The Appalachian Voice
EPA Finds Impaired Streams Across Nation, Cites West Virginia
According to a recent report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than 55 percent of the country’s rivers and streams are in poor biological health, unable to support healthy populations of aquatic insects and other creatures. The most widespread problem is excessive levels of nutrient pollution; high levels of phosphorus, found in detergents and…
Read MoreBuild-It-Up! Prepares Young Leaders
By Kate Cahow Tessa Gore’s passion for creating positive change in the Appalachian region was sparked during her time with Build-It-Up West Virginia. “My first summer, we traveled to several mountaintop removal sites, and I witnessed the impact on the environment and surrounding communities,” says Gore, a student at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Ky.…
Read MoreWilliamson, W.Va. – A Gateway to Sustainability in Central Appalachia
By Kate Cahow The Coal House, built in 1933 from its namesake rock, sits in downtown Williamson, W.Va., in the heart of Appalachia’s coal mining region. It is home to the Tug County Chamber of Commerce. Next door, construction of a high-tech “smart office” is underway in the lobby of the historic Mountaineer Hotel. The…
Read MoreEnvironmental Summer Camps 2013
The Evening Hour: Painting a Gripping Picture of a Gritty Place
Review by Paige Campbell Carter Sickels’ debut novel “The Evening Hour” is a study in contradictions, many rooted deeply in its Appalachian setting. The town of Dove Creek is a remote southern West Virginia community cloaked in the same desperate, static smallness that often characterizes the Appalachia of literature. At the same time, the setting…
Read MoreSafe Passage
By Matt Grimley Every fall and spring, an ongoing restlessness called zugenruhe begins to make some birds’ wings twitch at night. They will gorge on seeds and insects, fattening their bodies by as much as 10 percent per day. Solitary birds will even flock together for better predator avoidance, food finding and orientation for the…
Read MoreA Fond Farewell for a Fantastic Leader
In October of 2008, I met an extraordinary person at the Appalachian Voices headquarters in Boone, N.C. She’d been hired as an organizational consultant, and I was a new member of the board. It was immediately clear that Willa Mays was a consummate professional — diplomatic, extremely smart, a person of great presence, and a…
Read MoreNorth Carolina’s Appalachian Representatives
Virginia Foxx (NC-5) Representing northwestern North Carolina, Congresswoman Foxx was elected to the House after serving 10 years in the state Senate. She is a conservative and advocates reducing the size of government wherever possible. Last year, she voted for H.R. 3409, a bundle of coal-friendly bills which Foxx wrote would “stop the U.S. Environmental…
Read MoreAppalachian States Reconsider the Role of Coal Severance Taxes
By Brian Sewell Lawmakers in Central Appalachia are seeking legislative solutions to counter declining severance tax revenue after decades of natural resource extraction. Although not all of the counties in coal-producing states in Appalachia have minable coal, they all benefit from severance taxes, which generate millions of dollars used to improve roads, build flood controls…
Read MoreTennessee’s Appalachian Representatives
Phil Roe (TN-01) Congressman Roe represents a former pro-union district in upper East Tennessee which has been held by the Republican Party since 1881. There is no coal in his district, but he has said he believes that the United States has “a 400-year supply at current usage, and we need to look and expand…
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