Appalachian Voices

Happy 2025! In the New Year, we will continue... 💪 defeating the construction of unnecessary fracked-gas pipelines ⚡ accelerating investments in clean energy 🛑 standing up to monopoly utility practices that put profits over people 🤝 ensuring all communities benefit from a clean energy transition ... and finding solutions that create community wealth and sustain Appalachia’s mountains, forests and waters. 💚 📸: Photo by Kent Mason.

Black lung disease continues to devastate coal miners, their families and communities. The fatal disease has been at epidemic levels for years now, sparking a surge of grassroots activism by the Black Lung Association and others, including Appalachian Voices. In a new Front Porch Blog, Willie Dodson, Coal Impacts Program Manager, writes about a proposed merger of Arch Resources and Consol Energy, two of the country’s largest coal companies, and how regulators and advocates alike should be on high alert. Read more: https://lnkd.in/evzhiZ9y 📸: Jerry Coleman, the late president of the Kanawha County WV Black Lung Association, speaks at a May 2022 press conference. Photo by Willie Dodson #BlackLungKills #CoalMiners #coal

We are nearing the end of 2024, but Appalachian Voices’ work is not finished. 💪📣 The hard work and dedication of our members, communities and colleagues is made possible by people like you. Your year-end contribution directly funds our work and commitment for a just energy transition in Appalachia. Make your tax-deductible donation before the year ends and become a member of Appalachian Voices. The support of our members is critical in securing wins for positive economic and ecological outcomes in the region. Make your end-of-the-year donation: https://lnkd.in/emM_bzca 📸: Kent Mason

This year, and every year, Appalachian Voices works with our communities to ensure a brighter, healthier future for this region we love. With your support, we will: 🚫 Continue our fight against harmful, unnecessary pipelines and new fossil fuel buildout 💚 Uplift community voices to enact real change — for clean energy, clean water and economic development in the region 🌎 Relentlessly push our decision-makers to invest in all of our communities and support the future we deserve Help us protect our progress in the new year: https://lnkd.in/emM_bzca 📸: Kent Mason

What the heck is impoundment and why should you care? 🤔 As part of their plan for the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy wrote in their Wall Street Journal opinion piece that they intend to challenge the constitutionality of the 1974 Impoundment Control Act. Chelsea Barnes, our Director of Government Affairs and Strategy, writes about this little-known but impactful law in the second part of our multi-part series about #DOGE on the Front Porch Blog. “But the undoing of the Impoundment Control Act would lead to much less certainty when it comes to many programs that the people of Appalachia and people all over the country use for economic growth and stability, environmental protection and more,” writes Chelsea. 📸: The White House. Photo by Matt H. Wade, Creative Commons

Hazard’s Housing Development Alliance is going solar! 🌞 With a $11,340 grant from the Appalachian Solar Finance Fund, their new 22.88kW array will save $150K in lifetime energy costs, generate 28,213 kWh/year, and support affordable housing.

Federal regulators highlighted state regulatory failures that allowed a mine owed by the family of West Virginia Gov. and Sen.-elect Jim Justice to continue operating without a permit and without meeting clean-up requirements were highlighted in a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Read more in Willie Dodson's latest blog!

New article in The Appalachian Voice: Contributing writer Ashlea Ramey reviews “Valley So Low,” the debut book from journalist Jared Sullivan about the aftermath of the Kingston Coal Ash Spill. Ramey writes that Sullivan covers, “a drawn-out legal process and a lack of accountability by those responsible for the incident and its repercussions makes the legal victory hollow – especially as the plaintiffs have paid, and continue to pay, an untenably high price.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/eW4rXRiW

Appalachian Voices wishes you and your loved ones a bright and merry holiday season! ✨ This winter, we’re grateful for the beauty and resilience of the Appalachian region—and for YOU, our supporters, who help make our work possible. As we reflect on the year behind us, let’s continue to stand together to ensure a more equitable, sustainable future for Appalachia. 🌟 Keep up-to-date with our work or get involved with Appalachian Voices: https://lnkd.in/e9CXxVJc #HappyHolidays 📸: Photo by Kent Mason

New Front Porch Blog: Willie Dodson, Coal Impacts Program Manager, writes about how Sharon Buccino, the acting head of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, could shut down South Fork Coal’s illegal coal hauling operation in the Monongahela National Forest. “I am hopeful that in the waning days of the Biden administration, Buccino will recognize this important opportunity to further cement her legacy as an advocate for public lands and pristine places by immediately halting South Fork’s illegal coal-hauling through the Monongahela National Forest,” writes Willie. Read more: https://lnkd.in/etKVmEZn 📸: Photo by Andrew Young/ Southwings