The Appalachian Voice
Hiking in the Highlands: The Virginia Creeper Trail
You can hike it. You can bike it. You can take it by horseback or on cross-country skis. Zipping across most of eastern Washington County, the Virginia Creeper Trail is a multi-use recreational trail linking downtown Abingdon to the North Carolina border near Grayson County’s Whitetop community. The 34-mile-long trail is the former site of…
Read MoreWise power plant foes turn out in Richmond
Hundreds of opponents of Dominion Power Company’s proposed $1.8 billion coal-burning power plant traveled to Richmond in early January to voice their opposition at a hearing of the State Corporation Commission. The commission will decide on the need for the 585 megawatt plant and whether the type of technology the utility has chosen is appropriate.…
Read MoreBig Trouble for Coal Plants
Big coal is in big trouble. You can see it in the statistics compiled by the Sierra Club: Nationwide, courts or state governments have forced the cancellation or delay of 59 out of over 160 proposed new coal fired power plants, according to a Sierra Club database. In 2006, almost 50 new power plants were…
Read MoreFrank Taylor: “I Think People are Still Willing”
I think People are still Willing Frank Taylor, Dungannon, VA Dominion Power says they need to build a plant in SW VA to sell to the inhabitants of 140,000 unbuilt homes in Northern Virginia. There are 140,000 real homes in Southwest Virginia that would emerge under the cloud of pollution from that plant. When the…
Read MoreNew Media Strikes a Deep Chord
/images/AppalachianVoice/Jan_2008/electric_earth_circ.gif Teri Blanton typed her five digit zip code into the web site. Then it hit her. “I was shocked,” she said. The page showed that her own electricity was coming from the very mountaintop removal site that she had fighting for years. As an environmental leader in Berea, Kentucky, Blanton was among the first…
Read MoreMoral compass points South again
WORLD’S MORAL COMPASS POINTS TO THE SOUTH AGAIN American Southerners are independent folk — independent enough to stand for the truth, even if it means standing alone. A few weeks ago, Al Gore joined five other Southerners who have also been awarded the world’s most distinguished honor, the Nobel Peace Prize. We conservatives and liberals…
Read MoreThe Roots of Appalachian Christmas Traditions
/images/AppalachianVoice/AVNov07/helga_kvam_circ.gif The first European settlers in Appalachia brought their Christmas traditions to the new world, right along with their hammer dulcimers and their scotch whiskey, from the highlands of Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales. Some of these traditions have gone mainstream, modified and absorbed into generic go-to-the-mall holiday festivities. Some have vanished over the centuries.…
Read MoreChristians for the Mountains: Spreading the Gospel of Stewardship
In the past, Christians and environmentalists often seemed to be in separate camps. Sometimes they were separated by stereotypes, even though most Christians believe in environmental stewardship and most environmentalists are devoutly spiritual. Allen Johnson, founder of Christians For The Mountains, has been working to overcome the problem. Part of it, he feels, is that…
Read MoreCabinet Manufacturer Bets on Formaldehyde-Free Wood
Having grown up downwind of several major paper and chemical plants, I approached Columbia Forest Products’ Old Fort NC plant with nothing short of a crinkled-nose expectation of breaking the record for how long a journalist could hold her breath during an interview. CFP used to glue its plywood layers with urea-formaldehyde resins — stinky…
Read MoreWV Council of Churches Statement on Mountaintop Removal
/images/AppalachianVoice/AVNov07/Dr.-Benedict-M.-Anover.gif September 11, 2007 As people of faith, called upon by our covenant with God and each other to safeguard and care deeply for what God has created, we cannot stand by while our mountains are being devastated. The destruction caused by mountain top removal mining, as presently practiced, is unprecedented and permanent. We believe…
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