Coal and Water News

Take action to protect ORSANCO and support water justice!

January 14, 2019 at 03:49pm
Coal Ash, , Community Science & Public Health, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Proposed Bluegrass Pipeline, Northern Kentucky

Last year a proposal came forward to do away with the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) regulatory mission.

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The Farm Bureau: Big Oil’s Unnoticed Ally Fighting Climate Science and Policy

December 21, 2018
Inside Climate News

For more than three decades, the Farm Bureau has aligned agriculture closely with the fossil fuel agenda.

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Investigation blames regulatory failure for black lung 'epidemic'

December 18, 2018
The Hill
Enforcement, Big Sandy, Enforcement, Cumberland, Enforcement, Harlan County, Enforcement, Perry County, Enforcement, Western Kentucky

An NPR/PBS "Frontline" investigation published on Tuesday found that the government has known for decades about warning signs that preceded a recent black lung "epidemic," which has sickened thousands of coal miners.

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Appalachian water crisis demands new revenue streams, stronger oversight

December 15, 2018
Lexington Herald Leader
Appalachian Transition, Big Sandy, Appalachian Transition, Cumberland, Appalachian Transition, Harlan County, Appalachian Transition, Perry County

Personal stories of families collecting rainwater, going without laundry or bathing, and keeping children out of school seem like the stuff of a hurricane aftermath or other weather emergency — not routine life in America.

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Black lung disease is still killing miners. The coal industry doesn't want to hear it

December 13, 2018
The Guardian

Today’s black lung rates are higher than 50 years ago, affecting men as young as their 30s, and in Kentucky their right to decent health care is being curtailed.

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Protesters disrupt US panel's fossil fuels pitch at climate talks

December 10, 2018
The Guardian

A Trump administration presentation extolling the virtues of fossil fuels at the UN climate talks in Poland has been met with guffaws of laughter and chants of “Shame on you”.

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Mitch McConnell owes coal miners an answer as clock runs out on tax for black lung victims

November 30, 2018
Lexington Herald Leader
Appalachian Transition, Big Sandy, Appalachian Transition, Cumberland, Appalachian Transition, Harlan County, Appalachian Transition, Perry County, Appalachian Transition, Southern Kentucky, Appalachian Transition, Western Kentucky

Kentuckians bringing a plea for victims of black lung to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will have a hard time being heard above the clamor of coal industry money — more than $2 million poured into federal races in the last two years by Alliance Resources CEO

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Stirring the Waters: Investigating why many in Appalachia lack reliable, clean water

December 9, 2018
Lexington Herald Leader
Big Sandy, Harlan County, Perry County

For many families in Eastern Kentucky and Southern West Virginia, the absence of clean, reliable drinking water has become part of daily life.

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Kentuckians act to support miners with black lung disease

November 29, 2018 at 09:24pm
Appalachian Transition, Big Sandy, Appalachian Transition, Cumberland, Appalachian Transition, Harlan County, Appalachian Transition, Perry County

Kentuckians took action today in Washington, DC and London, Kentucky to urge Senator Mitch McConnell and other members of Congress to do right by coal miners with black lung disease, their families and communities.

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Sen. McConnell Hints at Support for Black Lung Disability Trust Fund

October 24, 2018
Ohio Valley Resource
Appalachian Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Big Sandy

At a public meeting in Pikeville, Sen McConnell was asked whether he would support strengthening funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. Currently, the fund is running out of money because more miners are getting sick and more coal companies are going bankrupt.

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