BLOGGER INDEX
Wednesday, November 27th, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | 4 Comments
Appalachian Voices works with citizens throughout the region to expose water pollution from mountaintop removal mining, and we’ve been advocating for strong state standards to control this dangerous pollutant. We are pushing back on the EPA’s decision on Kentucky, and we’re ready to hit the ground to fight for responsible, enforceable standards in other states.
[ Read More ]Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | No Comments
I know of no wiser or more insightful thinker alive today than Wendell Berry. The work of this Kentucky farmer, author and activist has been a constant source of inspiration for me ever since I read a collection of his essays, “Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community,” in college 17 years ago, so it was a real treat to see his rare television interview with Bill Moyers that aired on PBS earlier this month.
In the interview, we see a man gravely concerned with the state of the world. Yet, despite his acute awareness of the problems we face — including the rampant mountaintop removal mining in his home state — what makes Berry stand out today is his clear, unwavering vision of the good and the beautiful, which is informed and inspired by his own well-lived life. His writing celebrates nature, close families and communities, and the potential for healthy interaction between people and the earth — and, as a farmer who’s devoted his life to caring for the land and his loved ones, he writes with great authority.
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Tuesday, September 17th, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | 1 Comment
I want my three children to grow up in a world where the water is safe to drink, the air is safe to breathe, and the beauty of our natural heritage remains intact. We can achieve this only through making major investments in clean energy, which also provides more jobs, saves money and leads to a more stable economy.
My home state of Virginia, alas, has a long way to go, and that’s why Appalachian Voices and partners have launched the New Power for the Old Dominion campaign.
The Old Dominion is stuck on using dirty energy from fossil fuels like coal, which desecrates our mountains and pollutes our environment. Virginia lags far behind others in taking advantage of clean energy from wind, solar and efficiency. Consider a couple of facts:
Our kids deserve better. We all deserve better. The bold campaign that Appalachian Voices and the Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition recently launched will insist that the state’s utilities, regulators and lawmakers get serious about clean energy. New Power for the Old Dominion lays out a practical, affordable, and morally-imperative plan for Virginia to get on the 21st century clean energy bandwagon. Now.
If you live in Virginia, I invite you to speak up for our state’s future and sign the pledge for clean energy today. And please consider sharing this with your Virginia friends.
Together, we can bring new power to the Old Dominion.
For Virginia,
Friday, August 23rd, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | 3 Comments
In the latest issue of The Advocate, we feature our intrepid Red, White & Water team, which was on the road in North Carolina over the last couple months meeting with people living near toxic coal ash ponds. The response was tremendous.
Led by our North Carolina campaign coordinator, Sandra Diaz, our team of interns and volunteers made hundreds of phone calls and knocked on dozens of doors. We teamed up with Dr. Avner Vengosh and his graduate students from Duke University to sample drinking water wells and test for the toxic chemicals associated with coal ash pollution.
People welcomed us into their homes, told us their worries about contaminated drinking water, and brought friends and neighbors to our community meetings where we shared information about coal plant pollution. And many of them are now getting involved to tell the government to enforce the laws that are meant to protect water resources and public health.
This is Appalachian Voices at our best — helping citizens get the information and tools they need to voice their concerns to elected leaders and other decision makers, making them powerful advocates for their families, their communities, and the environment.
Toward that end, we’re proud to be a co-sponsor of the first Southeast Coal Ash Summit this fall, where citizens can learn from state and federal officials, scientists, activists – and each other – about this significant threat to the South’s waters.
View images of the meetings and find out how you can get involved in our Red, White and Water campaign.
For our mountains and water,
Friday, June 28th, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | 4 Comments
On June 25, I gathered with my co-workers to watch President Obama unveil his vision for addressing climate change. It was encouraging to hear the president frame the issue in terms of a “moral imperative,” and the fact that he’s ready to take on power plant emissions — the single largest source of greenhouse gases in the U.S. — shows that he’s serious.
But no energy plan can be built on a moral foundation without ensuring that areas like Appalachia, heavily impacted by the country’s continued over-reliance on fossil fuels, don’t get left behind. The devastating practice of mountaintop removal coal mining has no place in a 21st Century energy plan.
President Obama must stop industry from pushing the costs of doing business off on communities and our environment. More than 20 health studies have shown that residents of Appalachian coal counties, particularly those living near mountaintop removal sites, suffer higher cancer rates, more birth defects, and have shorter life spans than other citizens.
The administration needs to address these immediate issues while also doing more to invest in energy efficiency and renewable sources — particularly in Appalachia. Such investments will go far to create jobs, economic security and environmental health for our region.
I applaud the president’s determination to make the issue of climate change a top priority on the national agenda. Appalachian Voices stands ready to work with his administration to achieve a new energy future, for Appalachia and America.
Sunday, June 23rd, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | No Comments
Dear friends and members,
I was outraged to learn last month that a handful of U.S. senators were again trying to shred the laws that protect Appalachia’s waters — but I wasn’t surprised. They were mostly the same folks who continuously criticize and accuse the Environmental Protection Agency of waging a so-called “war on coal” for simply fulfilling its mandate to protect America’s natural resources.
Appalachian Voices and many others mounted an immediate and vigorous citizen backlash, and the senators’ plans were fortunately defeated. But it reminds us that many 
of our “representatives” on Capitol Hill and in our state capitals don’t always represent our best interests, and that we need to look out for ourselves.
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Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | No Comments
Dear friends and members,
Fighting the bad stuff isn’t enough. As Appalachia begins to transition away from destructive sources of energy like mountaintop removal coal, we need to work toward a future where our energy comes from clean sources and Appalachian communities prosper with jobs that respect our natural heritage.
