of Americans. The House voted 229-192 to pass the “Preventing Government Waste…
Read MoreTenn. committee nixes bill for state “primacy” over regulating surface coal mining
Contact: Ann League, Tennessee campaign coordinator, 865-617-2451 (cell) Today, the Tennessee Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee essentially killed a bill that would have given regulatory oversight of surface coal mining in the state to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation rather than the federal government, which currently oversees mining in Tennessee. The…
Read MoreEnvironmental Groups Call for Immediate Disclosure of Magnitude of Coal Ash Disaster
Contacts: Ulla Reeves, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, ulla@cleanenergy.org, (828) -713-7486 Amy Adams, Appalachian Voices, amy@appvoices.org, (828) 262-1500 Donna Lisenby, Waterkeeper Alliance, dlisenby@waterkeeper.org, (704) 277-6055 Tiffany Haworth, Executive Director, thaworth@danriver.org, (336) 627-6270 Bridget Whelan, North Carolina Conservation Network, bridget@ncconservationnetwork.org, (313) 919-5919 – – – – Asheville, N.C. — Upon receiving news of a new coal…
Read MoreAppalachia’s Environmental Vote Tracker: Dec/Jan 2013-14 issue
See how Appalachia’s congressional delegation voted on environmental issues.
Read MoreRalph Davis: Exploring Appalachia’s Future
By Nolen Nychay In his 21 years of journalistic work at publications such as the Jackson County Sun, Paintsville Herald and Floyd County Times, Ralph Davis developed a close relationship with the small communities of eastern Kentucky and the rural lifestyle the region prides itself on. When Davis began work on his master’s thesis in…
Read MoreCarbon Controversy: EPA Gathers Feedback on Emissions Rules
By Brian Sewell This fall, public listening sessions held by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency served as an opportunity to influence future rules to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, the centerpiece of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan. Comments submitted by citizens and stakeholders, and the large turnouts and media attention at the 11…
Read MoreTouring Coal Country’s Past
By Molly Moore In 1978, student Doug Estepp was poking around in the West Virginia University library when he came across a newspaper headline describing the 1920 Matewan shootout — a violent episode in the dispute between coal companies and pro-union miners. Although Estepp grew up near Matewan in Mingo County, W.Va., it was the…
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