appalachia

March 11, 2014 - Before its coal-fired units were shuttered in 2012, Duke Energy's Dan River plant burned coal from mountaintop removal mines in Appalachia. The reality that the arsenic-laden ash now contaminating a North Carolina river was once a forested mountain peak highlights the destructive lifecycle of coal.

January 13, 2014 - Most Americans are aware of the pollution hazards associated with the mining and burning of coal. The water contamination disaster unfolding in West Virginia highlights another hazard inherent in coal power: the chemical-intensive coal cleaning process.

September 13, 2013 - A group of prominent Democrats has launched a project to promote the idea that coal is part of a sustainable U.S. energy future -- even as new evidence emerges showing just how environmentally destructive coal really is.

May 10, 2013 - Activists hauled polluted water from Appalachia to Washington, D.C. this week to draw attention to the plight of communities affected by mountaintop removal coal mining. The action comes as legislation was reintroduced in Congress to protect coalfield waterways.

May 2, 2013 - The United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights recently visited West Virginia communities affected by the controversial mining practice and said allegations of health damage, water pollution, failure to protect cemeteries, and harassment of opponents should be investigated and addressed.

April 24, 2013 - There were two big developments this week in the fight to end mountaintop removal, with a federal appeals court upholding the EPA's authority to revoke permits for such coal mining operations, and a group of scientists calling for a moratorium on the practice. Is the end of blowing up Appalachia near?

March 5, 2013 - Declining coal production is hurting Appalachia's economy, which was already in rough shape. Scholars are looking at Wales, which lost its coal economy in the 1980s, for examples for how Appalachia might address its economic future.