Tennessee Coal Industry Should Read the Bill

Why does the coal industry need to make things up? Because they are on the wrong side of the facts, they are on the wrong side of public opinion, and they are on the wrong side of history. Fortunately, they don’t have a defensible case to continue doing mountaintop removal here in Tennessee. Unfortunately, too…

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URGENT: Tennessee Scenic Vistas Bill to be Voted on Wednesday

Bill will first go before Senate Environment Committee The Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, which will make Tennessee become the first state to put a ban on high-elevation surface mining techniques such as mountaintop removal, faces an important hurdle this Wednesday (2/29) in the Senate Environment Committee. We expect the vote to be very close,…

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We 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…

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The Sewanee Coal Seam: The Dirt on East Tennessee’s Toxic Coal

By Jenni Frankenberg Veal One of the most toxic coal seams east of the Mississippi River has cast a dark shadow over the land and people living in its boundaries. Landon Medley, a resident and former county commissioner of Van Buren County, Tenn., has witnessed the impacts of mining in the Sewanee coal seam firsthand.…

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Nuclear Confusion

The Complicated History of the Atom in Appalachia By Paige Campbell Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. sits on 66 acres between the Nolichucky River and the south end of Erwin, Tenn. This part of Erwin is the very picture of a small, blue-collar town. Within a quarter-mile of the fence surrounding the industrial site, there’s a…

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Tennessee 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…

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SELC Releases Top Ten Endangered Places List, Shows Threats in Southeast

The Southern Environmental Law Center recently released its fourth-annual Top 10 Endangered Places list for 2012, highlighting the ecologically and culturally rich areas throughout the Southeast that are threatened by development, water issues and the environmental impacts of mountaintop removal and hydraulic fracturing. Southeastern states bordering Appalachia, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, are each featured…

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SELC’s Top 10 Endangered Places List Shows Threats in the Southeast

By Madison Hinshaw, Communications Editorial Intern in Spring 2012. The Southern Environmental Law Center recently released its fourth-annual Top 10 Endangered Places list of 2012, highlighting the scenic, ecologically and culturally rich areas throughout the Southeast that are being threatened by development, water issues and the environmental impacts of mountaintop removal and hydraulic fracturing. The…

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