The Energy Report
Corruption and Enforcement Failures Raise Concern for Clean Water
Recently uncovered conspiracies to violate the Clean Water Act have heightened concerns about corruption in central Appalachia and the effectiveness of state agencies responsible for enforcing the law.
Read MoreContested Mine Next to Kanawha State Forest Continues Operations
An effort by West Virginians to stop mountaintop removal mining near a state forest failed even as the mine amassed a series of violations.
Read MoreRoanoke Electric Receives $6 Million Loan for Energy Efficiency
In October, the North Carolina-based Roanoke Electric Cooperative became one of the first recipients of a loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program.
Read MoreLegal Battles Flare Up Regarding Atlantic Coast Natural Gas Pipeline
The proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline would deliver natural gas produced in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to power plants and other industrial customers in the Southeast, and is already stirring controversy along the proposed route.
Read MoreProposed N.C. Fracking Rules Move Forward
North Carolina’s Mining and Energy Commission approved proposed changes to state rules on hydraulic fracturing this November. Citizens and environmental groups submitted nearly 220,000 public comments on the rules governing fracking safety standards, but the commission made few significant changes the public proposed.
Read MoreCourt Upholds EPA Revocation of Mine Permit
A federal judge acknowledged the environmental damage caused by mountaintop removal this September when she ruled to uphold a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency veto of a permit for one of the largest surface mines ever proposed in Appalachia.
Read MoreResearch Finds Mine Reclamation Failures
Efforts to restore mountaintop removal coal mines are not meeting the objectives of the Clean Water Act, creating a variety of consequences for aquatic life, according to a September study by the University of Maryland’s National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center.
Read MoreIndustry Attempts to Derail Oil Train Safety Rules
Following a rise in explosive, and sometimes deadly, oil train derailings, the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed new safety regulations on trains carrying crude oil including stronger tanker cars, slower speeds and improved braking systems. But oil and railroad industry groups argue it will take at least seven years to produce safer tank cars while…
Read MoreFormer Massey CEO Don Blankenship indicted for fatal Upper Big Branch mine explosion
In November, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was indicted on four charges in conjunction with the April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners at the company’s Upper Big Branch mine. He pleaded not guilty.
Read MoreAtlantic Coast Pipeline Proposal Advances
Duke Energy, Dominion Resources and other partners are teaming up to build a 550-mile pipeline to better access natural gas produced in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, where fracking has proliferated in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.
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