Posts Tagged ‘West Virginia’
Appalachian legislators give POWER+ the cold shoulder
Virginia’s coal-bearing counties would directly benefit from the adoption of the POWER+ plan, a proposal in the Obama administration’s 2016 budget that would direct more than a billion dollars to Central Appalachia. But budget bills passed out of both houses of Congress weaken or include no mention of the POWER+ Plan.
Reworking the Region
From innovative job-training models and worker-owned business to the prospect of federal funding to reinvigorate Appalachia, people across the region are working for a stronger economy.
Read MoreOnline Shopping: A Farmer’s Market
An online marketplace allows shoppers to reach 51 local West Virginia farms at the click of a button.
Read MoreTurn This Town Around
A project to help re-energize small towns is encouraging community-led projects, like the brand-new West Virginia Mine Wars Museum!
Read MoreAnother challenge facing coal: Cleaning up
From The Appalachian Voice Online: Yet another aspect of the financial perils facing U.S. coal companies is coming into full view. As even some of the nation’s largest coal producers run the risk of caving under their debts, regulators and analysts are voicing urgent concerns about cash-strapped companies’ ability to pay for reclamation land after mining.
A story found “In the Hills and Hollows”
Filmmaker Keely Kernan is currently producing In the Hills and Hollows, a documentary feature that follows the lives of several West Virginians in the middle of the state’s natural gas boom. By juxtaposing the boom and bust coal industry that has long dominated the landscape with the current natural gas boom, Kernan hopes to promote an important conversation about the type of future West Virginians want to create.
One month, two hearings on mountaintop removal
It’s rare that Appalachians have their voices heard in Congress. But twice in the past month, residents have had the opportunity to testify about mountaintop removal mining at two different U.S. House hearings. The lesson we learned? Congress does not want to help end mountaintop removal and they’d prefer not to hear about it.
Appalachian communities are still at risk
Our goal with Communities at Risk is to ramp up the pressure on the White House to end mountaintop removal. As citizens have argued for years, cracking down on the continuing devastation of Appalachian mountains and streams is critical to moving the region forward. It’s incumbent on the Obama administration to help revive Appalachian communities, which have powered the nation’s economic ascendancy for generations.
Video Shows Rare View of Mountaintop Removal Mining
CONTACT: Cat McCue, Communications Director, (434) 293-6373; [email protected] A short video released today by Appalachian Voices with stunningly detailed drone footage provides a rare view of mountaintop removal coal mining and the increasing proximity of this destructive form of mining to people living in Appalachia. The video also includes interviews with local citizens who want…
Read MoreAppalachian Crayfish: Canaries in a Coal Mine
Two species of crayfish native to Appalachia are in danger of becoming extinct after years of suffering habitat loss and water quality impacts attributable to mountaintop removal coal mining and other industrial activity. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agency is proposing the species be listed as endangered under federal law. Whether or not they are pushed past the point of no return depends largely on the outcome of a recent proposal by the agency to add them to the federal list of endangered species.