/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} There was plenty of excitement earlier this month when AEP - one of the nation's largest energy companies - announced that it would phase out five coal-fired power plants and clean up several others. Here at the Sierra Club, we took the opportunity to call attention to this latest victory in the nationwide effort to move beyond coal and to embrace clean energy like wind and solar. Without question, phasing out coal plants is good for …

Watching this week's massive march on Blair Mountain has been inspiring. More than 300 people (and that number's been growing each day) are walking the roughly 60 miles from Marmet, West Virginia, to Blair Mountain in Logan, West Virginia, to call for the end of mountaintop removal coal mining and the protection of this historic site. Blair Mountain is a major landmark in American labor history, and the site of the largest civil insurrection since the Civil War. In August of 1921, the long fight by coal miners to form a union  culminated in this historic battle. The US government …

"Air pollution is especially dangerous to children because their lungs are still growing." I heard those words earlier this week while listening to the Senate Environment and Public Works' subcommittee hearing entitled "Air Quality and Children's Health." They were from Dr. Dona Upson of the American Lung Association in New Mexico, and though I've heard them before, every time they're repeated I think of my daughter. Little Hazel is only 13 months old, and I would be devastated to see her get asthma. Unfortunately, because of the massive air pollution from coal plants and cars, millions of parents across the …

On May 25, my husband and I generated our first kilowatt of clean, solar electricity from the rooftop of our home here in West Virginia. It was AMAZING -- as in, your-first-paper-mache-baking-soda-volcano amazing. As soon as we turned on the system, I kept running back outside to check out the new meter that measures our total solar output. On our very first day, our net meter showed we were making more energy on our rooftop than we were using, pushing that extra energy back out onto the grid and powering the homes of our neighbors. As the week wore on, …

Americans made their voices heard this week, turning out in huge crowds at three public hearings to demand Environmental Protection Agency safeguards from coal pollution. You can see photos from all three hearings here. In Philadelphia and Chicago on Tuesday, and Atlanta on Thursday, hundreds of people from all backgrounds showed up to speak at EPA's public hearings on its proposed mercury and air toxics safeguards. Mercury - which comes mostly from coal-fired power plants - can cause serious neurological and developmental problems in children, babies, and developing fetuses. In all three cities, EPA saw and heard from moms pushing …

This is a big week for public input for the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed safeguards against mercury and other air toxics spewed out by coal-fired power plants. EPA is holding three public hearings - two on Tuesday (in Chicago and Philly) and one on Thursday (Atlanta) - so people like you and me can make sure the agency knows how important it is to have strong protections against toxic pollutants such as mercury. The Sierra Club and our allies will be out in force at all three hearings, complete with rallies, press conferences, and even a march of moms with …

Roger Singer loved the recent good energy news out of Colorado. "We're now seeing further on-the-ground evidence that a swift conversion by energy providers from dirty coal to increased levels of clean, renewable energy sources is not only possible, but it's also easier than expected and it's cost effective," said Singer, regional representative for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign in Colorado. He's beaming about a utility, if you can believe it: "Colorado Utility Meets Renewable Goal Eight Years Ahead of Schedule," read the headlines. Singer joined many of us who cheered the news when Xcel Energy announced that it …

This week we've had a few too many reminders of how much coal does not care. First, while we all laughed at the parody "Coal Cares" website that the Yes Men created to look as if it was a Peabody Coal project, Peabody Coal's response was quick reminder of that website's true message about the coal industry's focus on profits over people. Claiming the website's information about the health effects of coal was false, Peabody officials went on to tout the supposed health benefits of life with coal: Peabody is proud to help hundreds of millions of people live longer …

It has been a big month for clean energy in the Midwest. Yesterday, We Energies announced plans to repower its coal-burning power plant in downtown Milwaukee. Earlier this week Dominion announced plans to retire the State Line plant in Indiana just over the border from Chicago. Last week LG&E indicated it will replace the Cane Run plant in Louisville. These cities join Denver, Minneapolis, and Madison as urban areas that are addressing or have addressed their coal problems. It seems that everywhere, cities are taking the necessary steps to protect the health of citizens by phasing out dangerous coal pollution. …

This Sunday, I will be celebrating my second Mother's Day. My daughter Hazel (pictured at right testifying with me last year) was born last year a few days prior to Mother's Day, and so I had the unforgettable experience of celebrating my first mother's day with both of her grandmothers -- we called it the Mother's Day trifecta. Since that Mother's Day I've gone back to work full-time as the director of the Beyond Coal Campaign at the Sierra Club. It has been the best (and sleepiest!) year of my life. In that year, Hazel has made a lot of …