The Appalachian Voice
Historical Hidden Treasures of Tennessee
By Rachel Ellen Simon Lost Sea / Craighead Caverns Sweetwater, Tennessee is home to the largest underground lake in America. Spanning over 4.5 acres, the Lost Sea lies hundreds of feet beneath a mountain within the Craighead Caverns cave system. Exploration has uncovered Pleistocene-era jaguar tracks, Cherokee artifacts and graffiti from Confederate soldiers who were…
Read MoreHistorical Hidden Treasures of West Virginia
By Rachel Ellen Simon Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex Well before humans began tearing down hills in West Virginia, they were building them — in miniature. Over 3,000 years ago, the area was home to the Adena, a society of Mound Builders that settled throughout the eastern United States. The Adena left behind massive burial…
Read MoreHistorical Hidden Treasures of Kentucky
By Rachel Ellen Simon U.S. 23 Country Music Highway Museum In the mid-20th century, an eastern Kentucky saying put a new spin on the “three Rs” – “readin’, writin’, and Route 23.” With the post-war decline of coal, millions of Appalachians sought work in cities north along U.S. Hwy. 23. This “Hillbilly Highway” also connected…
Read MoreRaising the Standard
How State Laws Affect Our Clean Energy Future By Molly Moore Raising the Standard: State Laws and our Clean Energy Future Democratizing the Grid: Community-owned Renewable Energy Bio-energy Creates a Mass of Questions Beyond Renewable: The Cutting Edge in Energy A Guide to Clean Energy Incentives Almost Always Sunny in Appalachia New Vision: Faith-based Renewable…
Read MoreAppalachia’s Environmental Vote Tracker: Aug/Sept 2013 issue
See how Appalachia’s congressional delegation voted on environmental issues.
Read MoreNew Vision
By Matt Grimley The sun is beating down on a mid-July afternoon in Philippi, W.Va., but that doesn’t stop Ruston Seaman and the youth mentoring group from playing ultimate frisbee. Their shouts — “Take your time!” and “Go left! Go left!” — echo throughout the community. When they finish, Seaman jumps into his old red…
Read MoreDemocratizing the Grid
The Opportunities and Obstacles of Community-owned Renewable Energy By Brian Sewell When energy experts talk about distributed generation, they describe it as both a threat that will disrupt markets and erode utility profits and an opportunity that is changing the way electricity is generated, transmitted and delivered. Or as the chairman of the Federal Energy…
Read MoreAppalachian State University Competes in European Solar Decathlon
By Chelsey Fisher After winning “People’s Choice” in the 2011 U.S. Solar Decathlon, Appalachian State University has been chosen to take their ideas across the ocean. ASU — one of three universities chosen from the United States — will pair with Université d’Angers in France to compete in the 2014 European Solar Decathlon, which will…
Read MoreReaping Renewable Rewards
Governments and utilities offer a variety of incentives to assist residents and businesses in the transition to renewable energy. Below is a sampling of federal, utility and state policies. Find more clean energy and energy savings incentives at dsireusa.org. Federal Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit Technologies Eligible: Various solar systems, wind, geothermal heat pumps, fuel…
Read MoreBio-energy Creates A Mass of Questions
By Jason Reagan Biomass: it’s a new word but an ancient energy source. For much of the world, the practice of gathering energy from organic material — the “bio” in “biomass” — is an everyday affair. Worldwide, about 146 billion tons of biomass are produced every year. However, the growing interest in biomass as an…
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