Organizational Roundup

Teaming Up For Virginia Appalachian Voices’ Virginia campaign team partnered with Downstream Strategies to help in their research for a report that details how the coal industry is reaping huge benefits from the Commonwealth of Virginia each year. Released in mid-December, “The Impact of Coal on the Virginia State Budget” reveals that Virginia taxpayers have…

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Coal Report

Impoundment Safety Called Into Question Questions and criticism followed a Nov. 30 accident at a CONSOL Energy-operated coal slurry impoundment in West Virginia that left one worker dead. A few days after the incident, The Charleston Gazette reported that records “outlined company concerns that construction to enlarge the dump had not been moving fast enough…

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Impoundment Safety Called Into Question | Stream Buffer Zone Delay

Questions and criticism followed a Nov. 30 accident at a CONSOL Energy-operated coal slurry impoundment in West Virginia that left one worker dead. A few days after the incident, The Charleston Gazette reported that records “outlined company concerns that construction to enlarge the dump had not been moving fast enough to keep up with slurry…

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Southeastern Coal Plants Retire and Convert | Other Shorts

The growing share of electricity generated by natural gas and recent announcements of coal plant retirements are rapidly changing the energy sector across the southeast. On Jan. 7, Georgia Power announced its plans to retire 15 coal- and oil-fired units at four plants across the state. The same week as Georgia Power’s announcement, Duke Energy…

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Where There is a Will

The Persistence of Political Challenges in a Region Apart By Brian Sewell From the muddy path that led to the cabin, reporters and cameramen waited to document the modest declaration of an “unconditional war on poverty.” That day in 1964, surrounded by children on the front porch of a home in eastern Kentucky, President Lyndon…

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Citizens Object to State of Kentucky’s Backroom Deal With Coal Company

Resources Citizens’ Objection Letter Agreed Order Click for full-sized image Appalachian Voices * Kentuckians For The Commonwealth * Kentucky Riverkeeper * Waterkeeper Alliance Contact: • Eric Chance, Appalachian Voices, 828-262-1500, eric@appvoices.org • Ted Withrow, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, 606-782-0998, tfwithrow@windstream.net • Pat Banks, Kentucky Riverkeeper, 859-200-7442, kyriverkeeper@eku.edu • Peter Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, 828-582-0422, pharrison@waterkeeper.org Frankfort,…

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Coal Industry Costs Virginians Millions of Dollars Every Year

New report suggests shifting money to diversify coalfield economies Contact: Rory McIlmoil, Downstream Strategies, 304-445-7200, mcilmoil@downstreamstrategies.com Cat McCue, Appalachian Voices, 434-293-6373, cat@appvoices.org Glen Besa, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, 804-225-9113 x 104, glen.besa@sierraclub.org Resources Full Report Executive Summary Blog Post Time To End Corporate Welfare For King Coal In Virginia Photos Richmond, VA –…

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A Clean(er) World

By Molly Moore No country is an energy island. In the face of a European Union sanction that bans steel imports, Iran is using roundabout trading methods to secure metallurgical coal, used in steel manufacturing, from Ukraine. A state-backed firm in Abu Dhabi plans to invest in Saudi Arabia’s growing renewable energy efforts. And in…

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The Export Enigma: Appalachian Coal’s Complicated Outlets Overseas

By Brian Sewell Recently, coal exports have provided operators in Appalachia with a crucial buffer against the market-driven forces that are shaping the energy landscape across the United States. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, between 2009 and 2011, coal exports nearly doubled in response to stagnant domestic consumption. This year, the EIA forecasts…

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Coal Industry Employment Remains in Flux and other shorts

On Nov. 27, Southern Coal announced it would recall 650 laid-off miners after entering into a multi-year contract with American Electric Power. The deal will allow Southern Coal to reopen mines that were closed earlier this year and will prevent the layoffs of another 500 workers. Much of the complaints about a political “war on…

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