UNDER PRESSURE
Our Fractured Relationship with Natural Gas
Fracking — a type of natural gas extraction — is a loud, polluting neighbor in many Appalachian communities, and the nation’s appetite for natural gas also raises concerns along the path of proposed pipelines.
As its grip grows stronger, this popular new fuel is bringing familiar burdens to a region long acquainted with the booms, busts and hidden costs of extractive energy industries, and also raising the threat of continued dependence on fossil fuels.
Other top stories
Under Pressure: A Fractured Relationship with Natural Gas
Across the East, fracking for natural gas is advancing in starts and stops — as some states embrace the practice, another bans it, and still more consider the risks and potential rewards of entering the fracking fray.
Digging Under the Surface: West Virginia’s Fracking Boom
Many West Virginia landowners agreed to sever the right to use their land from their rights to the minerals buried beneath the surface long before the onset of fracking technology. Today, fracking operators are using those old leases to bring industrial development to formerly secluded country homes, like the ridge above David Wentz’ house.
Pipe Dreams: The push to expand natural gas infrastructure
Landowners whose property lies along a natural gas pipeline route worry about local impacts, while others warn of the long-term consequences that could come with a reliance on this fickle fuel.
Citizen Scientists Tackle Climate Change
Across the region, volunteers from all walks of life are recording when the dogwood blooms and when the warblers arrive. These citizen scientists are compiling observations that help researchers monitor subtle changes in seasonal events, and provide the backbone for extensive projects to track climate change.
FloydFest 14 Celebrates Music, Community and Sustainability
Situated on a picturesque ridge just off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Floyd, Va., FloydFest: Fire on the Mountain, is a stellar music festival with a community feel and an emphasis on family, art and celebration. This year, Appalachian Voices was chosen as the featured nonprofit.
April/May 2015 - Columns
Hiking the Highlands
The Stanback Trails
Little Table Rock Mountain Trail is the longest of three newly designated Stanback Trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. It is located just a mile up the Parkway from the Heffner Gap Overlook at milepost 325.9, where a second Stanback Trail — the Rose Creek Trail — begins directly across the street.
Naturalist's Notebook
Elk Make Slow Return to Appalachia
When European colonists arrived in the 1400s, Eastern elk were the most widespread hooved animal on the continent, but the subspecies was declared extinct by 1880. Today, however, another type of elk are slowly returning to Appalachia.
This Green House
South Fork Sharestead
In six years, Jonathan Towers has transformed his average American home into an energy-efficient, food-abundant powerhouse. By retrofitting the house to be energy efficient and maintaining a strong commitment to energy conservation, their utility bill has dropped 75 percent.
Politics
State Legislative Updates
While lawmakers in Washington, D.C., might get most of the spotlight, the legislators in state capitols across the region are busy making — and blocking — laws that affect Appalachia’s land, air, water and people. Here’s the latest updates from state legislatures around the region
Member Spotlight
Helping Residents Stand Up To Pipelines
With the proposed development of the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipeline proposals, our team has been helping to alert citizens about ways to engage in fracked gas pipeline issues and express concerns about these risky plans.
Going to Court for Clean Water
In mid-March, Appalachian Voices and our partners in Kentucky sued Frasure Creek Mining in federal court for more than 20,000 violations of the Clean Water Act, which could lead to nearly $700 million in fines.
