Dirtycoal

Interior Department Comes Out Strong (Rhetorically) on Mountaintop Removal

Rob Perks | Posted 11.22.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

Interior doing its job by pledging to crack down on mountaintop removal? That's certainly welcome news. Aye, but there's a rub.

Defending Dolly from Big Coal Bullies

Rob Perks | Posted 08.30.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

This misguided boycott is akin to a neighbor refusing your dinner invitation unless you agree to let him burn down your house afterwards.

Coal Companies Destroying, Not Restoring Mountains

Rob Perks | Posted 08.28.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

Lax enforcement by state and federal environmental officials means that the mountaintop removal reclamation rarely results in reshaping the mountain to its approximate original state.

Global Clean Energy Economy Won't Wait for U.S. to Catch Up

Rob Perks | Posted 08.17.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

Let's all remember that America is a nation built on the foundation of freedom, independence and self-sufficiency -- and those values must be at the heart of our strategy for energy policy.

Army Corps Suspends Streamlined Permits for Mountaintop Removal

Rob Perks | Posted 08.15.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

The true test of the administration's new policy toward mountaintop removal is whether rigorous regulatory review will deliver on the promise of greater environmental protection.

Appalachia's Own 'Resource Curse'?

Rob Perks | Posted 08.02.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

Coalfield communities "are weaker than the rest of the state, weaker than the rest of the region, and weaker than the rest of the nation," says West Virginia University researcher Michael Hendryx.

Supreme Court Ruling Has Implications for Mountaintop Removal

Rob Perks | Posted 07.24.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

It does not bode well that the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday ruled 6-3 in favor of treating America's waterways like dumps.

Green Jobs the Cure for Appalachia's Blues

Rob Perks | Posted 05.18.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

Kentuckian Erik Reece postulates an interesting theory about the source of all the unhappiness in Kentucky and Virginia: coal.

Music Stars on Mountaintop Removal: Keep the 'Country' in Country Music

Rob Perks | Posted 05.04.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

More that a million acres of Appalachia already have been flattened and over 1,000 miles of streams have been polluted or destroyed by mountaintop removal coal mining.

Fools on Mountaintop

Rob Perks | Posted 05.03.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

Mountaintop removal leaves Appalachian peaks leveled and left lifeless by the most devastating and senseless stip mining method ever devised. More like moonscapes than mountains.

Making Sense of EPA's Mountaintop Removal Action

Rob Perks | Posted 04.25.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

Yesterday was a wild ride on the mountaintop removal front, with many people suffering whiplash from EPA's dueling press releases.

EPA Making Move on Mountaintop Removal

Rob Perks | Posted 04.24.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

According to the following press release issued today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the agency is weighing i...