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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Dominion stokes the coal industry, but says it’s a friend to the environment
BY ERIKA HOWSARE of the Cville Weekly

It’s a dim, drizzly afternoon, and I’m riding around Wise County with Kathy and Gary Selvage. I can see what they’re pointing out—evidence of surface mining—but I can’t see it the way they do.
The Selvages have [...]

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Just remember that this was only the very first step. Now the statewide battle begins…
Surry Board approves ODEC applications
Smithfield Times - Jim Tuttle - ‎1 hour ago‎

SURRY — The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Thursday night to approve five land use applications for a proposed coal-fired power plant …

Permits Approved For $6B Power Plant In [...]

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PRESS RELEASE from the Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition
www.WiseEnergyForVirginia.org
February 1, 2010
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NEW ECONOMIC REPORT SHOWS FEW JOBS FROM PROPOSED COAL PLANT IN SURRY COUNTY WOULD GO TO LOCAL RESIDENTS
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CONTACT:
Scott Moore, Moore Data LLC, 843-564-5257
Tom Cormons, Appalachian Voices, 301-910-8973
Cale Jaffe, Southern Environmental Law Center, 434-760-0816

Download the full report

Dendron, VA—At a public hearing tonight, the [...]

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Last week the National Research Council (part of the National Academy of Science) released a report that the US Government commissioned back in 2005 to find the true cost of our energy titled, “Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use.”
The quick and dirty: Our energy production and use in 2005 [...]

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As Congress was returning from the August recess, there wasn’t much news about the climate bill.  The only energy-related news breaking through the coverage of the rancorous health care debates and town-hall tea parties was a study on “energy sprawl” published by five staff members of the Nature Conservancy.
“Renewable Energy Needs Land, Lots Of Land” [...]

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Sept. 28: Some Virginia residents are concerned about the new Cypress Creek coal-fired plant and its impact on the Chesapeake Bay, but plant officials say it’s needed to keep up with rising demand. NBC’s Amna Nawaz reports.
Check out the video: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/33012073#33012073

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Cross posted from Appalachian Voices Front Porch Blog
Congressman Tom Perriello (VA-05) was just on Rachel Maddow talking about Bonner/ACCCE’s fraudulent attempts to get him to vote against climate legislation. The fossil fuel industry has completely destroyed their fragile credibility, and things are heating up for ACCCE and their corporate lobbying partners with increasing calls for [...]

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Cross posted from Appalachian Voices’ Front Porch Blog
Polluting Industries Caught Forging Support
When you are a small non-profit working to reform billion dollar industries, you can take some solace when the other side is damaging their own case far more seriously than regular citizens ever could. The last few days have been a highlight reel of [...]

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Article from Tamara Dietrich at the Daily Press. Read the Whole Article Here: http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_tamara_0724jul24,0,7027240.column
Notably missing from the Army Corps scope of review is mountaintop removal and global warming. While I have respect for their review I believe they made a mistake when they chose to leave out leveling of the oldest mountains in the world [...]

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Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, a close ally to President Obama and current head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), came out with this statement in favor of the Administration’s proposal regarding mountaintop removal removal yesterday.
“I applaud the new guidelines announced by the administration which will impose tighter restrictions on mountaintop mining.
“In Virginia, we’ve always [...]

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Several opinion pieces have been submitted and printes by newspapers in the Hampton Roads area concerning ODEC’s proposed 1,500 megawatt power plant for the region.
Eileen over at Articlexi.com, Virginia’s environmentally focused blog, has collected a few of them and posted them as a blog, and others have since been posted in the comments. Check out [...]

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The strip-mined landscape in Wise, Virginia.
By Janet L. Parker, Ph.D. | January 12, 2009 (Center for American Progress)

Tennessee’s recent sludge spill is an obvious reminder that irresponsible coal practices are dirty and devastating.
Mountain-top removal coal mining is dirty, noisy, and scars the landscape. It has also harmed Kathy Selvage’s mother’s prayer time. Selvage is [...]

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New study shows investing in efficiency instead of Wise County coal plant would save most Virginia families up to $91 a year. Download the report by clicking here.
Richmond - A new report shows that investing in energy efficiency instead of building the Wise County coal plant to meet the same electricity demand would yield hundreds [...]

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