RockingChair

Front Porch Blog

Updates from Appalachia

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Action on climate heating up

President Obama’s announcement that day of first-ever regulations to limit carbon pollution from power plants in America — which has one of the largest carbon footprints in the world — marks an unprecedented milestone. Yet, as important as it is, it’s anything but certain how the story unfolds from here.

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Peculiar Patriot Coal deal raises questions

What would a health care executive-turned-environmentalist want with the dying business of mining coal? That’s the question some are asking after the announcement that a Virginia environmentalist plans to acquire assets, and assume around $400 million in liabilities, from recently-bankrupt Patriot Coal.

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Sen. Kaine notes concerns to FERC about Mountain Valley Pipeline

Guest Contributor Dr. Diana Christopulos: Sen. Tim Kaine recently completed a series of listening sessions in communities where Mountain Valley Pipeline proposes to build a 42-inch natural gas transmission line, meeting with “affected property owners, local elected officials, local businesses, farmers, organizations dedicated to preserving our natural resources, and numerous other concerned citizens.”

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Predictable politics giving way to popular support for POWER+

In Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee, cities and counties with long histories of coal mining are advocating for the POWER+ Plan, a federal budget initiative proposed by the White House to build a more diverse economy in the communities hardest hit by the regional coal industry’s decline. They deserve to be heard.

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Arch Coal, ICG to address water pollution violations at coal mines

Yesterday afternoon the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice announced a settlement with Arch Coal and International Coal Group Inc. to resolve hundreds of illegal pollution discharge violations made by the conglomerate at its coal mines throughout Appalachia, including a fine of $2 million and required upgrades to their operations to protect “communities overburdened by pollution.”

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