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.
Professionals and experts from Kentucky, West Virginia and Montana testified in Washington, D.C., today about a bill designed to diversify economies in coal regions.
The hearing focused on the Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More Act of 2017 – also known as the RECLAIM Act.
Questions ranged from how abandoned mine land funds are distributed and used now, to the potential economic impact of those funds becoming more readily accessible.
The U.S. House Natural Resources subcommittee heard from Fritz Boettner, of Morgantown-based environmental and economic consulting firm Downstream Strategies.
“The RECLAIM Act of 2017 is intended to do two things: accelerate reclamation of abandoned mine land by dispersing $1 billion of Abandoned Mine Land funds to states and tribes, and to leverage increased mine reclamation projects to increase long term economic business on reclaimed mines,” Boettner explained. He went on to say the bill needs adjustments to better incentivize economic growth.
The bill would speed up spending from a fund established decades ago to restore abandoned coal mining land. A $1 billion would be released over five years to spur economic diversification — especially in areas that have lost coal jobs.
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.
Abandoned oil and gas wells can leak pollutants into groundwater, surface water and the air. But a new $30 million investment aims to clean up these hazards across West Virginia.