The Appalachian Voice
Across Appalachia
April 22: Earth Day’s 40th Anniversary By Jillian Varkas This year marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970, but the concept started years before. After years of concern over the lack of political interest in environmental issues in the United States, Sen. Gaylord Nelson of…
Read MoreEnvironmental Injustice Seen in TVA Policies
Reported by Kyle Wolff TVA’s environmental policies are putting low income Americans at risk, according to the nation’s most prominent advocate for environmental justice. “We take your poison for a price,” said Dr. Robert Bullard on TVA’s decision to ship coal ash from spill in Kingston, Tenn., to waste disposal facilities near poverty-stricken neighborhoods in Uniontown,…
Read MoreHiking the Highlands
A collaborative piece by Maureen Halsema, Kristina Tarsan of Southern Appalachia Highlands Conservancy, and Joseph Gatins of Georgia Forest Watch Neither Cold nor Snow nor Sleet (nor Ice and Driving Winds!) Can Keep These Hikers Down The crunch beneath your boots, a calming sense of solitude, a familiar landscape transformed. The world of winter hiking is…
Read MoreLegislation Update: Coal in the Political Arena
By Maureen Halsema Coal has been a keyword in many recent political discussions across the nation as bills addressing mountaintop removal and coal wastes have been submitted to state and national legislatures for review. Clean Water Protection Act / Appalachia Restoration Act The Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 1310) in the U.S. House of Representatives…
Read MoreTennessee’s Valdez: Revisiting TVA’s Coal Ash Disaster
Over a year after the Dec. 22, 2008 failure of TVA’s impoundment dam released 5.4 million cubic yards of coal sludge, ash still covers the land and clouds the river. In spite of TVA officials’ assurance that the cleanup would last three months and the waste was safe, studies and reports of health concerns suggest…
Read MoreWhite Nose Syndrome & The Fate of Appalachia’s Bats
By Maureen Halsema The world’s only flying mammal may be extinct by the end of the decade. White nose syndrome—believed to be caused by a fungus—has already killed about a million bats in the northeastern regions of the U.S. and Canada, and is spreading into Appalachia. The fungus attacks bats as they hibernate in winter…
Read MoreAppalachian Advocates Prepare for Fifth Annual Week in Washington
By Megan Naylor With the start of the New Year comes a new opportunity for citizens to assemble in the nation’s capital to meet with Congressional leaders about legislation barring mountaintop removal. The Fifth Annual Week in Washington, hosted by The Alliance for Appalachia, runs from March 6 to 10 in Washington D.C., and brings…
Read MoreTwo Miles to Hell: A Miner’s Story
By Daniel Alexander Hawkins, Special to The Voice It is 10:06 p.m. on a Sunday night and I begin getting dressed in my high-visibility work uniforms, the trademark navy shirt and pants with orange stripes identifying the Appalachian coal miners in our area. The children have already gone to bed with hugs and kisses from…
Read MoreCoal Controversy Rises on the National Agenda
Controversy over the environmental costs of coal – from mountaintop removal to ash spills, from black lung disease to the toll on Appalachian communities – has moved from the Appalachian region to the center of the national agenda. The conflict is increasingly reflected in national media, in protests, and in the courts. Faced with staggering…
Read MoreHigh Stakes Gamble With Carbon Capture Technologies
By Bill Kovarik A high stakes effort to research carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology is advancing with almost $2 billion in research and development grants, the Obama administration announced this February. Four projects in West Virginia, Texas, Illinois and Alabama were slated in February for stimulus funding. Dominion Energy’s Wise County, Va., power…
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