That’s the message the Obama administration sent last week when it proposed a new rule that would curtail pollution from coal-fired power plants in the eastern United States. According to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the rule should improve air quality as far south as Texas and Florida and as far north as Minnesota and southern New England.

More specifically, the new regulations would require utilities to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 71 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by 52 percent – both relative to 2005 levels – by the year 2014.

Such reductions would significantly decrease unhealthy smog and soot levels and have a tremendously positive impact on the health of our nation. According to Gina McCarthy, head of the EPA’s air and radiation office, reduced emissions would save an estimated 14,000 to 36,000 lives every year. In addition, 240,000 cases of aggravated asthma, 23,000 nonfatal heart attacks, 21,000 cases of acute bronchitis and 1.9 million missed school and work days would be avoided.

Though the agency estimates the implementation costs of the new rule to be $2.8 billion per year, that cost pales in comparison to the rule’s estimated savings of $120 billion per year in avoided health costs, lives lost and sick days.

The rule would reverse and strengthen Bush era rules that have been met with intense scrutiny in recent years. In 2006, the previous administration decided not to lower the ten-year-old soot standard, despite the findings of its own scientists that compelled it to act otherwise. In response, over a dozen states, in addition to environmental groups, objected by suing the EPA.

“The E.P.A. proposal is a big step in the right direction,” said Frank O’Donnell of Clean Air Watch. “It’s a step toward taming the environmental beast known as the coal-fired power plant. But it is only a first step. E.P.A. still needs to move ahead with plans next year to limit power plant emissions of toxic mercury and other hazardous air pollutants.”

The EPA will be conducting hearings on the proposal in the months ahead. The rule is expected to take effect sometime next year.

Last Thursday, activists with the Rainforest Action Network showed up at the headquarters of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, chained themselves to one another and began blasting a special edit of “Take me Home, Country Roads.” Their take on John Denver’s classic included intermittent sounds of the earth- and nerve-shattering explosives used during mountaintop removal coal mining practiced in Appalachia.

The protest was organized in response to the EPA’s recent approval of Arch Coal’s major new mountaintop removal operation in Logan County, W.Va. The approved Pine Creek Strip Mine would impact over two MILES of already-suffering headwater streams, create three new valley fills (each over 40 acres), and further endanger local communities already contending with increased flooding due to strip mining. As deforestation on the Arch Coal mine site would continue to dismantle an important global carbon sink, the mine itself would produce over 14 million tons of coal, which when burned in power plants, would contribute over 40 million tonnes of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas pollution to the planet’s atmosphere.

RAN’s Scott Parkin’s explains:

We’re sitting down inside the EPA to demand the EPA stand up to protect Appalachia’s precious drinking water, historic mountains and public health from the devastation of mountaintop removal. At issue here is not whether mountaintop removal mining is bad for the environment or human health, because we know it is and the EPA has said it is. At issue is whether President Obama’s EPA will do something about it. So far, it seems it is easier to poison Appalachia’s drinking water than to defy King Coal.

Click HERE to see more photos of the protest.

The cost of nuclear generated electricity
vs. solar generated electricity

Check out the rest of the post on FacingSouth’s Blog HERE.


Below is a teaser to tide you over until the FacingSouth Blog loads:

The report points out that both new solar and new nuclear power sources will cost more than present electricity generation. However, power bills will rise less with solar generation than with new nuclear.

Duke Energy and Progress Energy, North Carolina’s largest utilities, estimate that proposed new nuclear plants would generate power at a cost of 14 to 18 cents per kilowatt-hour. But commercial-scale solar developers are already offering utilities electricity at 14 cents or less per kWh.

Today an average North Carolina homeowner can have a solar electricity system installed for a net cost between $8,200 and $20,000 or more, depending on generation capacity.

