Right now, one of our best hopes for ending mountaintop removal mining lies in the EPA’s power to regulate water pollution. As it stands, Lisa Jackson (or another EPA executive) could, with a few strokes of her pen, take dramatic steps toward ending the cultural and environmental attack on Appalachia. But a bill moving through the House (it just passed out of committee) is set to change that. Sponsored by John Mica (R-FL), the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act would give states, rather than the EPA, the final authority in water quality standards and Clean Water Act permits. The... (continue reading)

Amendments to the budget bill could block regulations for air pollution, mountaintop removal, and offshore drilling. If you keep track of politics, you’re probably aware that the budget debate in the House of Representatives is in full swing. The reinvigorated Republican Party is eager to push its agenda, while the Administration, concerned about re-election, seems willing to make some serious concessions. Curious what’s on the table? You might not want to know, unless you’re an oil executive. When it comes to program-axing, clean energy and environmental spending is at... (continue reading)

I spent the last week of October in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, hiking, photographing the rivers and foliage, and taking in the stunning landscapes. While the trip made my RYSE post a bit late, it also deepened my understanding of the value of pristine mountains, specifically the Appalachians. Because of their National Park status, the Smoky Mountains are safe from coal mining. However, as RYSE readers know, hundreds of mountains in Tennessee, West Viriginia, Virginia, and Kentucky have been literally blown up by mining companies in search of coal. If you study mountaintop removal... (continue reading)

Cross-posted from Gosztola Blog (http://open.salon.com/blog/kevin_gosztola) By Kevin Gosztola More than a hundred activists sit in front of the White House demanding the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining be abolished. by Kevin Gosztola Over a thousand Appalachian residents and activists participated in a rally and march in Washington, D.C. on Monday, September 27th. The action was the culmination of a multi-day convergence that had been put together by a coalition known as Appalachia Rising, which organized the activity to advance the movement to abolish mountaintop removal coal... (continue reading)

Cross-posted from It’s Getting Hot in Here Written by Dea Goblirsch and Kim Huynh. Photos by Ben Droz. “President Obama, join me in my kitchen at 4 p.m. any day of the week and learn first-hand what you are allowing to happen in Appalachia and its mountain communities,” said Bo Webb, a ninth-generation resident of Naoma W.Va. in the Coal River Valley, “You’d hear and feel blasts coming from both sides of the valley, and if it rains, you might see water flowing black down river. The mountain behind my home is destroyed – gone forever – and across the valley Massey Energy is... (continue reading)