The long-contested MVP faces new delays due to water-crossing permits. Bills that would give Virginia more authority to protect water quality from pipelines are advancing in the state legislature. As the commonwealth considers a compressor station for MVP Southgate, developers of the canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline begin the restoration process.

The New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, established in December 2020, is West Virginia's first national park.

Three universities in Appalachia were among 32 higher education institutions that were awarded grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for projects that include developing water pipes from recycled plastic and researching the air quality impact of exhaled carbon dioxide.

Despite a national coal downturn, mining has not slowed much in Raleigh County, West Virginia, where companies have proposed two new mountaintop removal coal mines.