Two new children’s books are set in Appalachia. “Saving Annie’s Mountain” is a picture book about mountaintop coal removal, and “The Adventures of Bubba Jones” is a chapter book about kids exploring nature in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Two new children’s books are set in Appalachia. “Saving Annie’s Mountain” is a picture book about mountaintop coal removal, and “The Adventures of Bubba Jones” is a chapter book about kids exploring nature in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Deal sends strong signal to incoming Bevin administration Contact: Erin Savage, Appalachian Voices, 206-769-8286, erin@appvoices.org Ted Withrow, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, 606-784-6885, tfwithrow@windstream.net Pat Banks, Kentucky Riverkeeper, 859-200-7442, kyriverkeeper@eku.edu Peter Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, 828-582-0422, pharrison@waterkeeper.org Alice Howell, Sierra Club, 859-420-8092,…
While the draft Stream Protection Rule is far from perfect, it is a long overdue update to protections for surface and groundwater from mountaintop removal coal mining. Not surprisingly, the coal industry had relied on “war on coal” talking points to fight against the rule, and claims these protections are unnecessary and will undermine an otherwise viable industry. Let’s examine those claims.
Local newspapers in Kentucky have helped expose state regulators’ lax treatment of industry, most recently in the form of a secretive deal stuck with an oil company responsible for polluting drinking water supplies. But sadly, Kentucky’s politicians and agencies aren’t shy in revealing whose interests they truly serve either.
Citizens and clean water advocates used a series of hearings on the proposed Stream Protection Rule to demand improvements to the draft version and call out state agencies for repeatedly failing to enforce regulations already on the books. Coal industry representatives, on the other hand, relied on “war on coal” rhetoric and deception to rally against the rule.
What would a health care executive-turned-environmentalist want with the dying business of mining coal? That’s the question some are asking after the announcement that a Virginia environmentalist plans to acquire assets, and assume around $400 million in liabilities, from recently-bankrupt Patriot Coal.
Alpha Natural Resources, one of the largest coal mining companies in the United States and a big player in the Appalachian coal market, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday of this week, blaming “an unprecedented period of distress with increased competition from natural gas, an oversupply in the global coal market, historically low prices due to weaker international and domestic economies, and increasing government regulation that has pushed electric utilities to transition away from coal-fired power plants.
A striking case of corruption related to mine inspections in Kentucky led to the recent criminal conviction of former Democratic state representative Keith Hall. But questions remain about how deep the conspiracy goes. Will Governor Steve Beshear and the state agencies that enforce mining laws in Kentucky adequately investigate?
Contact: Cat McCue, Communications Director, 434-293-6373, cat@appvoices.org Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior issued a long-awaited draft of the Stream Protection Rule, which the agency has been working on since 2010. The purpose of the rule is to prevent…
Last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration pointed to a steep decline in coal produced by mountaintop removal mining. But
a closer examination of the data calls into question the adequacy of the legal definition of “mountaintop removal” and, more importantly, demonstrates that much more work is needed to truly end destructive mining practices in Central Appalachia.