We won’t stop until we’ve won in Virginia

Virginia Sierra ClubDespite last week’s legislative hearing on the Clean Power Plan in Richmond being stacked with pro-industry speakers, the legislators could not fail to notice just how many Virginians took the time to be there to watch and listen, and how passionately they care about shifting to clean energy.

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Be cool and keep fighting

15339824261_284508c1c6_hFor the next couple of days, you’ll have a hard time looking at anything online or on TV that doesn’t try to break down the midterm elections. Most pundits will analyze what happened, and some will try to tell you what it all means. Whatever that is, the job before us has not changed, and our responsibilities to Appalachia are the same today as they were yesterday and will be tomorrow.

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Appalachian Power’s solar customers rise and shine for clean energy

IMG_6454No one is more vocal about the need for Appalachian Power Company to invest in solar than those who already have: customers with their own solar arrays. But Virginians who produce their own energy are just part of a larger group of APCo customers demanding their utility expand its energy efficiency programs, encourage residential solar and take advantage of other opportunities to increase clean energy.

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Ecotourism Rises Along with Hope for a Region’s Future

After enduring generations of the booms and busts of an economy almost entirely dependent on the coal industry, the residents of far southwest Virginia are beginning to take their economic future into their own hands by capitalizing on the mountainous region’s incredible natural beauty to promote ecotourism.

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Petition Focuses on Va. Regulatory Failures

Appalachian Voices recently joined the Sierra Club, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and Appalachian Mountain Advocates to file a formal petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleging that a Virginia agency had failed to comply with requirements of the Clean Water Act since 2011.

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Atlantic Coast Pipeline Proposal Advances

Duke Energy, Dominion Resources and other partners are teaming up to build a 550-mile pipeline to better access natural gas produced in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, where fracking has proliferated in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

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Virginia Restoration Reroutes Troubled Water

In Rockbridge County, Va., construction vehicles this August began carving out nearly half a mile of new streambed for the Maury River. Tree plantings to stabilize the soil are scheduled to begin this fall. This will be the largest stream restoration project completed by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, which received funding from a federal grant program and a local family farm.

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Serving Virginia Parks

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation is launching the inaugural year of its Virginia Service and Conservation Corps program. Participants will maintain trails and improve natural habitats at Pocahontas, Leesylvania or Hungry Mother State Park.

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Updates: Stopping the “Tax on the Sun” in Virginia

solar on houseAs the comment period concludes on Appalachian Power Company’s proposed solar “stand-by” charge and next week’s formal regulatory hearing nears, we’re at full swing in a major push for solar freedom in Virginia. There is still time to take action to protect affordable clean energy options for customers.

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Five Schools Switch to Landfill Gas Power

By Carvan Craft Five colleges are putting the saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” into practice with their initiative to use landfill gas for light and power. Hollins University, Emory & Henry College, Lynchburg College, Randolph College and Sweet Briar College are the first institutions in Virginia on track to meet all of…

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