“On March 21st we built a mountain in the lobby of a Chase branch on 2nd Avenue & 10th Street in Manhattan made from the murdered mud of Coal Mountain in West Virginia. Perched on top we left a letter for the CEO of Chase Jamie Dimon. His bank currently finances 80% of the Mountain-top [...]

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Pretty big news from West Virginia. From the Charleston Gazette reporter’s Ken Ward’s blog:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just issued its “proposed determination” to block the Clean Water Act permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County, the largest mountaintop removal permit in West Virginia history.
EPA has posed this proposed determination document on its Region [...]

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At Yesterday’s (Friday, March 26th) Air Board Meeting the board voted 4 to 3 to announce to the EPA that the Air Board did not ask for Cuccinelli’s law suit challenging the EPA’s greenhouse gas ruling. Basically they are saying, Virginia’s environmental regulators do not stand with Virginia’s attorney general in his effort to use [...]

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A coalition comprised of 28 Christian groups sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency demanding that the organization take action to end mountaintop removal through the restoration of the Clean Water Act’s protections.
“As part of our call to be stewards of creation, we have a duty to use the land responsibly, to manage it [...]

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Cross-posted from The Green Miles

Dozens of activists with theAlliance for Appalachia visited Sen. Jim Webb’s office this week, asking him to join their efforts to end mountaintop removal coal mining. The Virginians pictured here were part of a much larger group from across America that was lobbying for change this week on Capitol Hill (more [...]

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Wise Energy for Virginia laid the ground work for investment in Energy Efficiency last year with legislation that makes it possible for utility companies to make money off of cost effective efficiency investments. However last year and again this year the GA has been unwilling to seal the deal on the creation of these jobs through efficiency, [...]

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A poignant Letter to the Editor of the Virginian-Pilot from former head of the Department of Environmental Quality points out what the passing of two bills will mean for Virginia. These bills have since been passed by our GA. You can read the whole LTE here, but below is an excerpt.
TWO BILLS moving through the General [...]

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As citizens from around the nation jam the congressional phone lines for 72 hours, calling for comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation, US Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) has emerged as one of the most critical votes for a clean energy future.
Webb’s state of Virginia stands on the frontlines of the clean energy and climate debate–and Webb, [...]

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Daily Press Article
March 3, 2010
SURRY — Opponents of a proposed coal-fueled power plant in Dendron have filed a lawsuit alleging that the Dendron Town Council violated state code last month when it approved land-use permits for the facility.
The Dendron Town Council approved controversial rezoning applications and conditional-use permits after a Feb. [...]

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Two excellent letters to the editor were submitted to the Washington Post and were printed over the weekend in response to an earlier article.
I was disappointed with your article on Virginia’s 9th Congressional District ["Appalachia is slipping from grip of Democrats," front page, Feb. 18].
I feel that you portrayed our region by looking at only [...]

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Hello friends,

I’m writing to ask you to take a step today that can help break King Coal’s economic stranglehold on coalfield communities in Southwest Virginia. By a few simple, digital steps, and three votes, you can help jump start grass roots efforts at sustainable economic development in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Heard enough? Great. [...]

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