Posts Tagged ‘West Virginia’
Citizen stories counter coal industry deception
Citizens and clean water advocates used a series of hearings on the proposed Stream Protection Rule to demand improvements to the draft version and call out state agencies for repeatedly failing to enforce regulations already on the books. Coal industry representatives, on the other hand, relied on “war on coal” rhetoric and deception to rally against the rule.
Read MorePeculiar Patriot Coal deal raises questions
What would a health care executive-turned-environmentalist want with the dying business of mining coal? That’s the question some are asking after the announcement that a Virginia environmentalist plans to acquire assets, and assume around $400 million in liabilities, from recently-bankrupt Patriot Coal.
Read MorePredictable politics giving way to popular support for POWER+
In Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee, cities and counties with long histories of coal mining are advocating for the POWER+ Plan, a federal budget initiative proposed by the White House to build a more diverse economy in the communities hardest hit by the regional coal industry’s decline. They deserve to be heard.
Read MoreFormidable Costs
Coal Company Conducts Business as Usual Near Kanawha State Forest By Tarence Ray Seven miles south of Charleston, W.Va., sits a 9,300-acre expanse of trails, streams and wildlife known as the Kanawha State Forest. The forest’s diverse wildflower and bird species attract naturalists from all over the region, and trails and fully-equipped campgrounds bring in…
Read MoreWater Privatization
The troubles of an investor-owned, private water utility in West Virginia illustrate some of the hazards of private water ownership. Nationally, the number of Americans relying on public water utilities is growing, and for-profit water companies face a tougher market.
Read MoreU.S. coal giant Alpha Natural Resources files for bankruptcy
Alpha Natural Resources, one of the largest coal mining companies in the United States and a big player in the Appalachian coal market, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday of this week, blaming “an unprecedented period of distress with increased competition from natural gas, an oversupply in the global coal market, historically low prices due to weaker international and domestic economies, and increasing government regulation that has pushed electric utilities to transition away from coal-fired power plants.
Read MoreMounting Threats Imperil Two Appalachian Crayfish
There are more than 300 different species of crayfish in the southeastern United States, and two West Virginia species of these adaptable freshwater crustaceans may be declared federally endangered.
Read MoreFracking Investigations Stir Questions, Fines
Kentucky researchers prepare to test for fracking-induced earthquakes, a university fracking site stirs controversy in West Virginia, and suspicion rises that there may be natural gas beneath Stokes County, North Carolina.
Read MoreInterior Department Issues Draft Stream Protection Rule
Contact: Cat McCue, Communications Director, 434-293-6373, cat@appvoices.org Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior issued a long-awaited draft of the Stream Protection Rule, which the agency has been working on since 2010. The purpose of the rule is to prevent or minimize the impacts of surface coal mining on surface water and groundwater. The agency’s…
Read MoreEIA: Mountaintop removal coal production down
The U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) published a blog post today showing that coal produced by mountaintop removal mining in Central Appalachia decreased by 62 percent between 2008 and 2014. Demand for Central Appalachian coal will continue to decline, making further progress inevitable. But we won’t end mountaintop removal by relying on the market alone.
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