RockingChair

Front Porch Blog

Updates from Appalachia

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How the Department of Government Efficiency’s plans will harm Appalachian communities: Part 2

What the heck is impoundment and why should you care? Undoing of the Impoundment Control Act would lead to much less certainty when it comes to many programs that the people of Appalachia and people all over the country use for economic growth and stability, environmental protection and more.

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Federal regulators poised to crack down on coal mine owned by Jim Justice’s family

On Dec. 10, 2024, the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement sent a damning letter to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection over the state’s failure to rein in operations on a wildly non-compliant coal strip mine in Wyoming County, West Virginia. 

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South Fork Coal Company's Rocky Run Surface Mine cutting a gash into the Yew Mountains above the South Fork Cherry River and the community of Richwood. Photo by Andrew Young/ Southwings

Top mine regulator can and must halt illegal coal hauling in the Monongahela National Forest

Sharon Buccino, the acting head of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, could take immediate action to shut down South Fork Coal’s illegal coal hauling operation in the Monongahela National Forest. 

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Cartoon that reads "hi folks! We're two of the richest men in the world here to save you from jobs, clean water, safe roads, and bridges and other 'inefficiencies'!"

How the Department of Government Efficiency’s plans will harm Appalachian communities: Part 1

The Department of Government Efficiency’s proposal to cut funding for “unauthorized” programs would mean the end of programs and agencies that directly benefit Appalachians.

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Pittsylvania County Photo by Jessica Sims.

Pittsylvania County, Va., is at the center of an overbuilding of fossil fuel infrastructure

Pittsylvania County, Virginia, faces risks from a new gas plant from Balico and extensions of the existing Transco Mountain Valley pipelines. 

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