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The 5 Worst Political Lies in Support of Mountaintop Removal
Part 1 in a 5 part series LIE 1: BALANCE After spending a month back in their home states, Congress is back in session. Between the budget, the debt ceiling, Syria, energy efficiency bills, and the farm bill, they have plenty of work to do in a short period of time but rest assured the…
Read MoreReport Tracks the Erosion of Coal’s Energy Dominance
By Nolen Nychay Editorial intern, Fall 2013 A report from Goldman Sachs’ commodities research team predicts a decline in global coal production as a result of decreasing demand. While coal-fired electricity still accounts for 36 percent of international electricity generation, according to the report, emerging global trends are predictive of a lower dependence on coal-produced…
Read MoreEnjoy Community and Culinary Creativity in Support of Appalachian Voices
A connection to community and the celebration of all that makes Appalachia special are fundamental to our work. In the ongoing fight to preserve the region we love, Appalachia’s culture, close-knit communities and treasured landscapes sustain us. Thankfully, our values are shared. On Sunday, September 22, Hill and Holler, a roving farm dinner that brings…
Read MoreDuke Energy: Stop the Spin Cycle
Sara Behnke loves her home, Mountain Island Lake. But about 10 miles northwest of Charlotte, N.C., the lake, which supplies drinking water to more than 800,000 residents of the Charlotte metro area, is threatened by two coal ash ponds at Duke Energy’s recently shuttered Riverbend plant. We’re happy to share a recent post by Sara…
Read MoreUSDA Finds Energy Efficiency Has No Significant Environmental Impact
On August 16, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service published a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on the environment by implementing the Rural Utilities Service’s soon-to-be-finalized Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program (EECLP). The EECLP is a proposed federal loan program that would offer low-interest loans to rural electric cooperatives to develop…
Read MoreEnergy Efficiency’s Role in Growing Rural Economies
Over the summer we watched closely and shared our take on the importance of energy programs in the 2013 Farm Bill. You may remember that the Senate ultimately passed a version that included budget cuts but was in line with previous bills and budget constraints. Not one to be outdone, the House went on to…
Read MoreThe Public’s Reaction to NC’s Proposed Settlement with Duke Energy: NNNNNO!
You can read The Charlotte Observer article, but the upshot is that the public strongly denounced the state’s proposed “do-nothing” settlement. Almost 5,000 people submitted comments, almost all saying that the settlement doesn’t go far enough to ensuring our water is safe from coal ash waste. So basically, the public reaction’s was…. And I can…
Read MoreOf Loincloths and Lean-Tos: The Fight To Protect NC’s Water
Out of the many things that were targeted in the North Carolina legislature, water quality took a huge hit. Not only did the state budget call for the consolidation of the Division of Water Quality and Division of Water Resources, it slashed the two agencies combined budget by more than 12 percent. And there is…
Read MoreReform in the Wrong Direction – McCrory Signs HB 74 Into Law
Want to make a lot of people unhappy quickly? Just ask North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory how. Over the weekend, he signed the controversial Regulatory Reform Act (HB 74) into law. The 60-page bill, which McCrory calls “common sense legislation” like most of the other bad bills he has signed, contains dozens of provisions ranging…
Read MoreTenn. Tuesday – Compromise is Not a Condition
We’ll kick off this Tennessee Tuesday post with what seemed like a small story in the big world of Tennessee politics. Last week, the New York Times editorial page blog offered some extra thoughts on a Tea Party letter to Tenn. Senator Lamar Alexander, in which the Tea Party compelled Alexander to retire from office…
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