Appalachia
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The True Impact of Coal Mining
We learned with sadness this week that blasting has begun on Coal River Mountain in West Virginia, site of a long battle between Massey Energy and local residents who want the mountain to be a site for 200 wind turbines instead of mountaintop removal coal mining. Massey has ignored these pleas, despite research showing that […]
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Coal River Mountain protests spread across the nation
Mountaintop removal funeral procession at EPA in D.C.Photo courtesy Chris Eichler of RAN Field Photography via Flickr The Coalfield Uprising is spreading across the nation. As millions of pounds of explosions rip across their mountain communities, including the clean energy landmark of Coal River Mountain, scores of residents from the Appalachian coalfields have joined with […]
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Battle at Coal River Mountain explodes
The Battle at Coal River Mountain has officially begun. At the same time President Obama invoked the “legacy of daring men and women” in our nation’s quest for renewable energy initiatives, and as millions of concerned citizens rallied in support of 350.org climate change events around the world this weekend, Big Coal bulldozers reportedly clear […]
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Will EPA veto or regulate the plunder of Appalachia?
Big News: In a historic move, Lisa Jackson’s EPA threw down the gauntlet on mountaintop removal mining last Friday — after they had just compromised on another massively destructive mountaintop removal operation. Is this the beginning of the end of the plunder of Appalachia — or is the EPA moving sideways to regulate what its […]
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Coalfield uprising leads to arrests at W.Va. gov’s office
Lorelei Scarbro speaking with Gov. Joe ManchinPhoto: Chris EichlerAs a supportive crowd sang, “This land is your land, this land is my land,” seven peaceful sit-in activists were arrested in Governor Joe Manchin’s office at the West Virginia state capitol at 5 p.m. this afternoon, as part of the growing national coalfield uprising to stop […]
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Should the Department of Justice investigate Big Coal bedlam?
UPDATE: Every American — including the Army Corps of Engineers — must watch this powerful new 20-minute film by Chad Stevens on the real costs and consequences of mountaintop removal mining: Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining. Now, the good news: on behalf of their children’s future, coalfield residents and miners calmly came […]
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EPA to hold 79 mountaintop removal permits for further review
Via Applachian Voices The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the preliminary fate of 79 valley fill permit applications associated with mountaintop removal coal mining. In a move that pleased environmentalists and coalfield residents in central and southern Appalachia, the EPA recommended that none of the 79 permits be streamlined for approval. iLoveMountains has an […]
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EPA says pending mountaintop-removal permits would likely violate Clean Water Act
This post co-written by Mary Anne Hitt, deputy director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. Very big news out of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this morning: The agency has determined that all 79 mountaintop-removal mining permits submitted to it for review by the Army Corps of Engineers would violate the Clean Water Act. […]
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A moment of truth for Appalachia, Obama and EPA on mountaintop removal coal mining
A moment of truth has arrived for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and President Barack Obama, who has promised “unprecedented steps” to rein in the devastating practice of mountaintop removal coal mining that is wrecking havoc across wide swaths of Appalachian mountains, valleys and communities. Anti-mountaintop removal activists are hoping President Obama and EPA […]
