Posts Tagged ‘Mountaintop Removal’
Storming Capital Hill
On June 2, more than 150 people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the 7th annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington, sponsored by The Alliance for Appalachia. After a day of training, participants spent three days meeting with Congressional representatives to urge them to support legislation restoring the Clean Water Act to its original language,…
Read MoreTranslating Intentions Around Climate Change into Religious Action
By Mallory McDuff As climate change becomes more politicized in Congress, many religious leaders — from evangelicals to Episcopalians — have expressed more agreement than discord on the need to address the rising threat. Yet it’s often easier to acknowledge the urgency of the climate crisis than to translate that knowledge into action on a…
Read MoreAmerican Chestnut: Return of the Forest King?
By Molly Moore When Daniel Boone traveled through Appalachia, the tall trunks and sweet nuts of the American chestnut flourished. But to most modern residents, stumbling across a full-size American chestnut in the woods is as likely as spotting an eastern cougar. Unlike the cougar, however, the chestnut is making a comeback. During the American…
Read MoreCoalition Acts to Protect Virginia Rivers and Streams from Mining Pollution
For Immediate Release May 3, 2012 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Contact: Tom Cormons, Appalachian Voices, 434-981-6506, tom@appvoices.org Sean Sarah, Sierra Club, 330 338-3740 sean.sarah@sierraclub.org Sam Broach, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, 276-523-1702, sbroach1@verizon.net – – – – – – – –…
Read MoreState Legislature Kills Mountaintop Removal Ban Through Delays
By Molly Moore The Scenic Vistas Protection Act, a bill to end mountaintop removal coal mining in Tennessee, was killed by a state House subcommittee after the bill was heard by the state’s Senate this March. The Tennessee hearing marked the first time that a bill to ban mountaintop removal was heard by a full…
Read MoreWe Can End Mountaintop Removal in Tennessee
By Dr. Minnie Vance Chattanooga, Tenn. In Tennessee, we love our mountains. These peaks and valleys inform our southern heritage, enhance our connection to family and represent the best of what we call state and country. Our mountains are home. Nevertheless, we too are facing down the barrel of continued mountaintop removal mining. Unfortunately, in…
Read MoreReclaiming Appalachia: Can Legislation and Enforcement Restore Mountains?
By Molly Moore Kathy Selvage has lived in Stephens, Va., her entire life. From her front porch, she can almost see the field where her childhood home once sat. Instead of the hardwood forest that surrounded her home, graded hills lean against each other like a lumpy bag of onions beneath a blanket of savannah…
Read MoreChurch “Shares the Plate” with App Voices
Appalachian Voices recently had the honor of being chosen for Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church’s “Share The Plate” program, in which the Pittsburgh, Pa., church donates 50 percent of their quarterly tithings to a justice-related nonprofit. After seeing an Appalachian Treasures presentation organized by local activist Shane Freeman, the Reverend David McFarland and the church board…
Read MoreTennessee Office Making Ground with State Legislature, TVA
In Tennessee, our staff is currently working with the state legislature to pass the Scenic Vistas Protection Act, a bill that would ban high elevation surface mining techniques such as mountaintop removal in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. In collaboration with partners across the state, we are building relationships with key members of the House…
Read MoreConcerned Citizens Dispute Water Quality Study
The Whitesville, W.Va.-based Sludge Safety Project is claiming that a recent study of the water quality in an area of Boone County by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection used flawed research methods, contains errors and misinterprets its own data. In January, the WVDEP completed a year-long study that found that drinking water supplies…
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