The Appalachian Voice
Test Results from TVA Ash Spill Warn of Serious Environmental Impacts
Story by Sarah Vig A respected team of scientists and water quality experts from North Carolina and Tennessee recently released a report analyzing water, sediment, and fish tissue samples taken near the site of the 1 billion gallon coal ash spill that occurred in Harriman, Tenn. last December. The report’s authors include Upper Watauga Riverkeeper…
Read More6th Annual Dine Out for the Mountains
April 22 Earth Day event to benefit Appalachian Voices If troubled economic times have meant cutting back on your charitable giving or if you’ve been looking for a good reason to go out to eat, Dine Out for the Mountains has come to the rescue. On Wednesday, April 22, a number of restaurants in the…
Read MoreCitizen Lobby Effort Wins Cosponsors for Clean Water Protection Act
Week in Washington Results In New Sponsors For H.R. 1310 Story by Sarah Vig In the largest lobby effort to end mountaintop removal to date, nearly 150 people from 30 states joined forces in Washington, D.C. March 16 through 19 for the fourth annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington. Their goal was to gain…
Read MoreFilm Explores Appalachia’s Environment
Story by Linda Coutant A new film about the Appalachia region underscores a universal truth Western Civilization seems to struggle remembering: humanity is part of the environment, not separate from it. Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People airs on PBS four consecutive Thursdays beginning April 9. Produced by award-winning filmmakers Jamie Ross and Ross…
Read MoreScientists Describe Champion Trees of Virginia
Story by Maureen Halsema As I scrambled down the hill along the Appalachian Trail in Craig County, I could see gargantuan branches protruding in every direction. I realized that I had found the Keffer Oak. The massive branches spiraled around this centuries-old tree trunk covered with moss and snow. I stepped over a section of…
Read MoreHistoric Blair Mountain Battlefield Wins Recognition
Organizers Hope Register Status Will Help Protect The Mountain Story by Peter Slavin The nearly 30-year struggle for federal recognition of the Blair Mountain battlefield in West Virginia, scene of an epic military clash in 1921 between thousands of armed union miners and the coal establishment, climaxed on March 30 with its placement on the…
Read MoreClean Energy Corps
A Benefit for the Economy and the Environment By Linda Brinson The Clean Energy Corps has the potential to be an economic as well as an environmental boon for the Appalachian region. At the national level, the Clean Energy Corps is still a proposal, but many people are working to make sure that it becomes…
Read MorePhotovoltaic Prospects Are Sunny
Story by Bill Kovarik The phones are ringing off the hook at Solar Connexion in Blacksburg, Va., but Brian Walsh is out in the field installing photovoltaic panels. Keeping up with the rising number of inquiries is a dilemma that Brian Walsh faces as he thinks about how to expand his solar photovoltaic business. “We…
Read MoreGreen Entrepreneur Offers Energy Solutions to NC High Country
Story by Sarah Vig Boone, N.C. resident Kent Hively says he considers himself a “green collar worker,” but in truth, he’s also somewhat of a green entrepreneur. Hively started his business High Country Energy Solutions five years ago, before the term “green jobs” was the buzzword it is today. He had learned about alternative energy…
Read MoreThe Green Side of Heavy Industry
Story by Bill Kovarik When most people envision green jobs, they see recycling, ecotourism and solar panels. Luke Staengl, president of Pesco-Beam in Roanoke, Va., sees cellulosic biofuels, methane and hydrogen gasification, wood pellet manufacturing and other large-scale renewable energy production projects. “The prospects are spectacular for green jobs in this region,” Staengl said. For…
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