Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s largest investment banks, gave a minor victory to the divestment movement by declaring that it will not fund an new arctic oil explorations, as CNN reported. Citing the importance of the Arctic’s fragile ecosystem and its importance to indigenous populations, the investing giant said it will decline investing in […]
A new briefing paper details how Dominion Energy‘s proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline would involve the blasting, excavation and removal of mountaintops along 38 miles of Appalachian ridgelines as part of the construction. The planned 600-mile interstate pipeline will carry 1.44 billion cubic feet per day of fracked gas from West Virginia to North Carolina, cutting […]
Kentucky, like most of the Appalachian region, has been in economic distress since the bust of the coal mining industry. But, new hope for jobs and the ravaged environment may come in the form of the state’s largest solar farm. The company spearheading the initiative, Berkeley Energy Group, used to be a coal mining company […]
President Trump has officially killed the Office of Surface Protection’s Stream Mining Rule, as he signed legislation undoing the Obama era protection Thursday. Surrounded by lawmakers, coal miners and friendly coal executives, Trump blasted the rule as “another terrible job killing rule” and promised to save jobs “especially in the mines, which, I have been […]
By Heather Moyer This is part 2 (read part 1) on my visit to see mountaintop removal coal mining sites in West Virginia with Coal River Mountain Watch. Junior Walk and I are standing where a mountain used to be. We’re on a pile of rocks surrounded by even more piles of rocks and boulders. […]
By Heather Moyer “The Brushy Fork coal sludge impoundment is only one mile above my parents’ home. I better know all I can about it—not that it’ll do much, though,” Junior Walk told me as he drove me through the winding roads around Naoma, West Virginia. A West Virginia native and Coal River Mountain Watch […]
Signaling a watershed shift in recognizing the national health crisis from cancer-linked strip mining in central Appalachia, more than 200,000 people have signed historic CREDO Action and Earthjustice petitions, calling on Congress to pass the Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act (H.R. 912) and enact a moratorium on new mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR). “The more health research […]
A short video released this week has stunningly detailed drone footage providing a rare view of mountaintop removal coal mining and the increasing proximity of this destructive form of mining to people living in Appalachia. The video includes interviews with local citizens who want to end mountaintop removal mining and transition their communities in a more just […]
Coal is in the news a lot these days. The market forces and much-needed environmental and health protections cornering the dirty fuel are topics of endless interest as America’s energy landscape shifts toward cleaner sources. And yes, all signs point to coal’s continued decline. Even as coal production declines, mountaintop removal mining keeps closing in […]