Posted by Rob Perks in Solving Global Warming
This just in: Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy, has accepted the challenge to debate environmental champion Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., senior counsel for NRDC, on energy issues. I was with Bobby last weekend in Nashville at NRDC's Music Saves Mountains campaign event, but at that time Blankenship...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
The Interior Department announced yesterday that it is taking immediate steps to strengthen oversight of state-approved surface coal mining operations -- including mountaintop removal -- and to impose tighter restrictions on the dumping of mining waste in steams. In a statement issued by the agency, Assistant Interior...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Solving Global Warming
Dirty energy special interests are desperate to defeat efforts in Congress to pass legislation that would put our country on the road to a clean energy economy. So desperate, in fact, that the oil and coal industries together spent a record $115 million last year on...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
When I started my environmental career working as a grassroots coordinator for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Virginia, one of my favorite parts of the job involved occasionally accompanying CBF educators on canoe trips to teach students and teachers the...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming
The horror is unimaginable. A community suffering severe health effects, with more than a thousand residents blaming coal ash contamination for causing their sickness, including grisly birth defects in their children. This, according to a recent investigative story in the Miami Herald. Go to the article to see a...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Nashville is "Music City", the home of country music -- but the heart and soul of this celebrated American musical genre lies a few hundred miles east in the Appalachian Mountains. Yes indeed, Appalachia is where country music was born. And more...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
I have blogged countless times about mountaintop removal, the world's most destructive coal mining. My posts explore the various ecological, economic and cultural harm caused by this reckless strip mining. I've also highlighted specific people and places most affected by the...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
Another Veterans' Day is upon us, a time to reflect on our armed servicemen and women who are stationed around the world to protect us. Many of these brave soldiers, sailors and marines have spent years serving in Afghanistan, Iraq...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Rising above a picturesque valley in southern West Virginia, like an oasis in the midst of coal country, Coal River Mountain represents the last, best hope for a community resisting the legacy of dirty energy in this part of Appalachia. ...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
What is up with the U.S. Department of Interior these days? Unlike the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which appears to be walking the walk on mountaintop removal coal mining thanks to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's leadership, it's quite another story...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Solving Global Warming
It seems the recession is depressing to Big Oil. Apparently, global economic woes have resulted in a blip in the record-breaking pace of profits that the oil giants have enjoyed over the past few years. Less demand these days means less cash...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming
Without a doubt coal is dirty and dangerous. Consider that the nation's power plants spew out 130 million tons of coal combustion waste every year. Much of this so-called coal ash, which is what's left at the bottom of the smokestacks after coal gets burned...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Solving Global Warming
So, we know the 'hidden costs' of dirty energy top $120 billion a year for Americans. But what about the benefits of clean energy? Try this on for size: new analysis shows that adopting comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation could create...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Kudos to the USA Today for coming out strong in its opposition to the worst of the worst coal mining: mountaintop removal. Today's excellent, hold-no-punches editorial declares "it's time to protect forests, streams from environmental degradation." It kicks off this way: Buried...continued→
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Let me get this straight. President Obama, touting his administration's support for clean energy, visited Florida yesterday to tour the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, with its solar panels sprawling across 180 acres that can generate power for 3,000 homes. Yet on Coal River...continued→