How was your weekend, America? Any hot dates? You’re still involved with Big Coal?! Unbelievable. (Sigh) You do love when that industry talks clean to you, don’t you? All those sweet little lies…

Always the same story. You throw on your finest duds, but no longer expect anything new. Maybe you go out on your rapidly depopulating mining town and try to forget that you’re condemning your prospects with other industries there in the future? Knock back a drink or two of water contaminated with heavy metals and chemicals to help with the forgetting? Seriously America, what could possibly make this lousy relationship worse?

How bout the fact that time after time Big Coal is leaving you to take care of the ENORMOUS check?

Multiple reports and studies are showing how the coal industry receives billions of dollars in direct and indirect subsidies from US taxpayers.

A 2009 Environmental Law Institute study entitled “Estimating U.S. Government Subsidies to Energy Sources: 2002-2008” (pdf) shows that the U.S. coal industry benefited from subsidies of around $17 billion between 2002 and 2008. In addition to federal support, coal is getting plenty of help from state and local governments as well. Another 2009 report (pdf) written by Dr. Melissa Fry Konty and Jason Bailey found that in Kentucky, for instance, the coal industry receives $115 million in subsidies per year. In Virginia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the industry receives $44.5 million annually.

A 2010 Synapse Energy Economics report entitled Phasing Out Federal Subsidies for Coal (pdf) concludes that:

There remain certain distinct areas where federal financial policy implementation is not consistent with, and is even in conflict with, clear federal efforts to adapt to a carbon constrained future. Inconsistencies in federal policy require federal administrative intervention; private companies will not necessarily remedy the inconsistency. The disconnect between federal policies not only sets the nation back in achieving energy and environmental policy goals, but also places taxpayer dollars at risk. As regulatory policy changes, as financial circumstances change, so must the administrative financial policies of the federal government.

And let’s not forget about externalities: those negative impacts coal has on third parties that end up being paid for by taxpayers. These include costs associated with poisoned streams, deforestation, air pollution and global warming to name but a few. According to 2009’s Hendryx study, coal mining costs Appalachia $42 billion every year as a result of negative health impacts and loss of life. The Environmental Law Institute found that impacts to miner’s health such as, black lung disease, for instance, costs taxpayers around $1.5 billion, in addition to the incalculable suffering it exacts on the miners themselves and their families.

Unbelievably, the infatuation lives on.

Today, there are tremendous coal industry subsidies in the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), H.R. 2454. This legislation, which has passed the House though not yet the Senate, includes $60 billion in support of carbon-capture-and-sequestration technology.

Aaaaahhhh!

COME ON America. You deserve so much better. And PS, Big Coal is seeing other folks behind your back anyway.

A dynamic group of academics, local community members, and business leaders have produced a unique special issue of Solutions journal dedicated to creating a brighter future for Appalachia. Hear from Wendell Berry, John Todd, Adam Lewis, Sarah Forbes, Erik Reece and many more in the July/August Appalachia special Issue of Solutions.

Here’s what the Folks at Solutions Journal have to say about the issue:

Together with a dynamic group of academics, business leaders, and activists—each living and working in Appalachia—Solutions will present a special issue dedicated to creating a brighter future for Appalachia. Appalachia is a special place—one of the most biologically diverse and culturally rich regions on the planet. But it is only one of several regions in the United States with an economy dependent on fossil energy production and where the people fear they will suffer when America makes its necessary transition to a low-carbon economy. The challenge in each of these regions will be to make the transition as deliberately and thoughtfully as possible. Central Appalachia has the potential to become a national model of the positive transition to America’s clean energy future. Our members will receive $5.00 off the low subscription rate that keeps Solutions going.

To get your copy:

• • Current AV members: Receive a free copy by emailing us or calling 828-262-1500
• • Become a member of AV and receive a free copy
• • Subscribe to Solutions Journal

What do you get when you combine 13 real-life characters with one superb actress, a sold out venue, and an issue as compelling as mountaintop removal?

In the case of Adelind Horan’s “Cry of the Mountain,” you get must see theater.

