Category: Environment
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The Only Way Out for Appalachia’s Coalfields
The boom and bust cycles of coal markets have always worked to the advantage of coal companies more than Appalachian communities. In some of Central Appalachia’s coal-producing counties, over 90% of the mineral rights are owned by absentee owners—owners who manipulate local and state governments to keep property taxes low on their holdings. When markets…
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A Few Thoughts on Climate Change
Let’s face it…climate change has become so heavily politicized in coal country that it’s nearly impossible to have an intelligent conversation about it. If people even get so much as a whiff that someone is an “environmentalist” they might as well save their breath. I myself have been accused of being a liberal environmentalist, a…