We waste an astonishing amount of electricity in this country. The Southeast has the largest untapped energy-efficiency resource of any region, with 29 percent of the nation’s total potential. With homes and businesses that are less energy-efficient than average, the largely rural area of Appalachia holds an abundance of wasted energy.
Consider some of the benefits of energy efficiency. A recent report from the Appalachian Regional Commission found that energy savings programs could create more than 77,000 jobs throughout Appalachia, including energy auditors and weatherization experts. Energy efficiency also saves money for consumers, keeps more money at the local level creating a ripple effect in the economy, and reduces the tremendous environmental harm associated with fossil fuels — including mountaintop removal.
I am pleased to announce Appalachian Voices’ new program, Energy Savings for Appalachia, which aims to tap into this rich potential for improving the quality of life for citizens in the region. To head up the program, we’re delighted to welcome Rory McIlmoil, who brings a wealth of experience, insight, and good vibes to this exciting endeavor.
For the mountains,
Tom Cormons
Executive Director
Monday, April 22nd, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | No Comments
Dear members,
Nothing beats spring in the Appalachians. Redbuds paint the mountainsides, beautiful shades of green color the forests, refreshing rains swell the creeks and birds practice their repertoire in earnest after the long winter. Spring is a time of renewal, and here at Appalachian Voices we took the opportunity at a special staff meeting last week in Boone to renew our spirits, camaraderie and commitment to our mission.
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Friday, March 22nd, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | No Comments
Dear members,
Last month, I told you about the path that led me to Appalachian Voices and the things that inform my vision for the work ahead: a deep connection to the mountains, a bond with folks who share this affinity, and fatherhood.
I believe that the work we’re doing together stems from our love of place and our connection to each other. Your support has allowed us to develop a winning combination of organizing, legislative and legal strategies.
Last year, for instance, our collective victory against the largest-ever proposed coal plant in Virginia allowed us to shift more of our efforts to promoting clean energy alternatives in the commonwealth. Likewise, after uncovering a widespread pattern of corruption that led to the highest fines ever levied against a coal company in Kentucky, we’re more focused than ever on giving citizens from the West Virginia coalfields to the North Carolina Piedmont the tools to be effective guardians of their waterways and advocates for clean water laws.
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Monday, March 4th, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | No Comments
President Obama today announced the nomination of Gina McCarthy as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, replacing Lisa Jackson who served throughout the president’s first term. McCarthy is currently the assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.
Appalachian Voices released the following statement from Executive Director Tom Cormons:
“This nomination clearly shows the president’s commitment to addressing the very real environmental consequences of American energy policy.
“From the Romney statehouse to the Obama EPA, Gina McCarthy’s approach to environmental problems and solutions rises above partisan politics — which is exactly where this conversation needs to take place as the U.S. grapples with the immensely challenging issues affecting the nation’s natural resources upon which our economy, health and future rely.
“Appalachian Voices urges swift Senate approval, and looks forward to working with Ms. McCarthy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect citizens from coal ash pollution, and end the destruction of Appalachia’s mountains, waters and communities.”
Tuesday, February 26th, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | No Comments
Dear members,
I am honored to be writing you for the first time as executive director of Appalachian Voices.
I still remember my excitement when I first learned about Appalachian Voices 12 years ago after a day of climbing at West Virginia’s Seneca Rocks. Relaxing in town after descending from the knife-edge summit, I was elated from the climb and the beautiful view from the top: a bucolic patchwork of fields and woodlots in the river valley surrounded by lushly forested mountains stretching as far as the eye could see. It was in this state of mind that I picked up my first copy of The Appalachian Voice newspaper.
Here was a celebration of the Appalachian Mountains and our connection to them – from fishing to kayaking, homesteading to hunting – that resonated deeply with my experience. But it was something more that really drew me in.
Appalachian Voices was about our shared responsibility for this natural heritage: bringing people together to address the monumental environmental threats to the region, from mountaintop removal coal mining to water and air pollution. I soon became a member, and even while I was away at UCLA law school, I closely tracked Appalachian Voices’ work. When I returned, I was proud to join the team and open our Virginia office.
Read More ...Wednesday, July 11th, 2012 | Posted by Tom Cormons | 2 Comments
Despite statewide resistance from over 40,000 Virginians who joined Appalachian Voices and the Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition in opposing it, Dominion Power’s Wise County coal plant in St. Paul went online this morning after four years of construction.
Photos taken on 13 June, 2012 by Matt Wasson. Flight courtesy of Southwings
As Dominion says, the 585 megawatt plant is one of the “cleanest U.S. coal-fired power stations in terms of air emissions with one of the nation’s strictest air permits.” Dominion, however, fails to mention two key points.
First, “cleanest” is a relative term. Even a coal plant with strict air permits and modern pollution controls is a major contributor to smog, acid rain, and the accumulation of toxic mercury in our waterways. What’s more, these strict pollution controls do nothing to lessen the destruction of mountaintop removal mining to supply coal to the plant – or the plant’s massive annual greenhouse gas emissions, which will be equivalent to the annual emissions of nearly one million cars.
Secondly, while Dominion would like to take credit for the plant’s strict air emissions permits, it was the uprising of thousands of concerns Virginians, combined with legal arguments on behalf of the Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition, that led to the strict limits.
Thanks to these efforts, the plant will emit 94% less mercury and 82% less acid-rain producing sulfur than Dominion originally proposed.
The precedent set by these strict limits has made it more difficult to permit new coal plants anywhere in the U.S. In Virginia, this precedent led the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to reject proposed emissions levels for the new coal plant currently proposed by the Old Dominion Electric Co-Op (ODEC) – ultimately leading ODEC to withdraw, at least temporarily, its air permit applications.
The Virginia City Hybrid Electricity Center, as the new plant is called, comes online at the same time coal-fired electricity generation is experiencing a steady decline (see image at left).
