Posts Tagged ‘Mountaintop Removal’
Working to Change an Energy Landscape: Reflections on a Summer Internship
By Erin Burks Red, White and Water intern, Summer 2012 Summer is coming to a close, as is my internship with AppVoices. Today is my last day. Two and a half months of my time with this organization has allowed me to travel, to write, to organize, and to learn. The most important aspect of…
Read MoreUS Coal: Keeping the Lights On…In Chinese Boardrooms?
As American Coal Exports Skyrocket, Chinese Companies Look To Buy Up Appalachia Much of the financial infrastructure for companies operating Appalachian surface mines may soon be in China, along with an increasing amount of Appalachian coal. On May 7, Guizhou Guochuang Energy Holding Group said it had raised 3.9 billion yuan in a private placement…
Read MoreSustainability: What it Means and How to Achieve it.
By Erin Burks Red, White and Water intern, Summer 2012 On Monday I had the opportunity to hear Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute Amory Lovins speak at the campus of Appalachian State University. The lecture took place in the midst of the Appalachian Energy Summit, presented by Sustain Appalachia. If you missed the…
Read MoreLegislation Addressing Health Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Introduced in Congress
Today, Representatives Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), and 11 Democratic cosponsors are introducing the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act into the 112th Congress. The bill seeks to help end mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia by highlighting the health impacts associated with the practice. We applaud this effort to bring the daily tragedy that is…
Read MoreSpeaking Out At EPA Hearings in Kentucky
Upon our arrival, we definitely stood out. I wondered if we exuded “tree hugger,” but it’s more likely that the “I Love Mountains” buttons gave us away. While no one approached us directly to ask what we were doing there or to start an argument, the rally cries and fire-and-brimstone speeches in the background gave…
Read MoreTo the Capitol and Back
By Jessica Kennedy Editorial assistant, Summer 2012 I’ve never seen mountaintop removal. I’ve seen it in pictures, books, movies. I’ve seen it in dreams and reconstructed it in my head. I’ve pictured its destruction settling in my mountains – the giant hills that make Boone the town it is. I am thankful mountaintop removal has…
Read MoreOrganizational Roundup
Coal Ash Debate Spills Into Transportation Bill Appalachian Voices’ Red, White and Water campaign is working to oppose an amendment on the federal Transportation Bill that would essentially halt the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s rule-making process on toxic coal ash storage and disposal. The bill passed the House in April, and is now undergoing review…
Read MoreStorming 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…
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