Front Porch Blog
The latest on Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate
Even as Mountain Valley Pipeline’s rushed construction results in landslides and muddy waters in Virginia and concerned residents call for state and federal authorities to stop the damage, communities to the south are facing new and changing threats from the pipeline’s proposed Southgate extension.
Read MoreJoin App Voices at the Appalachian Studies Conference
This year, the App Studies Conference will be held at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, from March 7 to March 9. Along with a wide array of grassroots partners, Appalachian Voices will be there to learn, teach and have a good time!
Read MoreProminent Navajo environmental leader to speak in Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina
Along with Andrew Atencia and Adrian Herder, organizers for Tó Nizhoní Aní, Nicole Horseherder will be visiting Appalachia in March to teach and learn about the environmental justice movement in the coalfields of Black Mesa and Appalachia, respectively.
Read MoreThe People’s Voice on TVA: Advocates create forum for public input and expert testimony on TVA’s long-term energy plan
TVA is the country’s largest public utility with 10 million customers across seven states, but advocates say the utility isn’t doing a good job involving the public or third party experts in its long-term energy planning, which will be completed by the end of 2024.
Read MoreCrossover: Virginia General Assembly session reaches an important milestone
The Virginia General Assembly has reached the halfway mark — and amid the highs and lows of committee decisions, hundreds of Virginians have helped advocate for critical environmental protections. Thank you for your calls and emails to legislators!
Read MoreNew report shows alarming lack of mine cleanup progress in Kentucky
A recent study found that nearly 40% of the “active” surface permits in Kentucky have been sitting idle for the last five years. The coal companies responsible for those mine permits did not produce any coal, nor did they make any progress in cleaning up the sites.
Read MoreFour ways you can support Appalachian communities in the new year!
In 2023, Appalachian advocates made several advancements in the fight for greater protections for rural communities and families affected by black lung but as we enter 2024, an ongoing battle in Congress over spending is threatening to undo much of this progress while also cutting programs that benefit these communities.
Read More2024 Virginia General Assembly session is underway!
As the Virginia Assembly opened its 2024 legislative session on Jan. 10, Appalachian Voices held a webinar to lay out our priorities for the session and explain how those interested in these issues can get involved and make a difference.
Read More‘A moral imperative:’ Two bills would support miners with black lung and their families
Dec. 13 was a day that Vonda Robinson had been waiting over three years for. On that day, Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., introduced the Relief for Survivors of Miners Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Read MoreReliance on fossil fuels was last year’s Grinch that stole Christmas — and the real cause of Winter Storm Elliot blackouts
On Dec. 24, 2022, as Winter Storm Elliot bore down on North Carolina and Tennessee, problems at fossil-fuel power plants and high electricity demand led Duke Energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority to shut off power for millions with rolling blackouts. But it didn’t have to be this way.
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