It’s been five years since more than a billion gallons of coal ash flooded rivers and neighborhoods surrounding the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency promised to take action, but to this day Americans are asking the EPA: “Where are you?”
We went back to December 2008 to track political and social progress around the globe, and put it side-by-side with the lack of progress the EPA has made toward protecting clean water and our health from toxic coal ash. Check out the timeline below and click it for a larger version.
Brian SewellBrian is an environmental news junkie concerned with our lagging energy policy and revealing the true cost of coal on our health, the environment and the climate. He is Appalachian Voices' Director of Strategic Advancement.
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Dear Appalachian Voices,
Thank you for this fascinating, and disturbing, chart and update.
This is absolutely appalling. And just goes to prove, once again, how broken and useless our government is in meeting its responsibilities.
Unfortunately, Obama, who many of us (myself included) had such high hopes for, has turned out to be no friend of wildlife or the environment. Who do we turn to? God help us.
Sincerely,
Joseph Collins
Queens, NY
I am very concerned about the issue of coal ash and mountaintop removal mining, and the fact that there has been so much stalling by the powers that be to address it. Has a class action suit been tried by anyone yet? I know that can be difficult to pursue but if
lawyers from the Southern Poverty Law Center or Earth Justice, or a combination of forces could be brought to bear on this issue, it would seem worth the effort!
Our whole nation is broken. I am ashamed to be an American.