partnered with the United Methodist Church in all of Appalachia
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Appalachian church leaders, lay and clergy, gathered for Bible study, leader training, and networking at the Appalachian Assembly. The Assembly was held October 28-31, 2009. |
| ARTICLES OF INTEREST |
| Can rural America hold the world to ransom? By Justin Rowlatt West Virginia is the mountain state. Its mountains have defined the state's history, and now the mountains of Virginia look set to determine whether the world begins to tackle global warming. Read more. . . |
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Commentary: Creativity at the Crossroads |
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EPA Turns the Lights on Mountaintop Removal by Jeff Biggers The Environmental Protection Agency made good on its promise today to assert greater scrutiny and "use the best science and follow the letter of the law" with regard to controversial mountaintop removal mining permits in the Appalachian coalfields. In a highly anticipated announcement, the agency declared that all seventy-nine pending permits in four states would "likely cause water quality impacts" and sent them on for additional review under the Clean Water Act. Read more... |
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Mountaintop Mining Legacy: Destroying Appalachian Streams The environmental damage caused by mountaintop removal mining across Appalachia has been well documented. But scientists are now beginning to understand that the mining operations’ most lasting damage may be caused by the massive amounts of debris dumped into valley streams. Read more... |
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Ministry With the Poor: Looking Poverty in the Face by Edward W. Paup (past General Secretary of the UMC General Board of Global Ministries) During the 2008 United Methodist General Conference, a near disaster hovered over the poor of the world. The prices of global food commodities, especially grain, reached all-time highs, jumping 150 percent in a few months' time. Millions around the globe faced starvation. Yet General Conference went about business as usual, debating legislation and passing resolutions--including some on hunger and poverty. Read more… |
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Circles to Break the Poverty Cycle by Mary Beth Coudal (staff writer for the UMC General Board of Global Ministries) At age 32, Sonia Holycross has "been there, done that"--lived in a broken home and joined a gang. But through the Circles™ Campaign,* Holycross, a single parent of five and now an Americorps volunteer, has patched her life together, becoming stronger in the broken places. "The Circles Campaign is like mending a broken foundation with fresh cement," Holycross says. Read more… |
| Appalachia Says 'Not Good Enough' to Obama Mountaintop Mining Plan If the Obama administration wants to protect the people and mountains of Appalachia, it needs to end the destructive practice of mountaintop mining, not settle for promises of stricter scrutiny of the mining permits, advocates say. Read more... See also Washington Post Editorial: "Mountaintop Letdown"... |
| Protecting Appalachia from Harm Mother's Day was somber this year. Sure, I enjoyed the typical "Happy Mother's Day!" greeting from my spunky 7-year-old, Campbell, my aloof pre-teen, Paul, and my devoted partner, Jim. But other matters distracted me, especially as the four of us hiked Jim's lush, unspoiled property in Floyd County early that morning. Read more... |
| New York City Takes on Mountaintop Removal When the marquee signs on Broadway light up, a signal will most likely be sent from the New York Independent System Operator grid to the Lovett coal-fired plant, where the facility service will shovel in coal strip-mined from West Virginia mountains that have been clear cut, detonated with tons of explosives and toppled into the valleys. Read more... |
| Top 7 Alternative Energies The US could replace all its cars and trucks with electric cars powered by wind turbines taking up less than 3 square kilometres - in theory, at least. That's the conclusion of a detailed study ranking 11 types of non-fossil fuels according to their total ecological footprint and their benefit to human health. Read more... |
