When most of us flip on the lights (or type into our computers, for that matter), we aren’t thinking about how those simple acts might affect those living in coal country. Yet nearly half of the country’s electricity is generated by coal, and increasingly that coal is being More…
Scientists for years have warned about the irreversible damage to Appalachian ecosystems caused by mountaintop removal coal mining (which makes sense, considering that the nation’s oldest mountains can’t grow back once they’ve been topped). But don’t tell that to the coal industry.
At a West Virginia More…
Following last month’s deadly underground mine explosion in West Virginia, the recent controversy surrounding surface mining has been largely (if temporarily) forgotten — at least in Washington. But today, two House Republicans from Appalachia’s coal fields revisited the issue, ripping the Environmental Protection Agency for installing strict new More…
Two young activists arrested this morning for protesting mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia will have to come up with $100,000 in bail if they want to leave jail any time soon, a West Virginia court ruled today. The Associated Press reports:
Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Barker says
Turns out, it’s a number of the country’s largest banks.
In a report out today, several environmental groups rank nine of the biggest players on Wall Street based on their stated policies toward mountaintop removal coal mining, a process in which companies blast away Appalachian peaks More…
Late last year, as Democrats were considering climate change bills and the Obama administration was mulling new regulations to rein in mountaintop removal coal mining, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) — a longtime defender of the coal industry and the jobs it creates in Appalachia — shocked observers in More…
First it was Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) urging an outright ban on mountaintop mining in lieu of new EPA restrictions. And now Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) is echoing that message, issuing a statement that calls on Congress to take up legislation that More…
Environmentalists might be applauding the Obama administration’s new restrictions on mountaintop coal mining as the most significant step the government has ever taken to rein in the practice. But don’t tell that to Sen. Lamar Alexander. The Tennessee Republican is calling for a full ban (not More…
It’s worth noting: Despite the new EPA scrutiny (and potential repeal) of the Bush-era permit approving the largest mountaintop coal mine in West Virginia’s history, a part of that project will continue its operations during the public comment and review process.
The Spruce No. More…
In a show that the Obama administration is serious about putting the teeth back into the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency today jump-started a process that could kill one of the largest mountaintop coal mining operations ever allowed in Appalachia. The decision — which is already being attacked More…
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