Agriculture, Asheville, Blue Ridge Mountains, Environment, Global Warming, Human Health, News, Resources »

The first video with Steven Colbert gives the current facts with fun sarcasm.

Via iLoveMountains.org (great site!)

Here’s a first hand account by Goldman Prize winner Maria Gunnoe describing first hand the devastation residents are facing.

Mountaintop removal mining study will test Obama’s commitment to science
Just days after the Environmental Protection Agency approved the expansion of a massive mountaintop removal mine in West Virginia, a dozen prominent scientists published a landmark study documenting the severe environmental and human health damage caused by the practice — and called on the government to impose a moratorium.
The findings will test the Obama administration’s stated commitment to basing policy on science instead of politics.

Titled “Mountaintop Mining Consequences,“ the study by some of the nation’s leading environmental scientists appeared in the Jan. 8 issue of the journal Science. It takes a broad look at the impacts of the practice, which involves clearing upper-elevation forests, stripping the topsoil, and blasting the rock with explosives to get to the coal below. The resulting waste is pushed into the valleys, burying headwater streams.

The researchers found that mountaintop removal mining operators have destroyed around 500 peaks in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky, and about 2,000 miles of streams. They also found that efforts to restore the damaged sites have not prevented metals and other contaminants from moving into waters downstream. The study documents deformities found in young fish in water contaminated by mountaintop removal mine runoff — as well as higher disease and mortality rates in the coal fields’ human residents.

The authors include Emily Bernhardt, a biologist with Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment in Durham, N.C.; Dennis Lemly, U.S. Forest Service research biologist at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.; plant biologist Peter White of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Michael Hendryx with West Virginia University’s Department of Community Medicine; and William Schlesinger, the former dean of Duke’s Nicholas School who’s now with the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y.

via The Institute for Southern Studies

Visit the National Resources for Defence Council to TAKE ACTION and send a message to Congress.

More First Hand Accounts from Kentucky residents and miners.

Carl Shoupe talks about Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining in Kentucky

Animal Kingdom, Blue Ridge Mountains, Environment, Green Sustainability, Nature, Wind Power »

Our official stance – We support Wind Energy in North Carolina.

Back in July we posted NC Don’t Ban Wind Power .   There have been some opposing comments that do to their nature and misinformation we have struggled to approve.  We have approved the comments for view in hopes that the debate surrounding this issue remains open and educated even though we might strongly disagree.

We have responded to each comment and would like to share our most recent response with you.

We stand firm on the comments posted by Kiesha Jean earlier.  We believe a combination of wind and solar is the right way to go. We’re all for seeing wind turbines versus nuclear power plants and the already proven (very close to home) disaster coal plants can bring to both humans and wildlife. The new bird friendly Windspires are what prompted us to write this post, they only stand 30ft tall which is far shorter than the McMansions that pollute the ridges now. We would much rather see a surge in Windspires versus Turbines but we’re more then delighted to see either.

We do have a great love for the raptors and an even greater love for our children. A Wind Turbine will never produce harmful nuclear waste nor will they ever accidentally leak deadly radiation. A Wind Turbine will also never spill ash into rivers, give workers black lung or trap workers underground.

One out of every 50 Americans living near landfills or ponds used to store ash or sludge from coal-fired power plants has a high risk of getting cancer from drinking water contaminated with arsenic.

So, if you really want to do good … help promote Windspires and stop the ludicrous denial of just how dangerous coal and nuclear power plants are versus wind.

Blue Ridge Mountains, Environment, Film, Nature, Videos »

Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy (CMLC) presents a short oral history film about the saving of World’s Edge in the Hickory Nut Gorge. Their mission is to help landowners protect local land and water resources vital to our natural heritage and quality of life. As a local nonprofit organization dedicated to saving the places you love, CMLC is helping to create a regional network of protected farm, forest, park and natural lands.

More Info
http://www.carolinamountain.org

Agriculture, Blue Ridge Mountains, Economy, Environment, Green Sustainability, Local Farms, News »

Farmers are fighting a loosing battle with large corporations and need your help now!

PHOTO BY: KIESHA JEAN

If you have had the privilege to see Food Inc.  you have seen the horrible truth behind GMO companies.  They are destroying the heart of our great nation by controlling, unlawfully suing and spying on hard working honest farmers.   H.R. 6637, The Genetically Engineered Farmer Protection Act, places liability from the impacts of genetically engineered organisms on the biotechnology companies that created the GMOs, and protects farmers from law suits by biotechnology companies. Dennis Kucinich is fighting for the right to protect farmers from large companies such as Monsanto with H. R. 6637.  Kucinich is proud to give strong and unwavering support to our organic family farmers.

Please fill out the petition below to have North Carolina Congressman Heath Schuler protect farmers rights and support Bill H. R. 6637.  I know our audience reaches far beyond the mountains of Western North Carolina.  If you agree with this bill, please sign the petition and I will forward your information to your elected official.

View the full H. R. 6637 bill

Sign the Petition

You can also share your personal message with Congressman Heath Shuler by clicking here

This message is very near and dear to me.  Our farmers sustain our life with the food that they provide, please help give them a voice.  We can make a difference!  Share this link with your friends | family | coworkers | followers & Digg this submission below.   The bigger the audience the bigger the voice.  Thank you.

note to news and onlines sources: you have our full permission to share this message either in part or whole on your site.