Posts Tagged ‘Coal’
Appalachian legislators give POWER+ the cold shoulder
Virginia’s coal-bearing counties would directly benefit from the adoption of the POWER+ plan, a proposal in the Obama administration’s 2016 budget that would direct more than a billion dollars to Central Appalachia. But budget bills passed out of both houses of Congress weaken or include no mention of the POWER+ Plan.
Appalachian Regional Commission receives citizen input
On June 4, the Appalachian Regional Commission held one of its five 2016-2020 Strategic Plan Listening Sessions in Morehead, Ky. The session successfully facilitated the sharing of ideas by Appalachian stakeholders that will inform the commission’s plan for improving economic opportunities in communities across the region.
DEP Orders Coal Prep Plants to Disclose Chemicals
An April order by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection requires the state’s approximately 90 coal preparation plants to disclose the chemicals used to process coal. The DEP order follows a series of coal-related spills in early 2014 and the discovery that many potentially hazardous products used to process coal were previously not required…
Read MoreBreaking Clean Tour 2015
Breaking Clean Tour The Mullins family is hitting the road once more to share their story about life in the Appalachian coalfields. The Breaking Clean Tour, which visited more than 20 cities in the Southeast and Midwest in 2014, will be heading to the Pacific Northwest this summer. Nick, a former fourth-generation underground coal miner,…
Read MoreAnother challenge facing coal: Cleaning up
From The Appalachian Voice Online: Yet another aspect of the financial perils facing U.S. coal companies is coming into full view. As even some of the nation’s largest coal producers run the risk of caving under their debts, regulators and analysts are voicing urgent concerns about cash-strapped companies’ ability to pay for reclamation land after mining.
A story found “In the Hills and Hollows”
Filmmaker Keely Kernan is currently producing In the Hills and Hollows, a documentary feature that follows the lives of several West Virginians in the middle of the state’s natural gas boom. By juxtaposing the boom and bust coal industry that has long dominated the landscape with the current natural gas boom, Kernan hopes to promote an important conversation about the type of future West Virginians want to create.
One month, two hearings on mountaintop removal
It’s rare that Appalachians have their voices heard in Congress. But twice in the past month, residents have had the opportunity to testify about mountaintop removal mining at two different U.S. House hearings. The lesson we learned? Congress does not want to help end mountaintop removal and they’d prefer not to hear about it.
Keep the Clean Water Act going strong
Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ended a decade of confusion with the release of a long-awaited Clean Water Rule, which clarifies the scope of waters that are protected under the Clean Water Act. As the EPA pursues updates to the “effluent limitation guidelines,” we hope the Obama administration ready to continue the trend of strengthening and modernizing the Clean Water Act.
Read MoreSilas House: A Remembrance of Jean Ritchie
“Kindness always lit up the face of Jean Ritchie,” begins this remembrance by author Silas House of the Appalachian folk icon who died yesterday at 92. “She was a source of incredible pride for my people. Everyone I knew loved Jean Ritchie, and they especially loved the way she represented Appalachian people: with generosity and sweetness, yes. But also with defiance and strength.”
Appalachian communities are still at risk
Our goal with Communities at Risk is to ramp up the pressure on the White House to end mountaintop removal. As citizens have argued for years, cracking down on the continuing devastation of Appalachian mountains and streams is critical to moving the region forward. It’s incumbent on the Obama administration to help revive Appalachian communities, which have powered the nation’s economic ascendancy for generations.