Mountaintop removal is a form of extracting coal that uses heavy explosives to remove hundreds of vertical feet of a mountain to access thin seams of coal underneath. This “overburden” is then dumped directly into adjacent valleys, burying headwater streams.
Mountaintop removal has a devastating impact on the economy, ecology, and communities of Appalachia. To date, over 500 mountains have been leveled, and nearly 2,000 miles of precious Appalachian headwater streams have been buried and polluted by mountaintop removal.
Appalachian Voices is committed to promoting and protecting the mountains and communities of the central and southern Appalachian region. Here are some of the ways we are working to accomplish our vision for a better region.
Appalachian Voices is creating a national movement to pass strong federal legislation that protects Appalachia. Our primary focus is passage of the Clean Water Protection Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Appalachian Voices supports breaking your state’s connections to mountaintop removal, and we have helped introduce legislation in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, and Missouri that would make it illegal to use mountaintop removal coal within those states. We have also introduced legislation in Virginia that would make it illegal to dump mining waste from mountaintop removal sites into streams.
Appalachian Treasures is a compelling multimedia tour that brings citizens impacted by mountaintop removal to your church, rotary club, or community center to share their story, building the movement to end mountaintop removal neighborhood by neighborhood.
The Appalachian Voice
The Appalachian Voice, our free bimonthly publication, works to raise the iconic stature of the region by covering the environmental, recreational, and cultural news in the Appalachian region since 1996.
The Alliance for Appalachia
Appalachian Voices is a proud member organization of the Alliance for Appalachia, a regional alliance working together to end mountaintop removal and promote a just and sustainable future for the region.
Working with the Alliance for Appalachia, Appalachian Voices created iLoveMountains.org , a powerful online resource and action center with over 40,000 supporters dedicated to ending mountaintop removal.
Mountaintop Removal in Google Earth
Appalachian Voices has partnered with Google to produce the “Appalachian Mountaintop Removal ” layer in Google Earth, bringing mountaintop removal directly to the millions of users of Google Earth. In 2009, Appalachian Voices was one of just five organizations worldwide recognized as a “Google Earth Hero.”