Press Releases
Appalachian Voices congratulates BRE on launch of Energy SAVER Loan Program
Contact: Rory McIlmoil, Appalachian Voices Director of Energy Policy, (828) 262-1500, Rory@AppalachianVoices.org Members of Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation (BRE) have a new way to pay for improving the energy efficiency of their homes thanks to BRE’s new Energy SAVER Loan Program. BRE provides electricity to more than 74,000 residents of all or parts of…
Read MoreAppalachian river among America’s “Most Endangered Rivers”
Contact: Jessie Thomas-Blate, American Rivers, 202-347-7550 Tarence Ray, Appalachian Voices, 276-679-1691 Save the Russell Fork! Send a quick comment to the Virginia governor and regulators to reject the mountaintop removal coal mine permit. Washington, D.C.- American Rivers named Central Appalachia’s Russell Fork River among America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2016 today, shining a national spotlight…
Read MoreDEQ flip-flops on drinking water safety
PRESS STATEMENT For immediate release, March 8, 2016 At a meeting in Lee County yesterday, officials at the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality and N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reversed their previous position and told citizens their well water was safe to drink despite elevated levels of certain contaminants associated with coal ash.…
Read MoreRe-route of fracked gas pipeline threatens new areas of Va., West Va.
Contact: Ben Luckett, Staff Attorney, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, 304-645-0125 Hannah Wiegard, Appalachian Voices, hannah@appvoices.org, 804-536-5598 Drew Gallagher, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, drew@chesapeakeclimate.org Kirk Bowers, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, kirk.bowers@sierraclub.org Dominion Energy announced plans today to re-route the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline through Highland, Bath and Augusta counties. The new route comes in response…
Read MoreGroups in two states challenge WB XPress
Contact: Ben Luckett, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, 304-645-0125, bluckett@appalmad.org Kate Rooth, Appalachian Voices, 804-536-5598, kate@appvoices.org Anne Havemann, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, 240-396-1984, anne@chesapeakeclimate.org Kirk Bowers, Virginia Chapter, Sierra Club, 434-296-8673, kirk.bowers@sierraclub.org On behalf of conservation groups in Virginia and West Virginia, Appalachian Mountain Advocates today filed a formal protest and motion to intervene in the Federal…
Read MoreAbandoned mines bill directs federal investment to communities hit hardest by coal decline
Contact: Adam Wells, Economic Diversification Program Coordinator, Appalachian Voices 276-679-1691, adam@appvoices.org Washington, D.C. — A bipartisan bill introduced in Congress today would allocate $1 billion for cleaning up abandoned mine lands and advancing economic development in communities across the country that have been hardest hit by the coal-mining industry’s decline. The Revitalizing the Economy of…
Read MoreAppalachian Voices testifies before Senate panel on coal-mining rule
Contact: Matt Wasson, Program Director, 828-773-0799, matt@appvoices.org Cat McCue, Communications Director, 434-293-6373, cat@appvoices.org Appalachian Voices Director of Programs Matt Wasson, Ph.D., is testifying tomorrow morning before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works at a hearing on the implications and environmental impacts of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement’s draft Stream Protection…
Read MoreVirginia leaders to Gov. McAuliffe: Reject Dominion’s efforts to increase climate change pollution
Contact: Hannah Wiegard, Appalachian Voices, hannah@appvoices.org, 434-293-6373 Kate Addleson, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, kate.addleson@sierraclub.org, 703-963-5800 Joelle Novey, Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light, joelle@gwipl.org, 202-256-1450 Richmond, Va. – A wide array of Virginia civic, health, faith, and environmental leaders today released a letter asking Governor Terry McAuliffe to reject all efforts by Dominion…
Read MoreStatewide citizens group slams North Carolina’s coal ash pond rankings
Contact: Statewide and Eastern North Carolina: Bobby Jones (919) 394-0727 Western North Carolina: Jeri Cruz-Segarra (828) 651-9576 Charlotte Area: Amy Brown (704) 301-6209 Winston-Salem Area: David Hairston (336) 655- 3413, Caroline Armijo (919) 358-5057 An alliance of North Carolinians directly impacted or threatened by Duke Energy’s coal ash pollution today released its Unifying Principles demanding…
Read MoreCitizens deserve explanation of changes to coal ash classification draft
Earlier today, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) released its Draft Proposed Impoundment Classification that, when finalized, will determine the closure timelines coal ash sites across the state. Below is a response from Appalachian Voices’ Amy Adams to the DEQ report, which includes significantly weaker recommendations than those in an earlier draft leaked…
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