Monday, November 2nd, 2015 | Posted by Brian Sewell | No Comments
Duke Energy wants to smack down NC WARN for setting up a experimental solar project on the rooftop of a Greensboro church and testing a law prohibiting third-party electricity sales in North Carolina. The company is not helping its reputation for quashing clean energy efforts that aren't its own. [
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Monday, October 26th, 2015 | Posted by Amy Adams | 5 Comments
Late last Friday afternoon, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law H765, the "Regulatory Reform Act of 2015." This massive reform bill should be called "The Polluter Protection Act" with its plethora of anti-environmental provisions, rollbacks and giveaways to industry. So, just how bad is this bill? [
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Friday, October 23rd, 2015 | Posted by Erin Savage | No Comments
While the draft Stream Protection Rule is far from perfect, it is a long overdue update to protections for surface and groundwater from mountaintop removal coal mining. Not surprisingly, the coal industry had relied on “war on coal” talking points to fight against the rule, and claims these protections are unnecessary and will undermine an otherwise viable industry. Let’s examine those claims.
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Monday, October 19th, 2015 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments
In the final hours of the legislative session, the N.C. General Assembly approved Senate Bill 119, which contains a provision that invalidates local ordinances put in place to restrict fracking. The provision was added just days after commissioners in Stokes County approved a three-year moratorium on oil and gas operations in the county. [
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Thursday, October 8th, 2015 | Posted by Hannah Wiegard | No Comments
If Virginia takes a pragmatic approach to the Clean Power Plan, it can incentivize energy efficiency programs and drive growth in solar power — two ways to ensure a more secure grid and shrink bills for electric customers. But there are possible pitfalls too. That's why it's critical for Virginians to engage throughout the process, pressing state officials to advance a vision of safe, affordable and reliable energy.
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Tuesday, October 6th, 2015 | Posted by Tarence Ray | No Comments
Local newspapers in Kentucky have helped expose state regulators' lax treatment of industry, most recently in the form of a secretive deal stuck with an oil company responsible for polluting drinking water supplies. But sadly, Kentucky's politicians and agencies aren't shy in revealing whose interests they truly serve either. [
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015 | Posted by Willie Dodson | No Comments
Citizens and clean water advocates used a series of hearings on the proposed Stream Protection Rule to demand improvements to the draft version and call out state agencies for repeatedly failing to enforce regulations already on the books. Coal industry representatives, on the other hand, relied on "war on coal" rhetoric and deception to rally against the rule. [
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Tuesday, September 15th, 2015 | Posted by Amy Adams | No Comments
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is acting like--to use its own term--a "bureaucratic object of resistance." The agency's creative interpretation of its mission statement is just one reflection of the McCrory administration’s broader hostility to the notion that public servants have a responsibility to protect the natural resources and therefore the public health and welfare of the Tar Heel state.
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Tuesday, August 18th, 2015 | Posted by Brian Sewell | No Comments
In Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee, cities and counties with long histories of coal mining are advocating for the POWER+ Plan, a federal budget initiative proposed by the White House to build a more diverse economy in the communities hardest hit by the regional coal industry’s decline. They deserve to be heard. [
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Thursday, July 30th, 2015 | Posted by Tarence Ray | No Comments
A striking case of corruption related to mine inspections in Kentucky led to the recent criminal conviction of former Democratic state representative Keith Hall. But questions remain about how deep the conspiracy goes. Will Governor Steve Beshear and the state agencies that enforce mining laws in Kentucky adequately investigate? [
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Monday, June 29th, 2015 | Posted by Brian Sewell | No Comments
In a major decision today, the Supreme Court ruled the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not properly consider costs when it created a rule to limit mercury emissions from power plants. But the agency has a mandate and a clear path forward to protect public health by limiting emissions of mercury and other toxic air pollutants.
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Friday, June 26th, 2015 | Posted by Adam Wells | 1 Comment
Virginia’s coal-bearing counties would directly benefit from the adoption of the POWER+ plan, a proposal in the Obama administration’s 2016 budget that would direct more than a billion dollars to Central Appalachia. But budget bills passed out of both houses of Congress weaken or include no mention of the POWER+ Plan. [
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