Posted by Rob Perks in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Rising above a picturesque valley in southern West Virginia, like an oasis in the midst of coal country, Coal River Mountain represents the last, best hope for a community resisting the legacy of dirty energy in this part of Appalachia. ...
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
What is up with the U.S. Department of Interior these days? Unlike the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which appears to be walking the walk on mountaintop removal coal mining thanks to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's leadership, it's quite another story...
Posted by Rob Perks in Solving Global Warming
It seems the recession is depressing to Big Oil. Apparently, global economic woes have resulted in a blip in the record-breaking pace of profits that the oil giants have enjoyed over the past few years. Less demand these days means less cash...
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming
Without a doubt coal is dirty and dangerous. Consider that the nation's power plants spew out 130 million tons of coal combustion waste every year. Much of this so-called coal ash, which is what's left at the bottom of the smokestacks after coal gets burned...
Posted by Rob Perks in Solving Global Warming
So, we know the 'hidden costs' of dirty energy top $120 billion a year for Americans. But what about the benefits of clean energy? Try this on for size: new analysis shows that adopting comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation could create...
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Kudos to the USA Today for coming out strong in its opposition to the worst of the worst coal mining: mountaintop removal. Today's excellent, hold-no-punches editorial declares "it's time to protect forests, streams from environmental degradation." It kicks off this way: Buried...
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Let me get this straight. President Obama, touting his administration's support for clean energy, visited Florida yesterday to tour the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, with its solar panels sprawling across 180 acres that can generate power for 3,000 homes. Yet on Coal River...
Posted by Rob Perks in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
J. Henry Fair is a phenomenal photographer who generously lends his images to NRDC. He has been particularly helpful to me by providing for our use his starkly captivating photos of mountaintop removal coal mining. By hook or by crook, whether...
Posted by Rob Perks in Solving Global Warming
Bo Webb is a proud and patriotic American who lives in Appalachia. A former Marine who fought for his country in Vietnam, Bo resides in the Coal River Valley of southwestern West Virginia. For years, he has fought for the region he loves as coal...
Posted by Rob Perks in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
The message was like a punch in the gut: "The blasting has begun." Coal River Mountain in southern West Virginia, heretofore America's "most endangered" mountain, is now under assualt by Massey Energy, the nation's fourth-largest coal company and the worst offender...
Posted by Rob Perks in Solving Global Warming
No one should be surprised that Big Oil talks the talk on the need to address the climate crisis while not bothering to actually walk the walk. At an industry conference this week in London, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries showed...
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Since many of our elected leaders seem to be worried about costs, they should consider this: fossil fuels cost the United States about $120 billion a year, according to a study by the National Academy of Sciences. This cost is measured primarily by thousands...
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy
Now that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made it clear that mountaintop removal coal mining poses a severe threat to the environment -- most notably to water quality -- in Appalachia, the fate of this abominable practice appears to rest...
Posted by Rob Perks in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
"The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants. Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land." (Leviticus 25:23-24) "In another...
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming
Are you drinking water contaminated by coal pollution? Apparently, that's what folks living in the shadows of the South Carolina Electric & Gas coal plant fear. A chilling story published in the Charleston Post & Courier tells how local residents "have wondered for years about...
