2014 — Issue 2 (April/May)
Toxic Warnings: Recent Spills Underscore Lack of Water Oversight
By Kimber Ray In the early morning hours of Jan. 9, Kim Thompson was getting ready to leave her South Charleston home in Kanawha Co. — the most populated region in the mountains of West Virginia — and head out to her job as field supervisor for a local telecommunications company. As she twisted the…
Read MoreAppalachia’s Place in the War on Poverty
By Molly Moore Patsy Dowling considers herself a success of the War on Poverty. As a premature baby born in western North Carolina in 1964 — the same year President Lyndon B. Johnson declared war on poverty — Dowling entered a world where the medical bills from her early arrival were a steep financial burden…
Read MoreNew Trillium Species Discovered in Eastern Tennessee
By Meredith Warfield When Mark Dunaway and his wife purchased land in eastern Tennessee, they had no idea they would be moving in with an unheard-of species living in their backyard. The couple came across an unfamiliar, yellow-petaled wildflower while on a plant walk along their property one day, and after searching their field guides…
Read MoreStanding Up for the Guardians of Our Air and Water
North Carolina has learned a tough lesson in the Dan River coal ash spill: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Appalachian Voices’ own Amy Adams makes a strong case for protecting the water in the Tarheel State.
Read MoreConnecting the Dots of the Southern Appalachian Loop Trail
By Matt Kirk What unites many of us in the Southern Appalachians is a love for hiking along the hundreds of miles of trails in our region. Ten years ago, I discovered that many of these paths form a loop measuring over 350 miles in length. Pieced together, this route, known as the Southern Appalachian…
Read MoreCourt Strikes Down Bush-era Water Rule for Coal Mines
By Molly Moore In February, a U.S. district court struck down the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule, which loosened stream protections near mountaintop removal mining sites, declaring it violated the Endangered Species Act. Senior Judge Barbara Rothstein wrote that the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement wrongfully proceeded with the environmentally harmful rule even…
Read MoreEnergy Industry Overstated Predictions of Price Spikes
By Brian Sewell The energy industry’s record of overestimating electricity price spikes as a result of pollution controls dates back 40 years, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress. As a result of the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, the Edison Electric Institute, an association of investor-owned utilities, estimated double-digit rate increases…
Read MoreEnergy Efficiency Offers Promise of Lower Electric Bills
By Brian Sewell Even as residential energy efficiency improves, the impact of home energy costs on low-income families in the Southeast has become more severe since the turn of the century, according to a report by Appalachian Voices. The report, titled “Poverty and the Burden of Electricity Costs in the Southeast,” found that in 2001…
Read MoreAppalachian States Debate Hemp Legalization
By Nolen Nychay The legal hemp farming debate has come to Appalachia. The much-debated Farm Bill President Obama signed into law in February included a “hemp amendment,” which permitted the regulated cultivation of industrial hemp in states that have legalized hemp farming. Hemp is a cash crop in the cannabis family that, despite lacking most…
Read MoreTennessee Invests in Main Street
By Nolen Nychay The Main Street Festival of Gallatin, Tenn., celebrates its 16th anniversary this October, keeping community traditions alive with local music and homemade food and craft vendors. Last year, the event drew more than 25,000 visitors looking to enjoy the rustic charm that the small communities of Tennessee pride themselves on. The Greater…
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