Coal Mining

Bomb Appalachia (and Face the Music)

Michael Gould-Wartofsky | Posted 11.09.2009 | Green


Michael Gould-Wartofsky

Theirs is a coast-to-coast campaign to save Appalachia's mountains and streams -- and Appalachians' homes, jobs, and culture -- from the devastating coal mining practice known as mountaintop removal.

Breaking: Mountaintop Removal Begins on Coal River Mountain -- Help Needed Now

Matt Wasson | Posted 10.24.2009 | Green


Matt Wasson

The fate of Coal River Mountain is America's energy future. If the coal companies can mine there, they can do anything they want.

EPA to Revoke Permit for Infamous WV Mountaintop Removal Mine

Rob Perks | Posted 10.21.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

The EPA is taking unprecedented action to bring to an end the saga of the infamous Spruce Mine, jamming a stake in the heart of what would have been the largest mountaintop removal project in the history of West Virginia.

Coal Baron Don Blankenship's Crazy Talk on Climate Change

Rob Perks | Posted 09.29.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

Perhaps Blankenship's extreme wealth is why Forbes magazine decided to interview him. But what shines through more than anything is Blankenship's extreme anti-environmental worldview.

Boulder from Mountaintop Coal Mine Smashes Into Kentucky Home

Dave Cooper | Posted 11.09.2009 | Green


Dave Cooper

What happens when coal companies flatten the mountains directly above Appalachian communities?

Private Security Walks Off The Job in Protest; Coal Company Goes Too Far

Jerry Cope | Posted 10.20.2009 | Green


Jerry Cope

Laura Steepleton and Nick Stocks spent the past week tree-sitting 80 feet above the ground in an act of civil disobedience protesting Massey Energy's mountaintop removal site there.

Sounds of Silence in Appalachia: MTR Blasting Temporarily Halted

Jerry Cope | Posted 10.16.2009 | Green


Jerry Cope

On any given day, 3.5 million pounds of explosives blast apart the oldest mountain range on the planet. But for the past week there have only been sounds of silence.

Mountaintop Removal: FAIL

Rob Perks | Posted 09.25.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

It remains nearly impossible to functionally replace a mountain whose ecological niche was 400 million years in the making.

To Vacation or Not, in Tennessee? That Is the Question (for the Coal Industry and the NRDC)

Dan Shapley | Posted 09.10.2009 | Green


Dan Shapley

Nowhere has the debate between the advocates of tourism and strip-mining been as fever-pitched as in Tennessee. Please plan a vacation there!

L.A.'s Coal Ban Leads To Another Abandoned Power Plant

greenbiz.com | Tilde Herrera, July 13, 2009 | Posted 08.14.2009 | Green


The Intermountain Power Agency (IPA) announced Thursday it has given up plans to build an additional coal-fired unit. Its biggest customer -- the city...

Almost Hell West Virginia; Where Is The Obama Administration?

Jerry Cope | Posted 07.30.2009 | Green


Jerry Cope

Coal mining is the Appalachians is the great American tragedy, and every citizen of this country should be ashamed and horrified that we are collectively allowing this to happen.

Lord, Give Me Time

Carl Pope | Posted 07.25.2009 | Green


Carl Pope

The defense of mountaintop-removal mining -- as formerly with strip-mining -- is that the economy of Appalachia depends on it. This canard now has been solidly rebutted.

Debate: Roberts v. 'Clean Coal' Flack Joe Lucas

David Roberts | Posted 06.14.2009 | Green


David Roberts

There was an online debate between me and Joe Lucas, spokesflack for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. When he received my questions, he ran off like a pansy.

Wild and Wonderful at Tribeca

Julien Nitzberg | Posted 05.25.2009 | Entertainment


Julien Nitzberg

Our movie deals with some very serious issues like the destructiveness of the mining industry and entitlement culture but we also have a lot of fun drug use, gun shooting, and gratuitous nudity.

EPA Freezes Hundreds Of Mountaintop Mining Permits

AP | DINA CAPPIELLO | Posted 04.24.2009 | Green


WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency put hundreds of mountaintop coal-mining permits on hold Tuesday to evaluate the projects' impac...

No More Mountaintop Removal

Rob Perks | Posted 04.18.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

This week, more than 150 activists from around the country walked the halls of Congress, urging their elected leaders to end mountaintop removal coal mining.

Hey Sen. Durbin: FutureGen Dogs Bark, Green Caravan Moves On

Jeff Biggers | Posted 04.13.2009 | Chicago


Jeff Biggers

While Durbin's eyes are on the prize of "38 billion tons of coal" that sit under our feet in the Illinois coal basin, he is missing the renewable energy revolution that is sweeping the rest of the nation.

The DC Shuffle; Saving the World From Death By Coal

Jerry Cope | Posted 04.05.2009 | Green


Jerry Cope

March 2nd was historic -- a shining example of what citizens in a democracy can achieve when united in a common cause: eliminating coal-fired power plants in the US.

Describing the Devastation of Mountaintop Mining

Peter Lehner | Posted 03.02.2009 | Green


Peter Lehner

We also need to cap carbon and make coal pay its true price so that clean energy can compete with it. NRDC will be working on all of that.

Bush Administration Altered Appalachian Landscape

npr.org | By Elizabeth Shogren | Posted 02.17.2009 | Green


There might not be a better place to contemplate the impact of President Bush's environmental legacy than Larry Gibson's mountain in southern West Vir...

The True Face of Mean Coal

David Sassoon | Posted 02.09.2009 | Green


David Sassoon

There are 1300 hundred dumps across the country similar to the one in Tennessee. It's become painfully clear yet again that there's no such thing as clean coal, just Mean Coal.

Rights for Nature: In PA's Coal Region, A Radical Approach to Conservation Takes Root

Kate Beale | Posted 02.02.2009 | Green


Kate Beale

Seeking legal rights for nature appears pragmatic: just witness how corporations have flourished enjoying the same legal status. At first glance it seems counterintuitive, but perhaps it shouldn't.

Why TVA Coal Investigation Matters: Interview with Former MSHA Investigator

Jeff Biggers | Posted 01.30.2009 | Green


Jeff Biggers

When wildfires consume beautiful homes in California, it headlines the evening news. But when thousands of people go without water for weeks in Appalachia, it's not "newsworthy."

Dear Al Gore: Speak Against the Rape of Coal River Mountain

Jeff Biggers | Posted 12.26.2008 | Green


Jeff Biggers

Dismissing an overwhelming majority of West Virginian support for clean energy, Governor Manchin granted a mining permit revision for proposed mountaintop removal of Coal River Mt.

The Oxymoron of Clean Coal (Joe Biden Had it Right Before He Had it Wrong.)

Simran Sethi | Posted 10.23.2009 | Green


Simran Sethi

Clean coal is a lie. The catch-all term is used by politicians and coal advocates alike to lull the American public into complacency.