Posts Tagged ‘Mountaintop Removal’
Appalachian Voices Calls On New EPA Administrator To End Mountaintop Removal Mining
After more than five months of delay and threats of filibuster, the U.S. Senate today confirmed Gina McCarthy by a vote of 59-40 to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It was the longest delay of a presidential nominee’s confirmation in the agency’s history. Under President Obama, the EPA has been vilified by the fossil…
Read More$108 Million awarded for VA Coalfields Expressway?
To help citizens raise their concerns around the coal industry-proposed route of the Coalfields Expressway in southwest Virginia, we’re inviting residents of the commonwealth to submit letters to the editor of their local newspapers. Sign-up to submit your own letter to the editor here. Recent headlines announcing $108 million in funding for the Coalfields Expressway…
Read MoreTwo Big Scores for Virginia Greens, but the Game is not Over
Over the course of a week, the state agency that oversees mountaintop removal mining in southwest Virginia denied a massive surface mine proposal in Wise County, and officials reviewing a huge natural gas plant recommended the application be denied because the applicant had not shown necessity in light of other options. This week, the Virginia…
Read MoreTenn. Tuesday: TVA’s Nuclear Nuisance
Welcome to Tennessee Tuesday! We’ve been searching across the state, patrolling the web and scouring our inboxes (as has President Obama, of course) in order to bring you the latest on the state-est that’s the greatest! Let’s get right to it. First of all, we’ve seen a brief clip from this morning on Fox News…
Read MoreUPDATE: Clean Water Protection Act Gains Support
By Melanie Foley Legislative Policy and Research Assistant, Summer 2013 The Clean Water Protection Act, HR 1837, was introduced last month with 45 original cosponsors. Since then, more than two dozen additional members of Congress have recognized the need to protect our communities and rivers from pollution caused by mountaintop removal. The bill, which restores…
Read MoreTenn. Tuesday: Haslam Pumps up Coal! Whitewater Industrial Complex! Cashing in on Efficiency!
Welcome to Tennessee Tuesday, where Governor Haslam Refuses to Meet with Mountain Advocates, TVA Stays the Same More than it Changes, and our New Energy Secretary is Totally into the World’s Premier Spallation Neutron Source! Governor Bill Haslam is generally not aligned with the plentiful far-right fringe voices in the state of Tennessee. His business…
Read MoreTenn. Tuesday: Energy Savings! Victories!
…HaslamConnectedLobbyistSellingPublicLandstoCoalCompanies! OH MY!! Good morning, and welcome to your Tennessee Tuesday, our weekly holler from your Tennessee hills. Drop us a note in the comments to say hello, let us know a bit about yourself, what you’re interested in and what stories we might be missing. It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the…
Read MoreAppalachian Voices and Partners Challenge Kentucky’s Backroom Deal With Coal Company
Yesterday, Appalachian Voices and our partner organizations filed a “petition for review”, essentially an appeal of a settlement between Frasure Creek Mining and the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. This settlement lets Frasure Creek off the hook for thousands of water quality violations over the past two years, while doing little to ensure that the…
Read MoreKentuckians Challenge Cabinet’s Order for Failing to Protect Clean Water from Coal Pollution
Resources Citizen’s petition for review (May 2013) Citizens’ Objection Letter (Jan 2013) Cabinet and Frasure’s Agreed Order FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Appalachian Voices * Kentuckians For The Commonwealth * Kentucky Riverkeeper * Waterkeeper Alliance CONTACTS: • Eric Chance, Appalachian Voices, 828-262-1500, eric@appvoices.org • Pat Banks, Kentucky Riverkeeper, 859-200-7442, kyriverkeeper@eku.edu • Peter Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, 828-582-0422, pharrison@waterkeeper.org…
Read MorePermit to Mine one of America’s “Most Endangered Mountains” Denied
Appalachian residents in Virginia are breathing a sigh of relief with the news yesterday that the state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy has denied a permit for a massive strip mine on Ison Rock Ridge in Wise County. Although the coal company, A&G Coal Corp., has appealed the decision (no surprise there), local citizens…
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