While we are fortunate each season to gather to us many fine interns from around the region, this summer we had a bumper crop of 12 impressive, highly qualified young minds helping us in all capacities. For our very busy…
Brian Sewell
Brian is an environmental news junkie concerned with our lagging energy policy and revealing the true cost of coal on our health, the environment and the climate. He is Appalachian Voices' Director of Strategic Advancement.
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The Appalachian Voice
Organizational Roundup
Making Music to Support Mountaintops This August 24-26, join us at the 5th Annual Music on the Mountaintop Festival near Boone, N.C. Nestled at the foot of majestic Grandfather Mountain, this 3-day, environmentally friendly festival will feature Railroad Earth, Sam…
What’s Our Water Really Worth?
As our most precious natural resource, clean drinking water, all-too-quickly becomes a scarce commodity for global communities, it is also turning into a hot commodity for multinational corporations. According to a United Nations Global Environment Outlook study, two-thirds of the…
Witnessing the Transformative Power of Water
By Ryan Robinson In May I spent three days navigating the ancient Chattooga River with North Carolina Outward Bound School, an organization that has used the Chattooga for many years to help individuals develop character through challenge and self-discovery. For…
“The Day Baby Brucie Died”: An Oral History of the Buffalo Creek Flood
by Betty Dotson-Lewis Author’s note: Larry Conn is a Freewill Baptist Preacher, a public school teacher in Logan County, West Virginia, and a member of a gospel singing group. The oral history of Buffalo Creek Flood survivors such as Larry…
Seeds of Change Initiative to Improve Access to Local Food
The Boone, N.C.-based non-profit group Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture received a $1.1 million grant from Heifer USA to strengthen the local food system in what is known as the High Country region of North Carolina. The Seeds of Change…
TAGS: Beyond Coal campaign Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture Boone Heifer USA High Country region local farming Mayberry Solar Farm Mount Airy North Carolina O2 Energies Seeds of Change Initiative Sierra Club sustainable farming Tennessee University of Kentucky in Lexington Watauga High School Wind for Schools
By The Numbers
78%: Voters nationwide who support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s work to hold polluters accountable. 170: Votes against environmental protection in the House of Representatives since the beginning of 2011 1,048.3 million: Number of short tons of coal the U.S.…
TAGS: Appalachian politics Appalachian State University biohybrid solar energy coal bed methane coal production EPA Mining Jobs natural gas wastewater standards recycling greywater shale gas Solar Energy UNC Asheville US Forest Service Vanderbilt University Western North Carolina forest report card
Another Nordic Revolution
By Kristian Jackson It’s 5 a.m. and outside the truck, headlights reveal driving snow squalls and drifts as high as the pickup’s hood. Our crawl up Roaring Creek Road near the Toe River of North Carolina comes to a sudden…
TAGS: Appalachian Culture cross-country skiing Hump Mountain nordic skiing North Carolina Outdoor Recreation Roan Highlands Roan Highlands backcountry ski tours southern snow fall telemark skiing Tennessee
Golden Eagles Winter in Appalachia
By Molly Moore With their deep brown bodies and gold-tinged feathery manes, golden eagles are icons of ferocity. When Americans imagine a golden eagle diving through the air with talons outstretched, they typically pair the image with a Western backdrop.…
TAGS: Avian wildlife Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group Eastern golden eagles golden eagles Virginia West Virginia Western golden eagles Wildlife wind turbine
Bees Share the True Cost of Coal
By Brian Sewell Outside of Appalachia, artists who acknowledge their connection to coal have adopted the issue of mountaintop removal and taken to the road. The Beehive Collective’s True Cost of Coal illustration transforms ways of thinking as it travels…
