2012 — Issue 5 (Oct/Nov)
Bringing Polluters to Justice — One Court Case at a Time
By Eric Chance and Erin Savage On Oct 1., Appalachian Voices and a coalition of citizens’ groups reached a historic settlement in a Kentucky case involving some of the most far-reaching and astonishing violations of the Clean Water Act in its 40-year history. The agreement between the citizens’ groups, International Coal Group, Inc., and the…
Read MoreLetter to the Editor
Chicken Farms Fowl Water Quality in N.C. Dear Editor, I appreciate your special on water pollution in our region (Changing Currents, August/September 2012). There is a more serious problem, however. Just down the mountain and around the corner from your office in Boone, N.C., there is an ongoing crime being committed against man and nature.…
Read MoreUneven Ground: Examining Appalachian History Since 1945
By Matt Grimley Imagine two Appalachias: one of banjos, moonshine, and dilapidated log cabins; the other of people, their families, their rich history and unfulfilled futures. That dichotomy and how it is exploited is what University of Kentucky professor Ronald D. Eller writes about in “Uneven Ground: Appalachia Since 1945.” Eller writes with lucidity and…
Read MoreHow the Rest of the World Needs to Help Educate the U.S.
By Rev. Pat Watkins Several years ago, volunteers from a United Methodist Church traveled to a small village in Kenya where they observed that the women of the village were walking, twice a day with buckets on their heads, to a river a mile away to get water for their families. Deciding this village could…
Read MoreSeeking A Return to Truth
When did America’s leaders stop trusting in science? This fair country, with its wealth of knowledge and opportunity, used to be one of the global frontrunners in scientific reasoning, influence and education. We stood by the principles of proof rather than blind emotion or myth. In the 19th century, those principles brought us anesthesia and…
Read MoreTwo School Districts Go Green to Save Green
By Toby MacDermott North Adams Elementary is one of the greenest schools in southeast Ohio. With solar panels on the roof, wild turkeys roaming the grounds, and a design based on LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, standards, this school exemplifies sustainability in action. But this building is not alone. The entire Adams…
Read MoreIn Bankruptcy, Patriot Coal Creates its Legacy | Sacrificing a Historic Landmark to Coal
In Bankruptcy, Patriot Coal Creates its Legacy By Brian Sewell Concerns over how Patriot Coal will meet its commitments to generations of retirees have rippled throughout Appalachia. When the St. Louis-based spin-off of Peabody Coal filed for bankruptcy in July, it cited “substantial and unsustainable legacy costs” owed to retirees and beneficiaries as factors. Now,…
Read MoreOther Shorts
House Sides with Coal, Passes a Non-starter On Sept. 21, in its last act before the election, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed H.R. 3409, a package of five bills it calls the “Stop the War on Coal Act,” claiming that environmental regulations are the real enemy of economic prosperity. Each of the bills would,…
Read MoreA Finite Frontier: Facing the Future of Central Appalachian Coal
By Brian Sewell On Sept.18, Appalachian coal mining giant Alpha Natural Resources announced it would idle eight mines and lay off 400 employees in the first phase of a “strategic repositioning” plan designed to meet the evolving demands of a changing global coal market. According to Alpha, the plan aims to enhance the company’s position…
Read MoreEqual Access
By Paige Campbell Eighth-grader Jarod Knight is having trouble with his homework. At his school in mountainous southeast Ohio, many class projects involve using the school’s broadband internet connection. But if Knight can’t finish during class, those assignments — like a weather-tracking science project — go home with him. That’s the trouble. Getting online is…
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