Tennessee photographer Stacy Kranitz is attracting attention for her visceral photos of life in Appalachia and the South. Sometimes her photos are hard to look at, but they’re always compelling. That’s the case with a project published earlier this year. ProPublica’s story, “The Year After a Denied Abortion,” follows a young family in Tennessee.
President Trump Signs Bill Dismantling Stream Protections
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While surrounded by coal-state lawmakers and coal miners, President Trump signed a bill this week that rolls back an environmental rule designed to protect streams from coal mining debris.
Miners wearing hard hats and overalls stood with politicians in suits during the bill signing at the Whitehouse. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, thanked the president for supporting the coal industry.
“The last eight years brought a depression to eastern Kentucky,” McConnell said. “And our folks are so excited to have a pro-coal president and we thank you so much for being on our side.”
West Virginia’s democratic senator Joe Manchin said coal miners there represent the economy and the environment, and a balance must be struck.
West Virginia’s republican senator Shelley Moore-Capito was also there. Afterwards in a release she said the President Trump “signaled an end to years of overregulation targeting the coal industry and vital jobs in West Virginia.”
The signed bill dismantles a Department of Interior regulation finalized just days before Trump took office.
On this West Virginia Morning, the Mountain Valley Pipeline failed a water pressure test in Virginia earlier this month and the Pipeline Safety Trust is urging federal regulators to take a close look at the failure. Also, in this show, we hear about radioactive waste in the Marcellus Shale fields, one of the country's largest natural gas producing formations.
The Supreme Court has declined to take up another appeal from a group of landowners challenging the use of eminent domain by developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The decision comes as many await a decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on whether the pipeline can begin service by May 23. Developers have asked to begin running gas in the pipeline by June.
PSC Chair Charlotte Lane said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules would jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars of investments in the state’s coal fleet.
The Public Service Commission of West Virginia is requiring all water and sewer providers in the state to complete cybersecurity assessments, following an uptick in cyberattacks nationally.