BLOGGER INDEX
Sunday, June 3rd, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments
By Jessica Kennedy
Editorial assistant, Summer 2012
"Why we come to Washington"
We’re in the nation’s capital for our 7th Annual Week in Washington! Most of us arrived last night, and we’re spending all day training to hit the ground running tomorrow. We’ll be lobbying Monday and Tuesday and having our Day of Action and group lobby on Wednesday. Even if you’re not here, we’d love to have your support… (more…)
Read More ...Friday, May 25th, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments
By Jessica Kennedy
Editorial assistant, Summer 2012
Faith leaders from across the country testified for the environment in Washington, D.C., Thursday in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s first-ever proposed limits on carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants.
The proposed limits would cut 123 billion pounds of carbon emissions annually. Power plants in the United States currently emit 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year. New plants would be limited to no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon per megawatt hour of power produced.
Read More ...Thursday, May 24th, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments
By Anna Norwood
Editorial intern, Spring 2012
Pro-mountain activists in Kayford, W. Va. blocked coal transport in two areas this morning (Thursday) protesting mountaintop removal.
Mountain Justice and RAMPS activists are fed up with the coal industry’s disregard for the health of citizens in Appalachia. In protest, five activists locked their bodies to a barge on the Kanawha River with a banner reading, “Coal leaves, cancer stays.” Other activists blocked access to the haul road on Kayford Mountain, preventing coal trucks from entering or leaving the Republic Energy mine.
Read More ...Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments
By Jessica Kennedy
Editorial assistant, Summer 2012
Just because it’s listed in the “Facts” section of FacesOfCoal.org doesn’t mean it’s true.
Coal industry front group FACES of Coal reports that coal supplies half the electricity consumed by Americans. But data released May 8 show that coal didn’t even come close to providing half of the country’s electricity in this year’s first quarter.
According to the Short-Term Energy Outlook report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, coal made up only 36 percent of the country’s electricity in the first quarter of 2012. This is a nearly 20 percent drop from 44.6 percent in the first quarter of 2011.
Read More ...Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments
By Anna Norwood
Editorial intern, Spring 2012
Environmental activists at Greenpeace are feeling victorious since Apple’s recent announcement to use entirely renewable sources in the Maiden, North Carolina data center by the end of 2012.
Greenpeace has been pestering Apple for more than a year to commit to renewable energy. If pestering in the form of window washers, black balloons and giant iPods got Apple to make this change; I say more power to Greenpeace. I chuckled while reading about two Greenpeace activists who were arrested for barricading themselves inside of a giant iPod outside of Apple’s headquarters in California while broadcasting messages asking Apple to use renewable energy. Creative.
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Wednesday, March 21st, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments
By Madison Hinshaw, Communications Editorial Intern in Spring 2012.
Did you know that the rhinoceros beetle can lift objects up to 850 times their weight? Or that the blue whale’s songs can reach up to 200 decibels (a jet’s engine at 100ft. is only 100 dB)? How about that the southern cricket frog can vertically jump 60 times its body height — that’s like a person jumping up a 38-story building!
Read More ...Monday, March 12th, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | 2 Comments
By Madison Hinshaw, Communications Editorial Intern in Spring 2012.
This just in: Despite the coal industry’s misleading commercials, coal no longer provides 50 percent of all energy in the U.S.!
The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently released data showing that coal’s share of total monthly generation fell below 40 percent in November and December 2011 and the combination of a mild winter and a decrease in natural gas prices might be the leading contributors.
Photo Credit: U.S. Energy Information Administration
Due to the warm trend in this year’s winter, natural gas prices have significantly dropped, which is allowing generators in many states to increase the share of natural gas-fired generation and cut coal’s share of electricity generation.
Read More ...Wednesday, February 29th, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments
By Madison Hinshaw, Communications Editorial Intern in Spring 2012.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized more than 200 organizations, school systems, health care systems and retailers as 2011’s Energy Star Leaders. Several organizations in Appalachia have been recognized for being Energy Star Leaders, North Carolina taking the lead with a whopping six energy efficient organizations.
The EPA’s Energy Star program aims to help organizations nationwide achieve energy efficiency by providing them with an energy management strategy. The strategy includes a focus on ongoing performance measurement and whole-building improvement.
Energy Star Leaders have improved the energy efficiency of their buildings by 20 percent or more. In order to become an Energy Star Leader, an organization must meet one of two energy efficient milestones.
Read More ...Friday, February 10th, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | 2 Comments
By Madison Hinshaw, Communications Editorial Intern in Spring 2012.
The Southern Environmental Law Center recently released its fourth-annual Top 10 Endangered Places list of 2012, highlighting the scenic, ecologically and culturally rich areas throughout the Southeast that are being threatened by development, water issues and the environmental impacts of mountaintop removal and hydraulic fracturing.
The Catawba-Wateree River system originates in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina traveling into South Carolina and has been negatively impacted by the presence of coal ash in leaky unlined ponds along major tributaries.
The SELC works to protect its six-state region in the Southeast. Their programs include Global Warming, Clean Energy & Air, Land & Community, Coast & Wetlands, Clean Water and Southern Forests.
But that’s not all that is threatening this network of waterways. Water withdrawal used by power plants for steam production and cooling has had severe effects on the Southeast’s water supply.
Meanwhile, on the North Carolina Piedmont, a law that bans horizontal drilling throughout the region is being attacked by the gas drilling industry and their political allies.
Virginia may be the most threatened state in the Southeast. The Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia and eastern Tennessee are being destroyed by mountaintop removal. These mountains are some of the oldest on earth and more than 500 have been destroyed by mountaintop removal.
Across the state, the Chesapeake Bay estuary has been polluted for decades. What some may not know is that this pollution creates dead zones incapable of supporting aquatic life.
Plans to construct and renovate highways have disrupted many distinguished recreation spots in Charlottesville, Va., and in Chilhowee Mountain, Tenn. Chilhowee Mountain is part of Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest and known as a destination for outdoor lovers around the country.
More southern states such as South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama are experiencing severe environmental threats as well. The Savannah River, which stretches from South Carolina to Georgia, may lose many aquatic habitats as the Army Corps of Engineers plan to deepen its shipping channel.
The Dawson Forest, located just north of Atlanta, is threatened by a proposed $650 million reservoir that would drain 100 million gallons of water from the Etowah River each day to support Atlanta’s increasing water supply needs. Alabama’s coastline is on SELC’s Top Ten list for a second year because of the potential reoccurrence of spills like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion — the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The SELC has released its Top Ten list for fours years now, hoping to raise awareness among residents of these areas and others in the U.S. The environmental law organization has nearly 50 attorneys and is involved in more than 125 cases and projects in its six-state region to fight against these potentially irreversible threats.
For more information about SELC and what it does, visit: www.southernenvironment.org.
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments
By Madison Hinshaw, Communications Editorial Intern in Spring 2012.
Tennessee has got the ball rolling as many anti-mountaintop removal allies are writing in to their local newspapers to get their voices heard.The mountains of Appalachia are some of the oldest and most beautiful found in the U.S., and they are being slowly destroyed by mountaintop removal.
The Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act is a bipartisan bill that will prohibit surface mining at elevations higher than 2,000 ft. If this bill is passed, there will be NO more mountaintop removal in Tennessee, and it will also be the first state to ban mountaintop removal.
Here are some letters to the editor published in city newspapers in Tennessee:
Bristol: https://www2.tricities.com/news/2012/jan/29/save-mountains-tennessee-virginia-ar-1647406/
Chattanooga: https://www.chattanoogan.com/2012/1/27/218181/Scenic-Vistas-Not-A-Jobs-Issue.aspx
Knoxville: https://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jan/24/letter-support-vistas-protection-act/
Nashville: https://www.tennessean.com/article/20120116/OPINION02/120115012/Mining-industry-should-not-demonize-40-Days-Prayer
Thanks Tennessee for your persistent efforts to help end the injustice of mountaintop removal. Way to go everyone, and keep those letters to the editor flowing!
