The Appalachian Voice
No Reason to Fear the Weevil Outbreak
An outbreak of weevils — a small, black bug easily confused with the deer tick — stirred false alarm this summer.
Read MoreCaught Between a Budget and a Hard Place
An Obama administration proposal would direct funds to workforce training and reemployment programs in the coal-bearing communities of Appalachia and increase the budgets of agencies focused on economic development, but regional politicians are slow to embrace the plan.
Read MoreCourt Ruling Sets Back EPA Mercury Standards
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not properly consider the price of a rule to curb mercury pollution and other toxic emissions from coal plants.
Read MoreFracking Investigations Stir Questions, Fines
Kentucky researchers prepare to test for fracking-induced earthquakes, a university fracking site stirs controversy in West Virginia, and suspicion rises that there may be natural gas beneath Stokes County, North Carolina.
Read MoreN.C. Solar Snapshot
A 20-megawatt solar farm under construction near Biscoe, N.C., is projected to power the equivalent of 3,500 homes when it is completed in November.
Read MoreGroups Test Boundaries of N.C. Solar Laws
In a direct challenge to North Carolina laws governing electricity sales, clean energy group NC WARN financed a solar project on a church roof and plans to sell the energy to the church for about half of Duke Energy’s solar rate.
Read MoreReport Analyzes Economic Impact of Abandoned Mine Lands Program
A new report examines how federal funding to remediate abandoned mine lands could be implemented in a way that helps Appalachian communities struggling with coal’s decline.
Read MoreVirginia Utilities Release Generation Plans
Appalachian Power Company and Dominion Power released their electric power generation plans this July. While APC released a comprehensive energy generation plan plotting the next 15 years, Dominion released a short-term plan with different options.
Read MoreData Showing Decline in Surface Coal Production Raises Questions
Data shows a steep decline in coal production from Appalachian surface mines, yet the data doesn’t fully account for the extent of mountaintop removal coal mining.
Read MoreEnergy Report News Bites
The Southeast’s First Utility-Scale Wind Farm Breaks Ground, Clean Water Act Clarified, and Air Pollution Standards Challenged in N.C.
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