RockingChair

Front Porch Blog

Updates from Appalachia

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Carl Shoupe: Seeing through the “War on Coal” smokescreen

4388474014_6cdabe44a7_z“Instead of raging about a made-up war on coal and how to protect coal corporations, Congress should take a closer look at how to really support coal communities,” Kentuckians For The Commonwealth member and retired miner Carl Shoupe writes.

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After last-minute compromise, N.C. legislature passes coal ash bill

906527_10152419133054084_3153136159662225319_oHowever dysfunctional, the North Carolina General Assembly always seems to come together in the end — often in literally the final hours of the legislative session. After a last-minute compromise, the North Carolina legislature passed the coal ash bill on Wednesday, but fell short of promises to protect communities in the wake of the Dan River spill.

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It’s still happening …

1_still_happening_500mtns Since the mid-1990s, the coal industry has blasted the tops off of more 500 of the oldest, most biologically rich mountains in America, and destroyed more than 2,000 miles of headwater streams. Despite a growing movement of Appalachians and thousands of other citizens rallying to end the destruction, it’s still happening.

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Aug./Sept. issue of The Appalachian Voice released!

04_AugSept2014_coverThe latest issue of The Appalachian Voice features a wide range of stories. Read about everything from mountain bogs to fracking regulations and opportunities for rural Appalachian women in the online edtition of our bimonthly newspaper.

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Mountaintop removal is the 800-pound gorilla at the SOAR Health Impact Series

SOARHealthMountaintop removal’s health impacts were the number one concern of eastern Kentuckians that participated in the SOAR Health Impact Series, but the topic was barely addressed at a recent SOAR gathering in Hazard. If they hope to soar beyond political rhetoric, Rep. Hal Rogers and Gov. Steve Beshear must take those concerns seriously, and support more research into the connections between mountaintop removal and health.

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