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$108 Million awarded for VA Coalfields Expressway?
To help citizens raise their concerns around the coal industry-proposed route of the Coalfields Expressway in southwest Virginia, we’re inviting residents of the commonwealth to submit letters to the editor of their local newspapers. Sign-up to submit your own letter to the editor here. Recent headlines announcing $108 million in funding for the Coalfields Expressway…
Read More“Help My House” pilot program helps low-income residents save money and energy in South Carolina
“On-bill financing” is a term typically used to describe loan programs for home energy efficiency improvements where the loan is paid back through an extra charge on a customer’s electricity bill. This is not a novel idea, as it has been implemented on various scales and in various forms by municipalities, electric cooperatives (“co-ops”) and…
Read MoreTenn Tuesday: Haslam Can’t Keep Hands off the Family Business. Alexander and Corker To Support Critical Energy-Efficiency Legislation? Squirrel!
Haslam Dragged Down by Coal Ties, TVA All Over the Place, Critical Energy Savings Votes in the U.S. Senate as early as this week. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam’s troubles continue to be front and center in the national media, with the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and The Tennessean reporting on Governor Haslam failure to…
Read MoreCoal Ash Update: Legislatin’, Litigatin’ and Fillin’
“Passing a bad piece of coal ash legislation prolongs our pollution problem and makes the possibility of an accident much more of a reality.” These words, from a recent letter to the editor in the Asheville Citizen-Times, reflect the growing discomfort over coal ash storage and how legislators are tackling the problem. Coal ash is…
Read MoreHelp Update Our Retro Wastewater Standards on July 9th
By Jessie Mehrhoff Mountaintop Removal Campaign intern, Summer 2013 Each year, coal-fired power plants dump 80,000 pounds of arsenic, 65,000 pounds of lead, and 3,000 pounds of mercury into U.S. waterways. More than 23,000 miles of America’s rivers have been sullied due to the lack of pollution standards for wastewater discharged from power plants. On…
Read MorePresident Obama’s Address on Climate Protection Plan
Update: The speech covered a lot of ground and held a lot of promise – but was missing several critical points. Read Appalachian Voices’ press statement. Watch the President’s speech, with coverage beginning at 1:55 EST. Do you think this plan is strong enough? What improvements or changes would you make? What do you think…
Read MoreStand Up For Clean Streams And Healthy Drinking Water
Dear friends and members, I was outraged to learn last month that a handful of U.S. senators were again trying to shred the laws that protect Appalachia’s waters — but I wasn’t surprised. They were mostly the same folks who continuously criticize and accuse the Environmental Protection Agency of waging a so-called “war on coal”…
Read MoreResourceful and Resilient: June/July issue of The Appalachian Voice celebrates farmers
From determined Virginia cattle farmers to entrepreneurial vegetable growers in eastern Kentucky, the latest issue of The Appalachian Voice showcases the resourcefulness and resilience of our mountain farmers. In our features, Today’s Farming Frontier looks at how growers are adapting to changing markets. A special three-page section explores Appalachian farm ownership. In A Matter of…
Read MoreRunning on Reality: A Conversation with Anthony Flaccavento
An abridged version of this interview was published in the print edition of our June/July 2013 issue. Here’s the full transcript. For more than 20 years, Anthony Flaccavento has worked to build bridges between small-scale organic growers like himself and farmers markets, grocery stores and public schools. He founded Appalachian Sustainable Development in 1995, a…
Read MoreJoin our Letter to the Editor Campaign
By Jessie Mehrhoff Mountaintop Removal Campaign intern, Summer 2013 Citizens across the United States are submitting letters to the editor to their local newspaper urging their congressional representatives to co-sponsor the Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 1837). As constituents, it is our responsibility to ensure that our voice is heard by our representatives in Congress;…
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