By Rachel Ellen Simon Nathan Hall was born in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, surrounded by lush hardwood forests, cool trout streams and barren moonscapes — the latter courtesy of mountaintop removal coal mining. “It was all around me, in…
Blog Archives
Nathan Hall: Reclaiming Appalachia’s Land and Future
TAGS: Coal mining Green Forests Work Kentucky mountaintop removal coal mining Nathan Hall reclamation reforestation
Investigation Finds Fraud in Black Lung Cases
By Kimber Ray A year-long investigation revealed evidence this fall that the coal industry has supported fraudulent practices in order to block workers’ compensation claims for black lung disease. According to the investigation conducted by The Center for Public Integrity…
TAGS: Alabama Black Lung Center for Public Integrity Coal Coal Ash Duke Energy Environmental Integrity Project Kentucky North Carolina Tennessee Tennessee Valley Authority
On the Right Side of the Law
By Molly Moore From the gallery of the Kentucky State Capitol, lawyer Wes Addington and a group of women from eastern Kentucky — mostly widows of coal miners — watched the Kentucky House pass a bill expanding legal and safety…
EPA decision on toxic mining waste leaves Kentuckians, other Appalachians at risk
Resources EPA Approval Letter Selenium Fact Sheet Read more on our blog Contact: Erin Savage, Water Quality Specialist, 828-262-1500, erin@appvoices.org Cat McCue, Communications Director, 434-293-6373, cat@appvoices.org Washington DC – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today approved Kentucky’s changes to how…
TAGS: Appalachian Voices Appalachian Water Watch Coal Coal Ash EPA Kentucky Mountaintop Removal Selenium Virginia Water Water Pollution West Virginia
EPA Helps Kentucky Roll Back Water Quality Protections
Just today, after several months of delays, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its decisions on the Kentucky Department of Water’s (DOW) amendments to the Kentucky Water Quality Regulations. Unfortunately, the EPA has approved substantive changes to the selenium freshwater…
TAGS: Appalachian Voices Appalachian Water Watch Clean Water Act Coal Coal Ash EPA Kentucky Mountaintop Removal Selenium Virginia Water Water Pollution
Appalachian Coal Losing Another Customer: Eastern Kentucky as a Case Study
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Paradise Fossil Plant sits on the banks of western Kentucky’s Green River. The largest coal plant in the state, Paradise consumes approximately 7.3 million tons per year — none of which comes from Central Appalachian coal…
TAGS: appalachia Appalachian Coal Losing Another Customer Appalachian Voices Coal Kentucky West Virginia
In Defense of the Earth: An Appalachian Poet’s Presence
Stream “Wendell Berry, Poet & Prophet” below or watch it on Moyers & Company by clicking here. Widely celebrated as a caretaker of the culture and myth of rural America, Wendell Berry has a distinct drawl and speaks like he…
Traditions of Resistance:
Lessons from the struggle for justice in Appalachia By Molly Moore In 1964, a 61-year-old Kentucky woman, Ollie “Widow” Combs, sat in front of a bulldozer to halt the strip-mining of the steep land above her home. She spent that…
TAGS: appalachia Appalachian Alliance Appalachian Voices Council of Southern Mountains Kentuckians for the Commonwealth Kentucky Take Action
A Waterfall and a View at Bad Branch State Nature Preserve
By Dana Kuhnline Bad Branch Falls near Whitesburg, Ky., was one of the first hikes I experienced when I moved to Appalachia almost 10 years ago. I happened to be chaperoning two vans full of at-risk teenagers on a weekend…
Historical Hidden Treasures of Kentucky
By Rachel Ellen Simon U.S. 23 Country Music Highway Museum In the mid-20th century, an eastern Kentucky saying put a new spin on the “three Rs” – “readin’, writin’, and Route 23.” With the post-war decline of coal, millions of…
TAGS: Hidden Treasures History Kentucky Magoffin County Pioneer Village U.S. 23 Country Music Highway museum
