“I’m Here Because I Love Mountains:” Watch a speech by Appalachian Voices’ JW Randolph

On Feb. 8, Appalachian Voices Tennessee Director, JW Randolph, spoke to members of the state legislature, the media and the environmental community. Below is a video and the transcript of his speech in support of the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, a bill to protect the state’s virgin ridgelines from mountaintop removal coal mining. Hello,…

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N.C. Environmental Commissions Under Attack by Senate Bill 10

By Davis Wax Editorial assistant, Spring/Summer 2013 Update: In about 48 hours, with almost no chance for public input, the North Carolina state Senate passed a poorly designed bill to fire all current members from several N.C. advisory boards and commissions, including the Utilities Commission and Environmental Management Commission. Give your state Rep. a call…

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Appalachain Voices and Partners Object to Backroom Deal With Kentucky Coal Company

A coalition of citizens’ groups including Appalachian Voices filed objections to a proposed settlement between Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet and one of the state’s largest coal mining companies, Frasure Creek Mining. The agreement would legally resolve over a thousand water pollution violations from 2011 and 2012 at all of Frasure Creek’s mines across Eastern…

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Citizens Object to State of Kentucky’s Backroom Deal With Coal Company

Resources Citizens’ Objection Letter Agreed Order Click for full-sized image Appalachian Voices * Kentuckians For The Commonwealth * Kentucky Riverkeeper * Waterkeeper Alliance Contact: • Eric Chance, Appalachian Voices, 828-262-1500, eric@appvoices.org • Ted Withrow, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, 606-782-0998, tfwithrow@windstream.net • Pat Banks, Kentucky Riverkeeper, 859-200-7442, kyriverkeeper@eku.edu • Peter Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, 828-582-0422, pharrison@waterkeeper.org Frankfort,…

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Coal Ash: Now a Part of a Balanced Breakfast

By Hallie Carde Red, White and Water intern, Spring 2013 This just in: in addition to fruits and veggies, our nation’s children should be getting their daily dose of coal ash. Or at least that’s what statements at a public hearing in Franklin County, Missouri, seem to suggest. Just last week, there was a hearing…

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Congratulations to our conservation allies on a major victory in the fight to end mountaintop removal!

Patriot Coal Co., one of the largest coal companies operating in Central Appalachia, today announced it will phase out mountaintop removal mining coal mining over the next several years, saying its decision is in the “best interests of the company and the communities where it operates.” The announcement is the result of an agreement between…

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Moving Appalachia Forward!

Editor’s Note: As part of the launch of the “No More Excuses” campaign on iLoveMountains.org, we asked people whose lives have been directly impacted by mountaintop removal coal mining to contribute their thoughts on why President Obama should make ending mountaintop removal a priority in his second term. The first in the series is a…

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Cape Fear: Starring Toxic Contaminants, Directed by Coal Ash

When state regulators were shown groundwater test samples taken near the Cape Fear River in eastern North Carolina with elevated levels of arsenic, thallium and chloride, the contaminants that seeped in from Lake Sutton, a coal ash pond next to the Sutton coal plant….that means the regulators made the plant clean it all up, right?…

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Worried about Water? The EPA’s New Tool Can Help

Maps provide a valuable perspective of the lay of the land, the ability to identify local waterways, their length and proximity to urban or agricultural areas, and their connectivity as they wrap around hills or snake through open plains. But there was always something you couldn’t learn about rivers and streams near your community by…

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