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments
By Madison Hinshaw, Communications Editorial Intern in Spring 2012.
If you’ve ever heard of Blair Mountain, you know the turmoil it has been through in the last several decades. Now this historic mountain and its battlegrounds are being threatened by surface strip mining. That’s why the Blair Community Center and Museum needs your support!
The Blair Community Center and Museum is a nonprofit organization working to promote and preserve the history of Blair Mountain. Established in the fall of 2011, the Community Center and Museum has been working to reach out to those unaware of environmental destruction caused by strip mining of Blair Mountain. Despite their tireless efforts, they simply do not have the funds to allow the organization to grow.
The Blair Community Center and Museum sits at the base of historic Blair Mountain in Logan County, WV
The Community Center and Museum is currently working in a large church, which they use as an office, community center and museum. It has a leaky roof, poor heating, and there is no drinkable water nearby. They also need to improve their museum by adding showcases, frames and important museum pieces.
The Blair Mountain Community Center and Museum has a goal of reaching $10,000 by the end of April. The projects, of course, will cost more than the goal they have set for themselves, but this money would aid in planting the seed to get them going.
Blair Mountain, located in Logan County, WV, was once the site of one of the nation’s largest labor conflict, the Battle of Blair Mountain. This battle was only five days long, but was heavily equipped with machine guns, explosives and an estimate of over one million rounds of ammunition.
More than 15,000 coal miners gathered in Charleston, WV, in an attempt to overthrow the control barons of the coal mining companies. Little did they know that a private army led by the Logan County Sheriff and coal operators were awaiting their arrival.
Though the battle was almost a century ago, it is not taught in schools and many people may not have even heard of it.
So please help our friends of Blair Community Center and Museum as they continue their fight to save this historical place they’ve called home for centuries.
To find out more information about this project or to donate, visit: www.indiegogo.com/The-Start-of-A-New-Beginning.
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments
By Madison Hinshaw, Communications Editorial Intern in Spring 2012.
We’ve known for a long time that mountaintop removal is affecting Appalachian creatures. This time it’s a fish found in the Appalachian streams and rivers — the Kentucky arrow darter.
This fish, found only in Kentucky, is one of the top 10 U.S. species most threatened by fossil fuel development, according to a report released by the Endangered Species Coalition.
Credit: Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources
The darter thrives in the shallow waters of the upper Kentucky River Basin, where most of the state’s coal mining takes place. The darter was once found in 68 streams throughout Kentucky but it is now only found in 33.
The filth — mountaintop removal mining pollution — that coal companies are putting into the waters is burying these fish alive, along with impacting other wildlife. Humans are also dealing with more and more health issues like cancer and birth defects that have been linked to the erosion and toxins polluting the Appalachian streams.
This fish is a part of a grand habitat. It feeds on the many aquatic insects found on the banks of these streams, while birds, amphibians and other fish feed on the darter. This habitat is being skewed by the decreasing amount of darters throughout the region. Protecting the darter not only benefits this one particular habitat, but ultimately aids in the clean up of the headwaters in Kentucky making them safer to drink.
But unfortunately, this is not a perfect world of instant gratification.
In 2010, the Kentucky arrow darter became a candidate for Endangered Species Act protection, which means that it is on a federal waiting list. In a legal settlement between the Center of Biological Diversity and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the darter will be considered for protection in 2015.
Mountaintop removal has already destroyed more than 500 mountains, 1 million acres of hardwood forests and 2,000 miles of streams throughout Appalachia.
One may ask how protecting a single species of fish can put a stop to mountaintop removal, but just remember what Neil Armstrong said, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
