Oct 28 Energy & Environment Disastrous Disconnect: Coal, Climate And Catastrophe In Kentucky This story is part of a series about the insufficient protections for vulnerable people as natural disasters worsen in a warming climate. The Center for Public Integrity and four partners – the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, High Country News, Ohio Valley ReSource and StateImpact Oklahoma – are contributing stories. REGINA, Ky. — Todd Bentley stepped onto his […] By Rachel Leven and Zach Goldstein Oct 28 Energy & Environment Disastrous Disconnect: Coal, Climate And Catastrophe In Kentucky Rachel Leven and Zach Goldstein
Oct 4 Economy Rethinking Retraining: Why Worker Training Programs Alone Won’t Save Coal Country Bobby Bowman mined coal in West Virginia for 12 years before his employer shut down. “I don’t think that mine will ever open again,” he said. Bowman lives in Welch, in the south of the state, where he worked at the Pinnacle Mine, which shut down almost exactly one year ago, putting him and about […] By Becca Schimmel Oct 4 Economy Rethinking Retraining: Why Worker Training Programs Alone Won’t Save Coal Country Becca Schimmel
Sep 2 Energy & Environment On Labor Day, Miners Mark Historic Union March Ninety-eight years ago, thousands of pro-union miners marched toward West Virginia’s Logan County, to protest abuses by coal operators in what was then a largely anti-union territory. The marchers were met at Blair Mountain in Logan County by an army of men, fighting on behalf of anti-union mine guards and local law enforcement. The battle […] By Emily Allen Sep 2 Energy & Environment On Labor Day, Miners Mark Historic Union March Emily Allen
Aug 23 Economy Sanders Visits Coal States On Heels Of Climate Plan Release Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders will visit Kentucky Sunday just days after releasing his plan to address climate change. Sanders will speak in Louisville Sunday afternoon. His detailed climate plan released Thursday calls climate change “the single greatest challenge facing our country.” Like many of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, Sanders supports […] By Brittany Patterson and Sydney Boles Aug 23 Economy Sanders Visits Coal States On Heels Of Climate Plan Release Brittany Patterson and Sydney Boles
Aug 13 Energy & Environment Trump Visits Shell Plastics Facility, Touts Petrochemical Future For Ohio Valley President Donald Trump Tuesday toured Shell Chemical’s soon-to-be completed ethane cracker complex in Monaca, Pennsylvania, to tout his administration’s commitment to expanding energy production. The facility is part of what industry boosters hope will be a new plastics and chemical manufacturing base in the upper Ohio Valley, but many residents here worry about the heat-trapping […] By Brittany Patterson Aug 13 Energy & Environment Trump Visits Shell Plastics Facility, Touts Petrochemical Future For Ohio Valley Brittany Patterson
Jul 24 Agriculture Power Plant: How A Grass Might Generate Fuel And Help Fix Damaged Mine Lands Down bumpy back roads deep in central West Virginia, a flat, bright green pasture opens up among the rolling hills of coffee-colored trees. Wildflowers and butterflies dot the pasture, but West Virginia University Professor Jeff Skousen is here for something else that stands above the rest of the Appalachian scenery – literally. Thick stalks of […] By Liam Niemeyer Jul 24 Agriculture Power Plant: How A Grass Might Generate Fuel And Help Fix Damaged Mine Lands Liam Niemeyer
Jul 15 Economy “Death Spiral.” How A Carbon Tax Could End Some Coal Towns … Or Fund A New Future Declining coal tax revenues place coal-reliant counties in Appalachia at risk of fiscal collapse, according to new research from the centrist Brookings Institution and Columbia University. Policies designed to prevent further climate change would accelerate that decline, the report found, but could also provide a new stream of revenue to help communities rebound from coal’s […] By Sydney Boles Jul 15 Economy “Death Spiral.” How A Carbon Tax Could End Some Coal Towns … Or Fund A New Future Sydney Boles
May 15 Energy & Environment As Ohio Valley Ponders Plastics Growth, Report Warns Of Threat to Climate As a new plastics industry emerges in the Ohio Valley, a report by environmental groups warns that the expansion of plastics threatens the world’s ability to keep climate change at bay. The report released Wednesday by the Center for International Environmental Law, Environmental Integrity Project, FracTracker Alliance, and others used publicly available emissions data and […] By Brittany Patterson May 15 Energy & Environment As Ohio Valley Ponders Plastics Growth, Report Warns Of Threat to Climate Brittany Patterson
Apr 22 Energy & Environment For Earth Day Nature Conservancy Preserves 100,000 Acres Of Appalachian Forest And Streams A conservation group chose Earth Day, April 22, to announce the purchase of a massive property in Appalachian forest to protect habitat and help wildlife adapt to the challenges of climate change. The property covers 100,000 acres of forest straddling the Kentucky-Tennessee border. The Nature Conservancy, the nonprofit that made the purchase, said it plans […] By Sydney Boles Apr 22 Energy & Environment For Earth Day Nature Conservancy Preserves 100,000 Acres Of Appalachian Forest And Streams Sydney Boles
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