CONTACT: Alexandra Werner-Winslow, SELC Communications Manager (VA), awernerwinslow@selcva.org, (434) 977-4090 Peter Anderson, Appalachian Voices Virginia Policy Director, peter@appvoices.org, (434) 249-6446 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Today the Southern Environmental Law Center filed suit in Charlottesville Circuit Court on behalf of Appalachian Voices…
Rallygoers in Richmond opposed Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to remove Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Solar is essential to meeting urgent emissions reduction goals, but concerns about smart land use and the community and environmental impacts of large-scale solar don’t have easy answers.
A coal company owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his family has been notified that Appalachian Voices, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and Sierra Club are planning to file a lawsuit over its failure to clean up three Wise County, Virginia, mines.
Terrible, persistent smells from the Bristol landfill have put a damper on quality of life for residents of the Twin Cities. Officials acknowledge the problem, but there’s no clear path forward.
Richmond, VA — The Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices, represented by Appalachian Mountain Advocates, moved to intervene in a lawsuit to help defend the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board’s denial of an air permit for the proposed Lambert Compressor station. If built, the station would connect the beleaguered Mountain Valley Pipeline to the proposed “Southgate” extension into North Carolina. The conservation groups filed the motion in response to a lawsuit by the Mountain Valley Pipeline that seeks to reverse the board’s decision.
Updated Jan. 20, 2022: On Jan. 13, Virginia Energy sent a letter to A&G Coal Corporation suspending the permit for the Straight Fork Surface Mine after the corporation failed to respond to the Dec. 8, 2021 show cause order. The permit suspension gives the Justice company until Feb. 14 to deal with the ongoing violations. Failure to do so will then trigger permit revocation and a determination of bond forfeiture.
Richmond, Va. — A coalition representing member-owners of Virginia’s rural electric cooperative (RECs) is rallying in support of Del. Wendy Gooditis’ legislation that seeks to establish protections and safeguards for customers (member-owners) of the thirteen rural electric cooperatives in the state. These reforms would include allowing member-owners to observe board meetings, voter integrity measures for cooperative board elections, and transparency in cooperative political lobbying.
Virginia’s 2022 General Assembly gaveled in on January 12 for two months of legislative wrangling in the crowded halls of the state capitol! We expect to play defense on protecting pivotal laws that tackle the climate crisis, while pushing for progress in key areas. Don’t sit this one out — we need all Virginia hands on deck!
“Based on his egregious record as EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler is unfit to serve as Virginia’s next Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources,” said Tom Cormons, executive director of Appalachian Voices.
