The Appalachian Voice
Frank 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 MoreIllustrating Unimaginable Hardship
Illustrating Unimaginable Hardship by Matt Wasson According to Dr. Matt Wasson, the conservation director of Appalachian Voices, “New media is du rigueur for building a national movement and a national movement is absolutely what’s required to stop mountaintop removal coal mining – it’s a national issue. Taking on a national issue was difficult to impossible…
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 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…
Read MoreWorlds Moral Compass Points to the South Again
Worlds Moral Compass Points to the South Again American Southerners are independent people — 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 MoreRobert F. Kennedy Joins Appalachian Voices to Celebrate 10th Anniversary and Launch Watauga Riverkee
At a gala event in Blowing Rock, NC, on October 7, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., joined Appalachian Voices to celebrate the organization’s 10th anniversary and announce a new RIVERKEEPER® program to protect the upper Watauga River. Kennedy is a leading environmental advocate who serves as Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson RIVERKEEPER® and Chairman of…
Read MoreCoalition Organizing to Fight Dominion Power Plant
CAMPAIGN AGAINST PROPOSED POWER PLANT AND HOW YOU CAN HELP Dominion Power, Virginia’s largest utility, wants to build a new 585 megawatt, $1.6 billion coal-fired power plant in Southwest Virginia’s Wise County. The new plant would be a major step backwards for Virginia, increasing the state’s dependence on dirty coal and devastating mining practices at…
Read More