Appalachian Access to Affordable Healthcare

health clinic workers

Changes in federal health policy could leave even more residents without adequate access to healthcare — and increase the number of patients who rely on nonprofit safety net clinics. In Southwest Virginia, the grassroots group We Care aims to create more dialogue between the public and legislators about the healthcare system.

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In Tennessee, Powell Valley Electric Co-op members speak out

Bee keepers in Claiborne Co., Tenn.

Electric co-ops are governed by boards who are democratically elected, and therefore supposedly responsive to their customers, who are also co-owners of these utilities. The Powell Valley Electric Cooperative in east Tennessee has stirred grave concern with its herbicide spraying policy, and members are speaking out.

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Report finds thousands in western N.C. and eastern Tenn. need energy efficiency financing

Marshall, N.C. on the French Broad River. Photo by Jamie Goodman

CONTACT: Rory McIlmoil, Appalachian Voices Energy Savings Program Manager, rory@appvoices.org, (828) 262-1500 Boone, N.C. — A program that pays for the upfront cost of home energy improvements could lower monthly bills for thousands of families in western North Carolina while creating jobs, strengthening local economies, and protecting natural resources and public health, according to Appalachian…

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Mountaintop removal limited — not stopped — in Tennessee

A former surface mining site in Tennessee. Photo taken October 2012, flight courtesy Southwings

The Obama administration has approved a petition from Tennessee to designate some 75,000 acres of mountain ridges off limits for surface coal mining. The move protects mountain streams, wildlife habitat, scenic views and eco-tourism assets of the iconic Cumberland Plateau. But other mountains in Tennessee are still threatened with mountaintop removal mining. Take action today.

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