Lincoln and Climate Science

By Dr. Bill Kovarik Abraham Lincoln used to tell a story during the darkest days of the Civil War. Although the story was omitted from a recent movie about Lincoln, it is still worth recalling. It goes like this: When Lincoln was a young man in Illinois in 1833, he was roused from his bed…

Read More

Appalachian Elegy by bell hooks: “an avalanche of splendor”

By Matt Grimley bell hooks doesn’t claim to be an Appalachian. But through her latest collection of poems, Appalachian Elegy, (University Press of Kentucky, 2012) we get the bigger message: that doesn’t matter. bell hooks was born in Hopkinsville, Ky., in 1952 with the name Gloria Jean Watkins. A celebrated teacher, author and activist, she…

Read More

Seeing is Believing

The coal industry is fond of saying that there is no mountaintop removal taking place in Tennessee, so we wanted to see for ourselves. Appalachian Voices recently teamed up with the filming crew from “Coal Country” and SouthWings’ award winning pilot Susan Lapis to take an aerial tour of coal-mining counties in the Volunteer State.…

Read More

AV and iLoveMountains Launch No More Excuses Campaign

Appalachian Voices, in conjunction with iLoveMountains.org, recently launched a two-pronged campaign to solicit reelected President Obama to end the devastating practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. With our new report summarizing the human cost of mountaintop removal coal mining and a nationwide campaign through iLoveMountains.org, we are telling the Obama Administration, “No More Excuses —…

Read More

Organizational Roundup

Fighting Tennessee Valley Assumptions Appalachian Voices recently joined forces with the Sierra Club and Tennessee Clean Water Network to call on the Tennessee Valley Authority to not overhaul its aging Gallatin Fossil Plant without fully considering cleaner and cheaper options. TVA unveiled a draft Environmental Assessment for plans to sink over $1 billion into the…

Read More