Last week, I had the pleasure of seeing “Cry of the Mountain” at Live Arts in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Horan’s performance was outstanding. The Charlottesville native and recent graduate of Hampshire College, skillfully portrays 13 vastly different real life characters whose lives are inextricably bound to the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.

* July 8 — Four County Players – box office: 540.832.5355
* July 15 — The Hamner Theatre – box office: 434.361.1999
* July 22 — Live Arts – box office: 434.977.4177
* July 29 — Play On! Theatre – box office: 434.872.0184

As human beings, we dream of getting on a Kawasaki Jet Ski and flying through the water at breakneck speeds. But for Dragonflies, of the order Odonata, every newborn gets this ability built-in, with a natural water propulsion system that helps it shoot across the water without even moving its arms or legs.

What most people don’t know about the Dragonfly, of whom we usually think as a large and colorful insect that flies quickly around the skies, is that it spends the majority of its life in the immature nymph phase, swimming around in the water rather than the air.

Dragonfly nymphs are hatched from eggs in water, and spend up to five years developing and feeding off mosquito larva in streams and rivers before taking off into the air. They have an extremely unique system of respiration, breathing through a set of posterior gills. To create the Jet Ski propulsion system, Dragonfly nymphs rapidly expel water through their anuses; no wonder scientists dubbed this the “immature” phase!

As if that isn’t fun enough, the nymphs also wear a beautiful set of armor that, depending on the species, can be a variety of vivid colors.

Whether it’s shooting through water with a built-in Jet Ski, wearing a full suit of armor, or flying around the air eating anything that gets in your way, being a Dragonfly sounds like every kid’s dream!

Making good on a promise made back in April, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) will begin holding a series of open houses to accept public comments on Stream Protection Rule revisions currently in development by the agency.

The proposed revisions are intended to change stream protection in regards to surface mining, with regulating mining activities in and near streams, cracking down on monitoring of surface and ground water quality during and after mining, and revising approximate original contour restoration requirements among the items on the table.

OSMRE will hold nine separate open houses in mining heavy states, including West Virginia, Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana, New Mexico and Texas.

Open houses will take place at the following locations in July:

July 19, 2010, 3 p.m. – Carbondale, IL, Southern Illinois University Student Center
July 20, 2010, 3 p.m. – Evansville, IN, Holiday Inn Conference Center North
July 20, 2010, 3 p.m. – Fairfield, TX, Fairfield Elementary School
July 22, 2010, 3 p.m. – Birmingham, AL, Embassy Suites Birmingham – Hoover
July 26, 2010, 3 p.m. – Hazard, KY, Hazard Community College
July 27, 2010, 3 p.m. – Beckley, WV, Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center
July 27, 2010, 3 p.m. – Farmington, NM, Farmington Civic Center
July 28, 2010, 3 p.m. – Morgantown, WV, Mylan Park
July 29, 2010, 3 p.m. – Gillette, WY, Campbell County Library

If you are unable to attend an open house, be sure to submit your comments via email to sra-eis@osmre.gov. Comments will also be accepted via mail, hand delivery, or courier. Send comments to:

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Administrative Record
Room 252–SIB 1951
Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20240

OSM will post updated information as it becomes available via Twitter and on the OSM web site. For additional information on the Stream Protection Rule, see OSM’s special section entitled “Building A Stream Protection Rule.”

Thanks to the folks at Powder River Basin Resource Council for the alert!

By Megan Naylor

An Alliance for Appalachia partner organization, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and ENGAGE ( Educational Network for Global and Grassroots Exchange) have joined together to create a new report with stories concerning human rights violations associated with the process of mountaintop removal in Floyd County,Ky.

According to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights are clearly defined as the belief that everyone deserves access to basic human needs such as: food, water, shelter, and a safe living and working environment.

It is when those needs are blatantly ignored or interfered with that human rights are violated.

The process of mountaintop removal contaminates these basic human needs as it poisons the water, land and lives of those it comes in contact with.

