• Atlantic Coast Pipeline in the Rearview Mirror

    By Lewis Freeman, Executive Director, Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance Dominion Energy and Duke Energy, partners in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project, announced on July 5 that they had decided not […]

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  • The Good Gets Better

    The April, 2020, issue of The Highlands Voice celebrated the passage of Senate Bill 583.  It would further the development of renewable energy resources by allowing the state’s utility companies to “plan, design, […]

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  • A Fond Remembrance

    For some while I’ve considered jotting down stories from those early days of organizing West Virginia Highlands Conservancy — often around the table in Pittsburgh Climbers’ rented shack in Onego. […]

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  • Revelations

    There is a white skein                                                     of fungus                                                     fast enveloping                                                     in its many tendriled way                                                     the bone dry                                                     gnarled                                                     shattered shard                                                     of decaying log                                                     I always mark                                                     along the berm                                                     of […]

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  • Thinking about the Economics of Petrochemicals

    By John McFerrin             One of the clichés of our public policy has long been that we have to “balance” the environmental and social costs of coal, oil, and gas extraction […]

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  • West Virginia Rivers Coalition and Trout Unlimited Report on Pipelines

    By John McFerrin             West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina are thick with rivers and streams.  More and more, they are (or are proposed to be) thick with pipelines.  If the pipelines and […]

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  • Delay for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline

    Dominion Energy and Duke Energy, co-owners of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, have asked federal regulators for a two year extension.  They now say the 600 mile pipeline will not be completed […]

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  • Changes Coming to the National Forests

    By John McFerrin             Many, many years ago a coal operator in eastern Kentucky was quoted as saying, “Green?  You want green, we’ll just take all the money we’re going to make […]

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  • More Threats (and a little hope) for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act

    By John McFerrin             The April, 2020, issue of The Highlands Voice included a story about threats to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.  Those threats continue to grind ahead, putting the effectiveness of the […]

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  • Environmental Protection Agency Limits States’ Rights

    By John McFerrin For activities which cross or result in a discharge into streams and wetlands, builders must have a permit pursuant to the Clean Water Act.  Even if the permit […]

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