| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Removing mountaintop removal
North Carolina bill would ban burning of coal from mountaintop-removal mining |
Kate Sheppard |
29 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| On Tuesday, North Carolina State Rep. Pricey Harrison introduced legislation in the state House that would ban the burning of coal obtained through mountaintop-removal mining. If it passes, North Carolina would become the first state in the nation with such a law. The mining method isn't practiced in North Carolina, but 61 percent of the state's power comes from coal; North Carolina is second only to Georgia in the amount of MTR-mined coal it burns. According to ... |
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| Topics: coal, energy, legislation, mining, Muckraker, news, North Carolina, politics, state politics (all these topics) |
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Voters' Voices: West Virginia
Talking with voters in the Mountain State |
Melinda Henneberger |
13 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is the first in a series of dispatches from Melinda Henneberger, who's talking to voters around the U.S. about their views on the environment and the election. Photo: Wignut Huntington, W.Va. -- Door-knocking for Barack Obama in a state where he expects to get stomped today has been kind of thankless for Pam Wonnell, a nurse and old friend of mine who moved here from Illinois last year for her husband's job in coal mining: 'I am not feeling t ... |
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| Topics: coal, elections, energy, mining, politics, presidential race 08, Voters Voices, West Virginia (all these topics) |
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Blankenship to reporter: 'You're liable to get shot'
Massey wins W. Va. Supreme Court case; not doing so well in public relations |
David Roberts |
05 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| A while back, a case against mountaintop-removal giant Massey Energy reached the West Virginia Supreme Court, which overturned a previous judgment fining the company. But then pictures turned up of Massey CEO Don Blankenship canoodling around the French Riviera with one of the court judges and two female 'companions.' Oops. The court decided to re-hear the case, minus the offending judge. Then another judge, who had said that 'the pernicious effects of Mr. Blankens ... |
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| Topics: business, coal, energy, mining, politics, shenanigans, West Virginia (all these topics) |
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West Virginia, Mountain Drama
Clinton and Obama boost coal in West Virginia |
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21 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 2:03 PM on 21 Mar 2008 Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both did some coal-boosting while campaigning in West Virginia this week. Clinton told West Virginians she's always been in favor of "the cleanest coal possible," but that "coal fits in very importantly" to America's energy future. Asked about mountaintop-removal mining in a radio interview Wednesday, she hedged, saying she didn't &quo ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, coal, economy, elections, energy, green jobs, Hillary Clinton, mining, news, politics, presidential race 08, West Virginia (all these topics) |
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Biggers to Obama: Free Appalachia from coal
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David Roberts |
21 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Jeff Biggers suggests an ambitious and risky Appalachian strategy for Barack Obama: By the 1920s, plundered for their coal and unable to compete with the non-union labor in Kentucky and West Virginia, the southern Illinois coal towns had turned into deforested and eroded wastelands, and were depicted by one government report as a 'picture, almost unrelieved, of utter economic devastation.' Southern Illinois lay claim to the highest infant mortality rates in the nati ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, coal, energy, Illinois, mining, politics (all these topics) |
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Massey incest
Mining CEO so insinuated in W. Va. politics that they can't find judges to hear his case |
David Roberts |
20 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| So, you may recall that loathsome mountaintop-removal mining outfit Massey was hit with a $50 million judgment a while back. They appealed it up to the W. Va. Supreme Court, which overturned it. Later, it turned out that Massey CEO Don Blankenship (an evil bastard) had been photographed frolicking with one of the judges in Monte Carlo, accompanied by, um, female consorts. So that judge dropped out of the case. Now the WSJ brings word that another judge is recusing ... |
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| Topics: business, coal, energy, litigation, mining, politics, West Virginia (all these topics) |
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The good and the ugly
Anti-coal activism news |
Erik Hoffner |
24 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| First, the good: here's a feature story in the new Orion magazine about the tactics and successes of the anti-coal activists who've helped halt, count 'em, 59 new plants, according to author Ted Nace. Ted also gives a huge rundown of links and resources for anti-coal activists. And the ugly: thanks to Maria Gunnoe's success organizing against mountaintop removal mining as a staff member of grassroots group Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and now her lead role ... |
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| Topics: coal, energy, grassroots activism, mining, politics, West Virginia (all these topics) |
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Edwards & the mine workers union
How does Edwards' union support mesh with his ambitious climate-change platform? |
Brian Beutler |
04 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| John Edwards' bid for union support seems to finally be paying off for him -- yesterday, his campaign won the support of the steelworkers and mine workers unions. Which raises an important question: To what extent is Edwards' support for mine workers (and their support for him) incompatible with his climate-change platform? Edwards was the first of the Democratic hopefuls to put forth an ambitious climate-change plan (perhaps inspiring slightly more ambitious offerings ... |
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| Topics: coal, elections, energy, John Edwards, mining, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Killing you legally
The Bush administration proposes to make illegal MTR mining legal |
David Roberts |
24 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| I suppose I should have something to say about the Bush administration's latest effort to encourage mountaintop removal mining. But what? It's not like there's any particular analytical insight required. The Bushies are choosing profit for coal companies over some of America's most beautiful landscapes and oldest cultures. It's right there in the open. What's required in situations like this is not analysis but brute power politics. The administration makes it clear ... |
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| Topics: coal, energy, mining, politics (all these topics) |
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Mountaintop removal and clean water: Kinda at odds
DC lobbying effort May 12-16 |
Erik Hoffner |
11 May 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Citizens from Appalachia were at the UN's meeting on sustainable energy policy this week to challenge the clean-coalers, and were received really well by the other delegates. Coal advocates were hard-put to refute the evidence that coal kills communities. Now the effort moves to D.C. from May 12-16 for the 2nd Annual Mountaintop Removal Week lobbying effort. Organized by Appalachian Voices, the effort will advance the Clean Water Protection Act toward passage and he ... |
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| Topics: coal, Congress, energy, environmental justice, legislation, lobbying, mining, politics, United Nations (all these topics) |
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