EIA: Mountaintop removal coal production down

The U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) published a blog post today showing that coal produced by mountaintop removal mining in Central Appalachia decreased by 62 percent between 2008 and 2014. Demand for Central Appalachian coal will continue to decline, making further progress inevitable. But we won’t end mountaintop removal by relying on the market alone.

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Supreme Court delivers blow to EPA’s mercury rule

In a major decision today, the Supreme Court ruled the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not properly consider costs when it created a rule to limit mercury emissions from power plants. But the agency has a mandate and a clear path forward to protect public health by limiting emissions of mercury and other toxic air pollutants.

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Appalachian legislators give POWER+ the cold shoulder

economyVirginia’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.

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Appalachian Regional Commission receives citizen input

Subregions_2009_MapOn 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.

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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…

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Breaking 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,…

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Another challenge facing coal: Cleaning up

Harlan Mine 4_12_13_400wFrom 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.

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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.

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