RockingChair

Front Porch Blog

Updates from Appalachia

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The choice for North Carolina’s energy future: high rates or renewable energy?

I live in Duke Energy Progress territory, covering the eastern part of North Carolina and South Carolina along with a little patch in western North Carolina including Buncombe County. Soon, Duke Energy Progress plans to raise our rates, and I’m not sure it’s justified.

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Pictures don’t do it justice, and neither would a pipeline

All of the abundant natural beauty and wildlife we observed could be threatened if gas giant Kinder Morgan has its way.

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Solar developments are bringing energy and jobs to Southwest Virginia

The recent ribbon-cutting ceremony at Wise Primary School for a new rooftop solar installation was the result of years of effort and the latest marker of success in the effort to diversify the economy of seven coalfield counties in Virginia.

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Democracy in action

Voting an exercise in community. It’s an exercise in finding ways in each of our own lives that build a more equitable and resilient community that works for all of us.

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Enbridge’s 122-mile pipeline in Tennessee is not a done deal

Converting the Kingston Fossil Plant to a natural gas facility would expose local communities — who already suffered the 2008 Kingston Coal Ash Spill — to more pollution while creating very few permanent jobs.

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