The Appalachian Voice
Lincoln and Climate Science
By Dr. Bill Kovarik Abraham Lincoln used to tell a story during the darkest days of the Civil War. Although the story was omitted from a recent movie about Lincoln, it is still worth recalling. It goes like this: When Lincoln was a young man in Illinois in 1833, he was roused from his bed…
Read MoreAppalachian Elegy by bell hooks: “an avalanche of splendor”
By Matt Grimley bell hooks doesn’t claim to be an Appalachian. But through her latest collection of poems, Appalachian Elegy, (University Press of Kentucky, 2012) we get the bigger message: that doesn’t matter. bell hooks was born in Hopkinsville, Ky., in 1952 with the name Gloria Jean Watkins. A celebrated teacher, author and activist, she…
Read MoreMembership Spotlight: Silas House
Seeing is Believing
The coal industry is fond of saying that there is no mountaintop removal taking place in Tennessee, so we wanted to see for ourselves. Appalachian Voices recently teamed up with the filming crew from “Coal Country” and SouthWings’ award winning pilot Susan Lapis to take an aerial tour of coal-mining counties in the Volunteer State.…
Read MoreAV and iLoveMountains Launch No More Excuses Campaign
Appalachian Voices, in conjunction with iLoveMountains.org, recently launched a two-pronged campaign to solicit reelected President Obama to end the devastating practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. With our new report summarizing the human cost of mountaintop removal coal mining and a nationwide campaign through iLoveMountains.org, we are telling the Obama Administration, “No More Excuses —…
Read MoreOrganizational Roundup
Fighting Tennessee Valley Assumptions Appalachian Voices recently joined forces with the Sierra Club and Tennessee Clean Water Network to call on the Tennessee Valley Authority to not overhaul its aging Gallatin Fossil Plant without fully considering cleaner and cheaper options. TVA unveiled a draft Environmental Assessment for plans to sink over $1 billion into the…
Read MoreCory Coots, Angel Hill, Ellie Hogg, Jade Slone & Jarrod Stamper
Whitesburg, Ky. “Before It’s Too Late,” a short film produced this past summer, investigates water quality in Letcher County, Ky. The five youth involved in the project spoke with locals and other experts, uncovering critical information about water pollution. Every year, media nonprofit Applashop brings Appalachian high schoolers to Whitesburg, Ky., to gain media skills…
Read MoreAshley Phykitt
Charlotte, N.C. Two years ago, an article in Charlotte Magazine detailed a day in the life of former Catawba Riverkeeper David Merryman and his battles to keep the river clean from coal ash. When Ashley Phykitt, then a 10-year-old, read the article, she was so inspired that she just had to get involved. Ashley met…
Read MoreBirke Baehr
Knoxville, Tenn. When 13-year-old Birke Baehr says he wants to be a farmer, he is only telling half of the truth — he also wants to change the way the world farms. A homeschooler from Knoxville, Tenn., Birke is devoted to teaching kids and adults about the problems in America’s industrialized food system and the…
Read MoreBailey Wells, Tristan Ginter and the West Carter Middle School Science Club
Olive Hill, Ky. From a distance, the 10 by 14-foot structure behind West Carter Middle School in Carter County, Ky., looks like a futuristic laboratory. But closer examination reveals a deceptively simple greenhouse. Inspired by the internet, funded by a grant from nonprofit youth organization Earth Force, and initiated by a student-led soda bottle collection,…
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