Today another important book in the ongoing fight for the people of Appalachia hits bookstores. Reckoning at Eagle Creek, Jeff Bigger’s latest release takes us on a journey into the secret history of coal mining in the American heartland. Set in the ruins of his family’s strip-mined homestead in the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois, Biggers delivers a deeply personal portrait of the largely overlooked human and environmental costs of our nation’s dirty energy policy over the past two centuries.

QUARRIER, W.Va.- Four protestors locked down to a coal truck entering a mine site in the vicinity of Quarrier and Decota at 7 a.m. this morning. Four other protestors joined them on the Kanawha County site, hanging two banners; one across the haul road and another on the back of the truck. The first banner read “Stop,” the second “Stop Mountaintop Removal.”

At 9 a.m., four protesters entered the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) in Charleston, WV and locked themselves to the office entrance. They are demanding that the agency hand over control of key programs to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) and that WVDEP Secretary Randy Huffman resign. Around them, dozens of demonstrators reiterated those demands.

This piece is authored by  Zaher Karp.

The Sierra Club has been leading efforts to stop the construction of new coal plants and retire old ones. As of a statement Thursday, the Beyond Coal Campaign has discontinued or prevented the operation of 100 coal plants since 2002, preventing 400 million tons of CO2.

While it's a sad fact that corporate and industry interests regularly write the basis for much of our Federal legislation, there has been some impressive political maneuvering from the coal and utility industry around the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act. In many ways, the ACES bill reads like a wish list for the coal

On April 30th, the 100th day of the new presidency, six grassroots delegates from communities disadvantaged by coal mining, processing, and burning will meet with Representatives of Congress, the EPA, and CEQ. The events are part of an inaugural effort to generate a unified voice for the transition away from coal from a diverse coalition of citizens, including those advocating for climate policy, environmental justice and indigenous rights.

It is time to abolish mountaintop removal mining, not regulate it.

That is the fervent message being spread from community to community, and state to state, now that scores of ANFO explosive-packing mountaintop removal permits stand at the doors of the Army Corps of Engineers, ready to be issued after the recent 4th Circuit Court ruling.

Three million pounds of ammonium nitrate fuel oil explosives are being detonated daily in Appalachia.