RockingChair

Front Porch Blog

Updates from Appalachia

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North Carolina lawmakers have set about a brazen scheme to strip powers that McCrory enjoyed from the incoming Cooper administration.

Trouble is afoot in NC special session

After days of deflecting questions and refusing to explain their priorities for the “emergency session,” Republicans introduced a slew of bills that would make sweeping changes and dramatically shift the balance of power away from the governor. Take action to stop this blatant abuse of power.

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Watauga County resident Lydia Head with volunteers Sarah Merlotte and Hannah Emery (not pictured: Taylor Petty) Photo: Katie Kienbaum

Lighting up the night with the Daylight Savings Challenge

To make this winter a little easier for folks in Boone, N.C. facing high energy bills, Appalachian Voices devised the Daylight Savings Challenge. Five student volunteers helped us distribute energy efficient LED light bulbs to seniors. All together, the project should save the residents at least $280 a year. That translates to about 1.75 tons of coal that won’t get burned and more than four tons of carbon dioxide pollution that won’t contribute to climate change

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America’s miners deserve better than this; time to do your part

America owes a debt to the nation’s coal miners. The Miners Protection Act would begin to pay that debt, but the opportunity for Congress to pass the bill is quickly slipping away.

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Creative Commons, copyright Palm Beach Daily News.

Trump’s pick for Commerce has troubled history in coal

Wilbur Ross — a man who helmed a large Kentucky coal company with a troubled history of environmental and miner safety violations — has been chosen to be the next U.S. Secretary of Commerce. If President-elect Trump truly believes that economic growth and opportunity can only be gained at the expense of worker safety, community health and clean water, he could make no better pick than Ross.

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Boone team moves to new office

Our headquarters located in Boone, N.C., has a new home! The staff office is now located at 589 West King Street, right in the heart of the downtown district.

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