Posts Tagged ‘2009 – Issue 3 (June/July)’
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 spring and summer, scientist James Hansen and actress Daryl Hannah were arrested in a protest…
Read MoreA Backyard Vegetable Garden
Story by Kathleen McFadden Talk about a shovel-ready project! Federal legislators may not have had home gardens in mind when they crafted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide funding for ready-to-go infrastructure projects, but First Lady Michelle Obama certainly did. Less than a month after the President signed the legislation, the First Lady…
Read MoreVolunteers Put New Trail On The Map
Story and photo by Sarah Vig The Mountains to Sea Trail is halfway home. With over 500 of its 1000 miles completed, the ambitious project is well on its way to spanning the entire length of the state of North Carolina. The Mountains to the Sea Trail (called the MST) owes its start, and continued…
Read MoreThe Modest Mayapple
Story by Alison Singer What first caught my eye was the tightly wound green bundle atop the stem. They looked like closed umbrellas. “What are those?” I asked, pointing. “It’s Jack-in-the-Pulpit,” my friend told me, and I let the name slide over my tongue. I pictured a preacher clasping his hands in front of his…
Read MoreFormer Appalachian Voices Director Mary-Anne Hitt Recognized by Alma Mater
Mary Anne Hitt, who served as Appalachian Voices’ Executive Director from spring 2004 until November, 2008, recently received the University of Tennessee’s Notable Woman award. The award, given every year since 1995 by the University of Tennessee Commission for Women, honors “a woman whose accomplishments bring distinction to the university.” Margaret Crawford, who serves as…
Read MoreAppalachian Voices’ Attorney Puts Duke CEO Jim Rogers in The Hot Seat
While several dozen people were outside Duke Energy headquarters protesting CEO Jim Rogers’ decision to construct new coal-fired power plants in North Carolina and Indiana, Scott Gollwitzer, Appalachian Voices’ In-house Counsel, was inside asking questions at the annual shareholders’ meeting. When it was his turn, Gollwitzer briefly described the devastating social and environmental impacts of…
Read MoreVirginia AV Office Opposing Surry’s Behemoth Coal Power Plant
By Mike McCoy AV’s Virginia office is focused on preventing a behemoth of a coal plant from being permitted and built in the small town of Dendron, Virginia in the Hampton Roads area. Nine Virginia electric cooperatives are partnering in a 1500 megawatt coal plant that will have massive environmental impacts. The Old Dominion Electric…
Read MoreTeam Beltway Weighs In: Clean Water Protection Act Reaches 151 Cosponsors
By J.W. Randolph The federal Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310) has reached 151 cosponsors in just under 4 months of cosponsor recruitment, Appalachian Voices ‘Team Beltway’ is pleased to announce. During the last Congress, it took 21 months to reach the same goal. This shows that our grassroots work across the country to educate…
Read MoreRail-trail leads along Piney River near Virginia’s Blue Ridge
Story by Joe Tennis Easing along the Piney River, the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail chugs along a historical path, crisscrossing the Amherst-Nelson county line. This easy to moderate rail trail, at five miles in length, was once the path of the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway. Trains stopped rolling in 1981, and that’s when Popie…
Read MoreAppalachian Voices Welcomes New Executive Director, Willa Mays
Appalachian Voices is pleased to announced the appointment of Willa Coffey Mays as our new executive director. Mays brings 20 years of experience working with non-profit organizations, ten of those with groups focused on the environment, working in marketing, fundraising, leadership, and program development. “To have an executive director with the breadth of experience and…
Read More