Front Porch Blog
Updates from Appalachia
On Capitol Hill, Appalachian citizens make the case against mountaintop removal
Last week, Appalachian Voices and Earthjustice teamed up with a group of Appalachian residents in Washington, D.C., to lobby members of the U.S. House of Representatives to cosponsor the Clean Water Protection Act, and discuss the importance of protecting clean water with the Environmental Protection Agency and Office of Surface Mining.
Science-backed lawsuits protect clean water in Central Appalachia
A recent federal court decision found that conductivity released from mines violated clean water laws. Another case just filed in Virginia challenges the discharge of total dissolved solids from mines in watersheds already damaged by high levels of total dissolved solids. Both cases could result in stronger protections for Central Appalachian streams.
Another coal-related chemical spill in Central Appalachia
Hundreds of fish were killed after Cumberland County Coal released a chemical into Kentucky’s Clover Fork River on May 30. Although the company was cited for polluting the river, fines alone cannot erase the damage done to a community and an ecosystem.
North Carolina “off the sidelines” to fast-track fracking
Four months after a massive coal ash spill devastated the Dan River, and before the state’s coal ash problem is remedied, North Carolina is poised to open a new can of worms. On Wednesday, Gov. Pat McCrory signed the Energy Modernization Act, lifting a moratorium on natural gas drilling in the state.
Virginians applaud new federal carbon pollution protections
Representatives of Virginia business, national security, health and agricultural sectors joined environmental advocates this week in praising the newly announced carbon pollution limits for existing power plants as necessary public health and security safeguards, and a beneficial economic driver.
