A ruling by U.S. Court of Appeals today is as clear as the science indicting mountaintop removal coal mining, and affirms what advocates working to end the destruction of Appalachian mountains and streams have been saying for years. [ Read More ]
BLOGGER INDEX
Brian Sewell
Brian 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.Court sides with EPA on science-based mountaintop removal permitting
Friday, July 11th, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | No Comments
A ruling by U.S. Court of Appeals today is as clear as the science indicting mountaintop removal coal mining, and affirms what advocates working to end the destruction of Appalachian mountains and streams have been saying for years. [ Read More ]A “strict proposal” that should be stronger
Tuesday, June 17th, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | No Comments
The N.C. Senate's coal ash bill would put into law what Duke Energy has already committed to: cleaning up the most high-profile coal ash sites in the state. But in its current form, the proposal gives too much sway to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and a coal ash commission that has yet to be created. [ Read More ]North Carolina “off the sidelines” to fast-track fracking
Thursday, June 5th, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | 1 Comment
Four months after a massive coal ash spill devastated the Dan River, and before the state’s coal ash problem is remedied, North Carolina is poised to open a new can of worms. On Wednesday, Gov. Pat McCrory signed the Energy Modernization Act, lifting a moratorium on natural gas drilling in the state. [ Read More ]Acting on Climate: EPA unveils carbon rule for existing power plants
Monday, June 2nd, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | No Comments
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy unveiled a plan to regulate carbon pollution from existing power plants this morning. In a rousing speech that covered the host of risks, and opportunities, that come with a changing climate, McCarthy called the plan “part of the ongoing story of energy progress in America." [ Read More ]A Victory in the Battle to Protect Blair Mountain
Monday, May 12th, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | 1 Comment
An order from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection will put a section of a mountaintop removal permit near historic Blair Mountain off limits to mining until at least 2018, when the permit comes up for renewal. During a site visit in March, Friends of Blair Mountain documented “significant areas of the battlefield” that were destroyed through logging and construction methods. [ Read More ]Climate Change has “firmly moved into the present”
Tuesday, May 6th, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | 1 Comment
Not only is climate change real, it has “firmly moved into the present” and its impacts "are expected to become increasingly disruptive across the nation throughout this century and beyond." That’s according to the U.S. National Climate Assessment, a report five years in the making that was released today. [ Read More ]Like a “good neighbor,” the Supreme Court is there
Wednesday, April 30th, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | 1 Comment
The U.S. Supreme Court handed a significant win to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when it revived a federal rule aimed at reducing air pollution that travels across state lines and harms the health of those downwind, and the ability of certain states to meet Clean Air Act requirements.
[ Read More ]N.C. coal plant neighbors ask: “At what cost?”
Tuesday, April 29th, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | No Comments
Near the beginning of our new video, Stokes County, N.C., resident Annie Brown says, “I love to turn the switch on and have my lights just like anyone else, but at what cost?” It’s a question we should all ask of ourselves. But we also must direct our elected officials and electric providers to consider the question: at what cost do our outdated energy policies and practices come? [ Read More ]Mercury No More: Court Upholds EPA Air Toxics Rule
Friday, April 25th, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | No Comments
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — but also public health advocates and anyone who likes to eat fish or breath clean air — gained a significant win this month when a federal appeals court upheld the agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). [ Read More ]Surprised? McCrory’s Coal Ash Proposal Falls Short
Saturday, April 19th, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | 1 Comment
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory's poorly planned coal ash proposal is catching flak from environmental groups and legislators in his own party who already planned to push for reform during the upcoming legislative session.
[ Read More ]America’s biggest bank moves away from mountaintop removal
Tuesday, April 15th, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | 3 Comments
Pressuring large investment banks to stop financing mountaintop removal has been a strategy of the nationwide movement to end the practice for years. Judging by the progress made by Rainforest Action Network, and other grassroots groups targeting the infamous “too big to fails,” that strategy is working. [ Read More ]Central Appalachian-focused James River Coal Company enters bankruptcy
Friday, April 11th, 2014 | Posted by Brian Sewell | 1 Comment
This week, James River Coal Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court. Like Patriot Coal, which reemerged from bankruptcy in December, the Richmond, Va.-based company’s operations are concentrated in Central Appalachia and are located in some of the counties most economically vulnerable to coal’s downturn.
[ Read More ]
