Climate Change, Farming And Finding Your Way Home On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, we talk about coming home to Appalachia. But we also look at the climate change woes and economic challenges impacting the region.

Pollution levels in American cities have fallen in the decades since the passage of clean air laws in the 1970s. But even though cars and factories are emitting less, some types of air pollution might increase in the years to come. The reason? Climate change. For State Impact Pennsylvania, the Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports.

With the coal economy in decline, many Appalachian communities are looking to an old occupation for new jobs: farming. Advocates say agriculture is a growth area for the region, even in the pandemic economy, and they’re finding new ways to lower costs and increase production. Liam Niemeyer looks at the new promise in Appalachian agriculture.

In the latest episode of Inside Appalachia, we hear from several people who left West Virginia and came back. People like Jeannie Harrison. When she moved back to Huntington, she says she found a reason to help the people in her hometown – working as a wellness coordinator at Marshall University.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning