Front Porch Blog
Updates from Appalachia
POWER+ Plan deserves a warmer welcome
While we here in Appalachia are working overtime to reinvent our economy and outlast the fall of King Coal, you would think that our representatives in Washington, D.C., would be eager to pass measures that send much-needed federal aid to help our hard hit coal-producing counties. But most of the region’s congressmen and senators are staying silent, and those who are going on the record are definitely not stepping up to the plate.
“MVP” is not a most valued project
Opposition is mounting to the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline that would carry highly pressurized natural gas for 300 miles through farms and forests from W.Va. to Va. Several counties have taken action to oppose or question the project, and citizens all along the route are making their voices heard. Guest blogger Tina Badger is one.
Mountain protectors try again in N.C.
North Carolina Rep. Pricey Harrison introduced a bill today to phase out North Carolina’s use of mountaintop removal coal. The bill mirrors one that has been in the legislature before and that received bipartisan backing, with 75 legislators signing a letter of support. Rep. Harrison’s bill also aims to help ratepayers during the economic recovery by placing a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in the state.
Two historic homes get some TLC energy
Meet two families in the High Country of North Carolina who paid extraordinarily high electric bills and still suffered from drafty homes—until they won energy efficiency home improvemetns in Appalachian Voices’ contest.
Welcome to Congress, Mr. Mooney. Your bill is the worst.
Alex Mooney is newly elected to Congress, from West Virginia’s 2nd district. His first bill is a doozie – it would stop a stream protection rule he’s never seen, have drastically different impacts than he thinks, and be written and enforced by an agency whose purpose he doesn’t understand.
