Jay Dee's Post

NEW HAVEN, W.Va. — Well, American Electric Power certainly put on a good show today at the kickoff even of its CCS pilot project at the Mountaineer Plant in Mason County, W.Va. Signs with pretty green arrows directed visitors into the plant. Speakers were projected onto twin giant-screen televisions. Everybody got a parting gift: A nifty [...]

Earlier today, the U.S. Governmental Accountability Office issued a new report updating Congress on efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency to start regulating the handling and disposal of toxic ash from coal-fired power plants. The report is available on the GAO Web site, and here’s a brief summary of the findings: – The exact number of surface [...]

Citing a new Government Accountability Office report, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is calling for reforms in the way the federal government processes benefits for miners who have contracted deadly black lung disease. In a statement this afternoon, Rockefeller said: Miners are the heart of the Mountain State, and we must continue fighting to protect their health and [...]

BREAKING NEWS: The Coalfield Uprising is spreading across the nation. As millions of pounds of explosions rip across their mountain communities, including the clean energy landmark of Coal River Mountain, scores of residents from the Appalachian coalfields have joined with supporters from across the country in a series of sit-ins, die-ins, protests, and a haunting “Day [...]

PARKERSBURG, WV – The debate over a national public health care option got pointed Thursday as people on both sides of the issue gathered in downtown Parkersburg to voice their opinions. The two sides gathered at Bicentennial Park as the Wood County Democratic Party hosted a stop for the Organizing for America “Solving Our Health Care [...]

Hearings started yesterday and continued today on the Senate climate change bill, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. The hearings before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee continue tomorrow, and it’s apparently coal day … testimony is expected from Mike Carey, President of the Ohio Coal Association and Gene Trisko of the United [...]

The Associates Press put out an un-bylined story yesterday about the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s plans to issue an air pollution permit for the proposed TransGas Development liquid coal plant in Mingo County. AP had an unfortunate quote from Randy Harris, the project director for the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority, which is trying to [...]

As the National Mining Association says in a press release, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced its “Sentinels of Safety” awards. The awards “recognized 20 U.S. coal and mineral mines for their outstanding safety record in 2008, the safest year in the history of American mining,” the group [...]

by Ken Ward Jr. Climate Ground Zero said today that one of the protesters arrested last month for blockading Massey Energy’s regional headquarters has been sentenced to jail time for his role in that action. Joseph Hampsher, 22, of Charleston, was sentenced to 20 days in the regional jail by Boone County Magistrate Charles Byrnside. Hampsher apparently [...]

Ann Arbor, MI October 26, 2009 – The U.S. healthcare system wastes between $600 billion and $850 billion annually, according to a white paper published today by Thomson Reuters. The report identifies the most significant drivers of wasteful spending – including administrative inefficiency, unnecessary treatment, medical errors, and fraud – and quantifies their cost. It [...]