Appalachian Voices partners with Black By God to examine air quality in West Virginia’s African American communities

Appalachian Voices is launching a new partnership with Black By God, a Black-led news and storytelling organization, with a publication of the same name, in West Virginia. Black By God is dedicated to providing a more nuanced portrayal of African Americans in the Mountain State and the Appalachian region than is often found in other media sources.

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The slow, steady process of making regulators and coal companies monitor pollution

In late summer of 2022, Appalachian Voices discovered selenium, a common pollutant associated with coal mining, in high concentrations in certain streams in the Big Sandy River watershed in Pike County, Kentucky. These waterways receive runoff from the S-1 Hunts Branch Surface Mine, a nearly 2,000-acre mountaintop removal coal mine operated by Lexington Coal Company.

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New limits on power plant emissions and new community protections should prompt utilities to turn to reliable, affordable renewable energy

smoke and steam rise from a power plant

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a suite of new rules to limit a range of harmful pollutants from power plants, protecting the climate and human health, and pushing utilities toward cleaner, more reliable ways to meet energy demand, including investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

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