By_Bill_Kovarik An often pointed but unfailingly polite debate Thursday demonstrated a wide gulf between environmental and coal industry positions on Appalachia’s environmental woes. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, challenged coal baron Don Blankenship to be honest…
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Chasing Copenhagen
By Bill Kovarik So this is the speed of light. We laugh as the solar-powered boat glides silently down the Spree River through the heart of Berlin, Germany. As monumental buildings drift past, our captain, Arno Paulus, points out a…
New River Expedition Sees Both Beauty and Problems
By George Santucci, Executive Director National Committee for the New River We started talking last year about a complete trip down the New, from Watauga County, N.C., all the way to the confluence in West Virginia, to celebrate the river’s…
Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining’s Summer of Discontent
Story by Bill Kovarik A summer of discontent is rapidly turning into an autumn of confrontation, as Congressional hearings and regional protests increasingly pit environmental activists against coal industry employees. In one of over a dozen full scale protests this…
Water Matters
Now more than ever, it’s a good time to think about the future of water in Appalachia and the Southeast. Experts warn that we will have to face declining quality and quantity of water due to expanding population, changing climate,…
Dancing Appalachia’s Joys and Sorrows
Story by Bill Kovarik Dancers cling to each other and spread their hands in the air, like trees on an Appalachian mountainside. Then, explosions rock the stage, and erupt on a screen in the background. The dancers collapse, and, in…
Wind Power: A View from the West
By Dawn Stover Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge of our time, and virtually everyone agrees that renewable energy must be part of the solution. Unfortunately, the scramble to implement “green” technologies—primarily wind power—is rapidly transforming landscapes across the…
The winding road to Tazewell
Story by Bill Kovarik The two-lane road to Tazewell, Va. fades to gray like a pair of blue jeans in an old photo. It winds past small but prosperous homes, along pastures rimmed with split rail fences, and through some…
Scientists Search for Conservation Strategies
Story by Bill Kovarik Increasing numbers of windmills will pose threats to bats and migratory birds, scientists have warned in recent years, unless conservation strategies are put into place. Many states, including Virginia, are beginning to include stringent monitoring and…
Remembering the Whooshies of ’79
Appalachia’s first industrial scale windmill attracted praise, condemnation and cranks Story by Bill Kovarik They said that Boone, NC’s wind turbine didn’t work, that it was too loud, and that, like some kind of gigantic drunk, it attracted wierdos. Well,…
