Energy & Environment Archives - Ohio Valley ReSource

Mar 27

Energy & Environment

‘There’s Going To Be Something Better for Him’: Former Blackjewel Miners Reflect on Changes in Coal Country

On a blistering August afternoon in Cumberland, Kentucky, David Pratt, Jr. stood in the middle of a two-lane highway, holding a sign that read “COAL MINERS AND TRUCKERS AGAINST CORPORATE AMERICA.” A few yards away, his father, David Pratt Sr., who is graying but still muscular, leaned back in a lawn chair perched precariously on […]

By Sydney Boles

Mar 27

Energy & Environment

‘There’s Going To Be Something Better for Him’: Former Blackjewel Miners Reflect on Changes in Coal Country

By Sydney Boles

Mar 26

Energy & Environment

UMWA Wants More Coronavirus Protections For Coal Miners

The United Mine Workers of America is asking federal regulators to set uniform, enforceable guidelines to help protect coal miners from contracting COVID-19. In a letter dated Tuesday, March 24, UMWA President Cecil Roberts wrote to the Mine Safety and Health Administration requesting the agency issue a “safeguard” or “emergency standard” that would require coal […]

By Brittany Patterson

Mar 26

Energy & Environment

UMWA Wants More Coronavirus Protections For Coal Miners

Brittany Patterson

Mar 23

Energy & Environment

Ohio Valley Coal Industry Braces As COVID-19 Impacts Electricity Demand, International Exports

As states across the Ohio Valley order the closure of non-essential businesses to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, coal mines will remain open. But as with many industries, the global pandemic is straining the coal sector, and some experts say the already struggling industry could face intense challenges in the months ahead as […]

By Brittany Patterson and Sydney Boles

Mar 23

Energy & Environment

Ohio Valley Coal Industry Braces As COVID-19 Impacts Electricity Demand, International Exports

Brittany Patterson and Sydney Boles

Mar 19

Energy & Environment

Coronavirus And Slumping Prices Hit Ohio Valley’s Oil & Gas Sector

Energy producers, utilities and energy sector workers across the Ohio Valley are adjusting operations and bracing for continued economic impacts as the fast-moving coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold. Efforts to limit the spread of the virus include shuttering schools and businesses and limiting travel, all of which reduce demand for energy. The federal government is […]

By Brittany Patterson

Mar 19

Energy & Environment

Coronavirus And Slumping Prices Hit Ohio Valley’s Oil & Gas Sector

Brittany Patterson

Mar 6

Energy & Environment

Glidepath To Recovery: Flying Squirrels And Spruce Forests Share Common Fate

U.S. Forest Service district biologist Shane Jones stands on an overlook high up on West Virginia’s Cheat Mountain. Behind him lush, red spruce trees stand like sentinels on this frozen landscape. As he looks out, small patches of green dot what is largely a view of the barren, brown trunks of leafless hardwoods. More than […]

By Brittany Patterson

Mar 6

Energy & Environment

Glidepath To Recovery: Flying Squirrels And Spruce Forests Share Common Fate

Brittany Patterson

Mar 1

Energy & Environment

Clean Water Wanted: Contaminated Wells And The Legacy Of Fossil Fuel Extraction

“You seen that one with the tombstone up there?” seven-year-old Timothy Easterling asks, looking toward the grass just uphill from his home. “That’s my papaw.” Timothy’s grandfather Chet Blankenship died in 2016, at age 69. Blankenship lived on land he and his family have long owned at the end of a road atop Bradshaw Mountain […]

By Benny Becker

Mar 1

Energy & Environment

Clean Water Wanted: Contaminated Wells And The Legacy Of Fossil Fuel Extraction

Benny Becker

Feb 21

Energy & Environment

Black Lung Benefits Drop For Kentucky Coal Miners After Controversial Law Change

Lynn Estel Stanley was the kind of coal mine foreman who wanted to know if there was a safety problem, and would always be the one to go fix it himself. He was also the kind of miner who refused to slow down, even when his men told him he was overexerting himself. But when […]

By Sydney Boles

Feb 21

Energy & Environment

Black Lung Benefits Drop For Kentucky Coal Miners After Controversial Law Change

Sydney Boles

Feb 14

Energy & Environment

Just Transition: Amid Climate Debate And Coal’s Decline, West Virginia Considers Its Future

On a recent soggy Wednesday evening, dozens of West Virginians packed a conference room inside the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center to discuss the need for a “just transition” for coal-impacted communities. As the nation grapples with climate change, the need for a fair transition for workers and communities that depend upon coal jobs and […]

By Brittany Patterson

Feb 14

Energy & Environment

Just Transition: Amid Climate Debate And Coal’s Decline, West Virginia Considers Its Future

Brittany Patterson

Feb 7

Energy & Environment

States of Emergencies Declared Amid Eastern Kentucky Floods

Heavy rains caused extensive flooding across eastern Kentucky this week, and city and county officials say it could take weeks to fix some of the damage. Some residents were evacuated from their homes, and officials across the region declared states of emergency, including mayors in Whitesburg and Jenkins, and county judges in Letcher, Harlan and […]

By Sydney Boles

Feb 7

Energy & Environment

States of Emergencies Declared Amid Eastern Kentucky Floods

Sydney Boles

Jan 27

Energy & Environment

New Protections Proposed For Imperiled Crayfish Species

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service is proposing new protections for two threatened species of crayfish found in the Appalachian coalfields. Under the new proposed rule, set to be published Tuesday in the Federal Register, the agency will designate 445 miles of streams in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia as “critical habitat” for the Guyandotte […]

By Brittany Patterson

Jan 27

Energy & Environment

New Protections Proposed For Imperiled Crayfish Species

Brittany Patterson