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Lawmakers to hold hearings on Scenic Vistas bill on heels of ad campaign from conservatives
Press Advisory Appalachian Voices March 19, 2013 Contact: JW Randolph, Tennessee Director, 202-669-3670; [email protected] Nashville – Tennessee Senate and House panels are scheduled tomorrow to consider bi-partisan companion bills that protect mountain forests on the Cumberland Plateau by effectively prohibiting new surface coal mining on ridgelines above 2,000 feet. The Scenic Vistas Protection Act is…
Read MoreAt Long Last, A Safer School for Marsh Fork | Inside the Kudzu Bug
On Jan. 7, more than 200 students of Marsh Fork Elementary began classes at a new facility a few miles from the old school in Raleigh County, W.Va. Because of health concerns brought on by a coal processing plant and a high-hazard coal slurry impoundment located adjacent to and above the original building, Marsh Fork…
Read MoreCitizens Object to State of Kentucky’s Backroom Deal With Coal Company
Resources Citizens’ Objection Letter Agreed Order Click for full-sized image Appalachian Voices * Kentuckians For The Commonwealth * Kentucky Riverkeeper * Waterkeeper Alliance Contact: • Eric Chance, Appalachian Voices, 828-262-1500, [email protected] • Ted Withrow, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, 606-782-0998, [email protected] • Pat Banks, Kentucky Riverkeeper, 859-200-7442, [email protected] • Peter Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, 828-582-0422, [email protected] Frankfort,…
Read MoreInvasive Species Recipes
Remember: you can eat invasives, too! One of our readers, Amy, was gracious enough to provide a stirfry recipe for Japanese knotweed. She writes, “I first foraged for this invasive in its native country of Japan, where it was growing wild next to streams in the high mountains of the Japanese Alps, as myself and…
Read MoreCoal Industry Costs Virginians Millions of Dollars Every Year
New report suggests shifting money to diversify coalfield economies Contact: Rory McIlmoil, Downstream Strategies, 304-445-7200, [email protected] Cat McCue, Appalachian Voices, 434-293-6373, [email protected] Glen Besa, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, 804-225-9113 x 104, [email protected] Resources Full Report Executive Summary Blog Post Time To End Corporate Welfare For King Coal In Virginia Photos Richmond, VA –…
Read MoreThey’re Here: Alien Species in Appalachia
By Matt Grimley Anything that costs $120 billion every year to control can’t be good. That’s just one estimate of the costs of invasive species in the United States, courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Research Station. In Appalachia, the everyday costs are more apparent: the smear of house sparrow droppings on your windshield, the garlic…
Read MoreCory Coots, Angel Hill, Ellie Hogg, Jade Slone & Jarrod Stamper
Whitesburg, Ky. “Before It’s Too Late,” a short film produced this past summer, investigates water quality in Letcher County, Ky. The five youth involved in the project spoke with locals and other experts, uncovering critical information about water pollution. Every year, media nonprofit Applashop brings Appalachian high schoolers to Whitesburg, Ky., to gain media skills…
Read MoreAshley Phykitt
Charlotte, N.C. Two years ago, an article in Charlotte Magazine detailed a day in the life of former Catawba Riverkeeper David Merryman and his battles to keep the river clean from coal ash. When Ashley Phykitt, then a 10-year-old, read the article, she was so inspired that she just had to get involved. Ashley met…
Read MoreBirke Baehr
Knoxville, Tenn. When 13-year-old Birke Baehr says he wants to be a farmer, he is only telling half of the truth — he also wants to change the way the world farms. A homeschooler from Knoxville, Tenn., Birke is devoted to teaching kids and adults about the problems in America’s industrialized food system and the…
Read MoreBailey Wells, Tristan Ginter and the West Carter Middle School Science Club
Olive Hill, Ky. From a distance, the 10 by 14-foot structure behind West Carter Middle School in Carter County, Ky., looks like a futuristic laboratory. But closer examination reveals a deceptively simple greenhouse. Inspired by the internet, funded by a grant from nonprofit youth organization Earth Force, and initiated by a student-led soda bottle collection,…
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