The Voices from Appalachia report is compiled of both a history of coal in the region and personal accounts from citizens of Floyd County.

It addresses specific instances of violations of their economic, social and cultural rights and what individuals, communities and organizations are doing to push for positive change.

The compilation is refreshing in the sense that it is aimed at making the public aware of rights which are currently being demolished in the Appalachian Mountains, while enlightening and outlining a framework for those wishing to speak out against human rights violations on both a national and global scale.

The intro to the report mentions the fact that as families in Appalachia struggle with effects of mining, thousands of individuals throughout the world face comparable situations of exploitation, whether due to mining, other large scale development projects, urban poverty, or systematic discrimination.

“To achieve the greatest possible strength organizations and individuals must reach out to one another and work together.”

According to ENGAGE “The process of creating the report fostered a stronger community identity and helped the community understand the rights they share.”

Going into the future, both KFTC and ENGAGE will determine the best ways to apply the messages and lessons of the report in community outreach and educational and legislative settings.

Appalachia, of course, is the heart of the Coal industry, but more sustainable visions for the future are more prevalent than you might think.

One standout endeavor is the JOBS project, a Williamson, WV-based initiative that seeks to train unemployed construction workers in the installation of solar panels. Partnering with Mountainview Solar & Wind LLC, the JOBS project recently got a bit of a publicity boost when the BBC came to film the maiden installation of their project on a home in southern Morgan County.

The success of the project and its public presence could spark new interest in solar energy, proving that it is, over time, cost-reducing, and most importantly, sustainable.

And this isn’t the only forward-thinking project on the table; there is currently a hot debate over the future of Coal River Mountain, WV. Massey Energy is proposing a vast mountaintop removal mining site on the mountain range, but the Coal River Mountain Watch says that area would be perfect for an equally vast – but far less destructive – wind farm.

Both of these projects highlight what might be a surprising fact: Even in the heart of West Virginia, Solar and Wind Energies are being seriously considered for the region’s energy future.

By special guest to the Front Porch Jaden McTaggart

Bonnaroo, the four day music festival in Manchester, TN is considered our modern day Woodstock. It’s a gathering of hippies, hipsters, veteran festival goers, techno ragers, families, crazies, and all things outside and in between. All these groups and cultures come together to celebrate something we all have in common… music!

Festival goers celebrate the community that naturally occurs when so many people convene to celebrate and share with one another. This community offers organizations like Appalachian Voices an excellent forum to share their messages with almost 90,000 people from all over the world! With this unique opportunity ahead of us, we set out from Boone ready to brave the heat and dust and start talking to folks about the people and environment of Appalachia.

We arrived Wednesday morning. After a long day of driving and a minor directional issue, aka driving 20 or so minutes if the wrong direction, we were all checked in and ready to set up camp. We set up and survived our first adventure, a torrential downpour that left our campsite in an inch or so of standing water. Man this is it! Mother Nature had welcomed us to this land. We were excited and anxious to see what the following day, the first official day of Bonnaroo, had to give us.

With a good nights sleep… well, with a soggy nights sleep, our pillows and blankets were literally soaking, we got pumped up to get going! If campsites were cars we rolled in a Bentley. We woke and cooked bacon and egg scrambles. We quickly made friends with our neighbors, an excellent crew from the voter registration organization Head’s Up, by sharing our delicious fried pork fat. We cleaned up camp and began the trek from our camp to Planetroo, the festival’s non-profit booth headquarters.

Hydration was absolutely essential.

We talked to so many amazing people over the next four days. One of my favorite quotes was, “Is this for real?” directed at the large images of devastating mountaintop removal sites. Some folks had no idea that mountains in Appalachia are being leveled to extract coal. Other people would walk up say something along the lines of, “I’ve been signed up for your email for years. I know about this and it’s horrible. What can I do now?”

Bonnaroosters flock to our booth and pledge to help end mountaintop removal!

We circulated a petition to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate coal wastes as hazardous. We generated so much interest in this issue that by the end of the festival, people were coming up to the booth and asking us where the coal ash petition was. By Sunday night we had so many signatures that we ran out of paper and had to start drawing the petition form on scraps!

Bonnaroo in itself is an incredible weekend of music and, for the most part, peace and community. I feel so fortunate being able to travel with this wonderful group of folks. It was so satisfying creating dialogue with such a diverse community on a subject that affects us all.

It was amazing to be at a show and see so many people sport their “I love mtns” tattoos and buttons. I’d be in a huge crowd of people and someone would see my button and say, “Hey, I love mountains too! What’s this all about?”

Clearly, mountaintop removal and pollution issues in Appalachia have claimed a place in the national agenda. Thousands of festival goers, through their sleep deprivation, hangovers and sunburns, took the time to seek out our booth and find out about our organization, and for that we extend our grandest thank you’s!

Jaden and Maeve spread the love for the mountains.

Check out photos of our trip here!

Four weeks left until our Watauga Riverkeeper Festival. Come out on July 24, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Community Park in Valle Crucis, N.C.! Enjoy a day of outdoor recreation and a celebration of the river with live music, games, food and if the river is running—a float down the wild and wonderful Watauga River. Meet our mascot: Hillary the Hellbender salamander.

Sasquatch of the Salamanders

Cryptic, territorial, and elusive are traits inherent to the hellbender salamander, a unique and formidable-looking creature with almost prehistoric appeal. The Eastern hellbender is the largest aquatic salamander in the United States, affectionately known as the snot otter, devil dog, and Appalachian alligator. The giant amphibian averages from 12 to 15 inches, but has been known to grow over two feet in length and hides almost reclusively during the day beneath flat rocks in shallow, clean, and quick moving streams.

“If a fisherman catches a hellbender they’ll kill them,” said Jesse Pope, chief naturalist at Grandfather Mountain. “The reason for that is that they think the hellbenders are eating the fish, but that’s just not true.”

Rarely seen due to its nocturnal nature and secluded lifestyle, the hellbender has a voracious appetite, but not for fish. These toothless giants hunt for crayfish, toads and salamanders among other tasty morsels. The hellbender is exclusively found in the mountains and surrounding local areas in the eastern United States, with their largest concentration, here, in western North Carolina. Provided their mountain rivers and streams stay clear and unpolluted, a hellbender will start reproducing at age four and can live for more than 30 years in ideal conditions.

These unique creatures are very important indicators of water quality because as adults they breathe entirely through their skin. That makes them extremely sensitive to pollution and siltation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists them as near threatened and they are close to qualifying for vulnerable status. In addition to the threat of misled fishermen, the hellbenders are threatened by habitat loss and degradation.
“Hellbenders have to have good water quality and relatively low sediments in the water,” Pope said. “Sediments come from development, impacting streams, road run off and storm water run off.”

Hellbender populations have dramatically declined in the last 25 years and even though several institutions are making heroic attempts to breed them in captivity, none have been successful. “It is critically important for us to protect pristine mountain streams in order to save these rare and threatened salamanders,” said Donna Lisenby Watauga Riverkeeper, “We simply have to stop strip mining in Appalachia because it contributes tone of sediment and pollutants to these irreplaceable headwaters streams.”

“The concern is that a lot of the hellbenders we’re finding are big hellbenders, 15 to 20 years old,” Pope said. “We’re not finding the little ones. This raises concern. Are they remnant populations that are there? Are they no longer reproducing? Are these the last hellbenders that are going to be in those streams?”

Keep a keen eye out at the festival; perhaps you’ll catch a glance of this elusive, rare and spectacular salamander. Rumor has it that you might be able to get a one-of-a-kind Hellbender T-shirt at the festival because, “The Riverkeeper team at Appalachian Voices is hellbent on saving our beloved mountain rivers,” Lisenby said.

More information about hellbenders.