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Environmental 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…
Read MoreNorth Carolina fails to adopt national water quality standards for heavy metals — Former state employee to speak out at DENR hearing today
Contact: Cat McCue, Communications Director, 434-293-6373 Raleigh — North Carolina is the only southern state that does not meet nationally recommended criteria for controlling toxic heavy metals in surface waters, putting the state’s natural resources and public health at risk, according to Amy Adams, a former supervisor with the state Department of Environment and Natural…
Read MorePodcasting Appalachian History
By Bill Kovarik Dave Tabler’s education in art history didn’t prepare him to be an Appalachian historian so much as his hope to overcome the way his father “spent a lifetime running away from mean jokes about marrying your cousin and swilling moonshine.” After helping his father with a book, Tabler started the Appalachian History…
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