RockingChair

Front Porch Blog

Updates from Appalachia

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Fracking and pipelines threaten Appalachia

fracking_well_by_terry_wild_lesscroppedThe natural gas industry has overwhelmed scores of communities across the country, building miles of new pipelines and erecting huge drilling rigs. Appalachian Voices today launched web pages about efforts to open North Carolina to fracking and proposals to build natural gas pipelines through several Appalachian states, and the growing citizen movement to shift to cleaner energy.

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An interview with Christopher Scotton, author of “Secret Wisdom of the Earth”

chrisscottonFrom The Appalachian Voice Online: “Secret Wisdom of the Earth,” the debut novel by Christopher Scotton released this week, is a coming-of-age story that takes familiar themes — tragedy and the quest to find healing — and explores them with the backdrop of a Central Appalachian community beset by mountaintop removal coal mining.

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A silver lining in EPA’s Coal Ash Rule

epa coal ash ruleThe long-awaited, first-ever federal rule for regulating toxic coal ash–the second largest waste stream in the U.S.– was released before the holidays. Appalachian Voices dives into the 700+-page rule and finds, yes, a number of problems, but lo … some bright spots, too.

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West Virginia flunks climate change class

climate change on blackboardClimate activists are giving the W.Va. Board of Education some lessons in how to provide a healthy future for children — beginning with ensuring kids understand the science behind climate change.

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Fighting Mountaintop Removal During the Obama Years

MTR_ky2013 From The Appalachian Voice: In 2009, representatives of the new Obama administration said that “the administration will do what the science calls for.” In Appalachia, the science calls for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining. But six years later, mountaintop removal is still happening.

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