Feb 12 Energy & Environment Coal Community Leaders Urge Congress To Include Them In Climate Action Economic development leaders from the Ohio Valley’s coal communities used a Congressional hearing on climate change Tuesday to say that their communities must be central to conversations about climate solutions. Testifying at a House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing on climate change and energy transitions, Peter Hille, president of the Berea, Kentucky-based Mountain Association for Community […] By Brittany Patterson Feb 12 Energy & Environment Coal Community Leaders Urge Congress To Include Them In Climate Action Brittany Patterson
Feb 1 Energy & Environment Coal Comeback? Coal At New Low After Two Years Under Trump It’s been two years since President Donald Trump took office and began rolling back environmental regulations on the coal industry. At a November rally in Huntington, West Virginia, the president took credit for a coal comeback in front of a cheering crowd. “We’ve ended the war on beautiful, clean coal and we’re putting our coal […] By Brittany Patterson Feb 1 Energy & Environment Coal Comeback? Coal At New Low After Two Years Under Trump Brittany Patterson
Jan 28 Energy & Environment Black Lung Clinics Call For Action But Top Regulator Plans No New Measures In the wake of an NPR and PBS Frontline investigation into the surge in cases of black lung disease, a coalition of black lung clinics is calling for action to better protect coal miners from dust exposure. NPR reports that more than 2,300 miners in central Appalachia are sick with the most serious form of […] By Jeff Young Jan 28 Energy & Environment Black Lung Clinics Call For Action But Top Regulator Plans No New Measures Jeff Young
Jan 18 Energy & Environment Still Fighting: These Widows’ Stories Show Larger Effects of Black Lung Epidemic Nancy and Rich Potter had the kind of marriage that made other couples jealous. He’d take her on spontaneous trips. She’d wear her Daisy Dukes just for him. Joyce Birman said her late husband, George, made a terrible first impression. It was his apology for it that made her fall for him, hard. Vickie Salyers’ […] By Sydney Boles Jan 18 Energy & Environment Still Fighting: These Widows’ Stories Show Larger Effects of Black Lung Epidemic Sydney Boles
Jan 16 Energy & Environment EPA Plan to Manage Toxic ‘Teflon’ Chemicals Delayed by Shutdown During a sometimes contentious confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler was pressed by members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works about the impact of the government shutdown on the agency. Wheeler noted one casualty of the ongoing partial government shutdown, now in […] By Brittany Patterson Jan 16 Energy & Environment EPA Plan to Manage Toxic ‘Teflon’ Chemicals Delayed by Shutdown Brittany Patterson
Jan 8 Energy & Environment Ohio Valley Senators Again Aim to Shore Up Shaky Pension Plan For Coal Miners Following a failed attempt to address a looming crisis in many multi-employer pension programs, two Ohio Valley lawmakers have introduced a bill in Congress to shore up the shaky pension plan for coal miners. The bill also aims to protect health benefits and restore funding for the federal trust fund providing benefits for thousands of […] By Becca Schimmel Jan 8 Energy & Environment Ohio Valley Senators Again Aim to Shore Up Shaky Pension Plan For Coal Miners Becca Schimmel
Jan 3 Energy & Environment Three Miners Dead In Eleven Days: Grim December Caps Year In Coal Mine Safety Just a few months ago, the U.S. coal mining industry was on track for its safest year in history. But in an eleven-day span in late December, three miners died after separate incidents, bringing the total number of fatalities in 2018 to 12, even as coal mining employment continued its decline. “It is a reminder […] By Jeff Young Jan 3 Energy & Environment Three Miners Dead In Eleven Days: Grim December Caps Year In Coal Mine Safety Jeff Young
Dec 19 Energy & Environment Still, They Persist: Black Lung Advocates Demonstrate At McConnell’s KY Office With just days left before a Congressional deadline, advocates for black lung treatment are still pushing Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell to secure funding for miners’ benefits. About two dozen people demonstrated Wednesday near McConnell’s regional office in London, Kentucky, carrying placards reading “Black Lung Kills” and singing along with a banjo tune modified for the […] By Sydney Boles Dec 19 Energy & Environment Still, They Persist: Black Lung Advocates Demonstrate At McConnell’s KY Office Sydney Boles
Dec 18 Energy & Environment Data Dives And Shoe Leather: How NPR’s Howard Berkes Investigated Appalachia’s Black Lung Epidemic NPR is reporting that more than two thousand coal miners are now suffering from the most severe form of black lung disease, Progressive Massive Fibrosis, or PMF. And despite clear warnings, investigative reporter Howard Berkes shows, the mining industry and government regulators did little to stop it. Data loom large in this story: Berkes took a […] By Jeff Young Dec 18 Energy & Environment Data Dives And Shoe Leather: How NPR’s Howard Berkes Investigated Appalachia’s Black Lung Epidemic Jeff Young