Our blogs are written by the staff of the Center for Coalfield Justice, with an occasional guest post. The most recent post appears on top, and others show up below in order of publishing date. You can receive the blogs in your inbox by signing up for our mailing list. Once per month we publish a newsletter, which contains most of the blog posts.
A Just Transition: Creating the New Economy in Eastern Kentucky
Our allies Kentuckians For The Commonwealth (KFTC) and the Mountain Associations for Community Economic Development (MACED) and their supporters are doing powerful work to build a clean and just new economy in eastern Kentucky. Check out this video that shows real examples of what can happen as coal jobs are lost to a dwindling market. …
What will Senate Bill 624 Change?
Senator Joe Scarnati and Senator Gene Yaw introduced Senate Bill No. 624 (SB 624) last month, and it is now before the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. SB 624 proposes amendments to the Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act (commonly referred to as Act 54 or the Mine Subsidence Act). Senator Scarnati’s Chief Counsel,…
Pennsylvanians Respond to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s Visit to Greene County Mine
Following U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s visit to a local coal mine, the Center for Coalfield Justice and Sierra Club Beyond Coal hosted a press conference where Pennsylvanians gathered to criticize Pruitt’s efforts to put polluter profits ahead of communities health and environment. Speakers criticized Administrator Pruitt and his “back-to-basics” plan for…
PA DEP Environmental Justice Listening Tour: A Guide to Current EJ Rules and Potential Changes
by Kirk Jalbert, Manager of Community-Based Research & Engagement, Fractracker Alliance
and Veronica Coptis, Executive Director
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will be hosting a nine-stop “listening tour” to hear residents’ perspectives on environmental justice (EJ). These sessions begin in the western part of the state on April 12th and 13th. The dates and locations of these meetings can be found here. The DEP will also be accepting written comments, which can be either mailed or emailed to DEP-OEJ@pa.gov.
The EJ listening tour follows on the heels of events in May 2016, when environmental advocacy groups questioned the well pad siting practices oil and gas drilling company Range Resources, causing the DEP to announce it would revisit its EJ policies. Such changes would include reassessing how EJ zones are designated and what kinds of development triggers additional scrutiny by the DEP’s Office of Environmental Justice. We wrote about this story, and detailed how present EJ rules fail to account for oil and gas development in June 2016.
Environmental Hearing Board Protects Kent Run in Ryerson Station State Park
Today, the Environmental Hearing Board issued CCJ and Sierra Club’s petition for supersedeas to protect Kent Run in Ryerson Station State Park from mining. Read our press statement below: Community Groups Praise Environmental Hearing Board for Protecting Ryerson Station State Park The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) has forbidden Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company (Consol) from…
We Had a Court Hearing on Mining in Ryerson: Here’s What Happened
Chances are if you’re reading this message, you already know that the Center for Coalfield Justice and the Sierra Club have been fighting for Ryerson Station State Park in front of the Environmental Hearing Board for many years now. After with the loss of Duke Lake in 2005, we have taken action time and time again to prevent Consol from destroying Ryerson.