RockingChair

Front Porch Blog

Updates from Appalachia

AV-mountainBorder-white-medium3

Virginians face threat from toxic gold mining

The gold mining industry is eyeing central Virginia for a major expansion that could bring one of the most toxic industries to our state. Buckingham County is potentially ground zero.

Read More

Protecting our democracy in the face of violence means holding elected officials accountable

Every American and believer in democracy should be repulsed by the violent and seditious acts that occurred in the nation’s capital this week as the people’s elected representatives worked to finalize the lawful outcome of the presidential election.

Read More

The new face of solar energy in Southwest Virginia

Southwest Virginia native Matthew McFadden is the new Project Coordinator for an initiative to help advance solar energy in the region.

Read More
Man with gray hair facing power plant, back of shirt says Ash Spill First Responder

Fight like hell for the living: Honoring Kingston coal ash workers

Twelve years after the Kingston coal ash spill, hundreds of cleanup workers are sick with lung diseases, blood and brain cancers and other ailments, and families report that as many as 53 workers have died from their exposure to the toxic Kingston coal ash.

Read More
Absentee land ownership in Wise County

Fighting for equitable land access in Southwest Virginia

Large, out-of-state companies often hold huge tracts of land in Southwest Virginia and across the region for its perceived coal or timber potential — making it difficult for nearby communities to use the land themselves.

Read More