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kentucky

Drowning Deaths Last Summer From Flooding in Eastern Kentucky’s Coal Country Linked to Poor Strip-Mine Reclamation

A social justice group asks the Interior Department to review the adequacy of federal law as climate change supercharges storms and turns coal hollows into dangerous chutes of water.

By James Bruggers

A rescue team from the Jackson Fire Department assists people out of floodwaters downtown on July 28, 2022 in Jackson, Kentucky. Credit: Michael Swensen/Getty Images
A home in Pilgrim's Knob, Virginia, sits empty after being lifted from its foundation by a recent flood. Credit: Chris Kenning, USA Today.

Can Appalachia Be Saved? Or Will ‘Worse and Worse’ Flooding Wash it Away?

By Chris Kenning, Connor Giffin and James Bruggers

Trucks buried in mud and debris after heavy rains in late July 2022 caused flooding in Kentucky. Credit: Wang Changzheng/Xinhua via Getty Images.

Strip Mining Worsened the Severity of Deadly Kentucky Floods, Say Former Mining Regulators. They Are Calling for an Investigation

By James Bruggers

A couple moves belongings away from their house to save them from flood waters on the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Jackson, Kentucky, July 28, 2022. Credit: Leandro Lozada/AFP via Getty Images

With Epic Flooding in Eastern Kentucky, the State’s Governor Wants to Know ‘Why We Keep Getting Hit’

By James Bruggers

These Clergy Are Bridging the Gap Between Religion and Climate

By James Bruggers

The company that blasted the sides of this Floyd County, Kentucky, mountain went bankrupt and left behind mining violations including steep cliffs. The property’s owner, Tracy Neece, is waiting on state regulators to find a way to get it reclaimed. In the background, other former surface mines, largely barren of trees, are visible. Credit: Alton Strupp/The Courier Journal

The Decline of Kentucky’s Coal Industry Has Produced Hundreds of Safety and Environmental Violations at Strip Mines

By James Bruggers

Deadly August 2021 flooding in Middle Tennessee occurred after nearly 21 inches of rain fell, a downpour that now stands as the largest 24-hour precipitation record in any non-coastal U.S. state. Credit: Caroline Eggers, WPLN

Battered and Flooded by Increasingly Severe Weather, Kentucky and Tennessee Have a Big Difference in Forecasting

By James Bruggers, Caroline Eggers

Emergency workers search through what is left of the Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory after it was destroyed by a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky, on Dec. 11, 2021. Credit: John Amis/AFP via Getty Images

Global Warming Can Set The Stage for Deadly Tornadoes

By Bob Berwyn

Coal Powered the Industrial Revolution. It Left Behind an ‘Absolutely Massive’ Environmental Catastrophe

By James Bruggers

Chemical plants in the Rubbertown area of Louisville stand near the Ohio River in February 2018 during flood conditions on the river. The Chemours chemical plant is located within the wedge-shaped Chemours property in the lower half of the photo. Credit: Pat McDonogh/Courier Journal

Chemours’ Process for Curtailing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Could Produce Hazardous Air Pollutants in Louisville

By James Bruggers, Phil McKenna

Inside Clean Energy: Solar Industry Wins Big in Kentucky Ruling

By Dan Gearino

Chemical plants in the Rubbertown area of Louisville stand near the Ohio River in February 2018 during flood conditions on the river. The Chemours chemical plant is located within the wedge-shaped Chemours property in the lower half of the photo. Credit: Pat McDonogh/Courier Journal

The EPA Proposes a Ban on HFC-23, the Most Potent Greenhouse Gas Among Hydrofluorocarbons, by October 2022

By Phil McKenna, James Bruggers

Chemical plants in the Rubbertown area of Louisville stand near the Ohio River in February 2018 during flood conditions on the river. The Chemours chemical plant is located within the wedge-shaped Chemours property in the lower half of the photo. Credit: Pat McDonogh/Courier Journal

Chemours Says it Will Dramatically Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Aiming for Net Zero by 2050

By Phil McKenna

Louisville, Kentucky skyline as photographed from the Ohio River Greenway on July 16, 2015 in Clarksville, Indiana. Credit: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images

Louisville’s Super-Polluting Chemical Plant Emits Not One, But Two Potent Greenhouse Gases

By Phil McKenna, James Bruggers

Chemical plants in the Rubbertown area of Louisville stand near the Ohio River in February 2018 during flood conditions on the river. The Chemours chemical plant is located within the wedge-shaped Chemours property in the lower half of the photo. Credit: Pat McDonogh/Courier Journal

A Single Chemical Plant in Louisville Emits a Super-Pollutant That Does More Climate Damage Than Every Car in the City

By Phil McKenna, James Bruggers

Unemployed Blackjewel coal miner David Pratt holds his daughter Willow as he walks across railroad tracks that lead to one of the company's mines near Cumberland, Kentucky in 2019. Blackjewel miners found themselves unemployed when the company declared bankruptcy and the workers' final paychecks bounced, leading them to blockade the tracks to prevent the train carrying the mine's final shipment of coal from leaving until they were paid their wages. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Blackjewel’s Bankruptcy Filing Is a Harbinger of Trouble Ahead for the Plummeting Coal Industry

By James Bruggers

Coal is loaded onto a truck at a mine on Aug. 26, 2019 near Cumberland, Kentucky. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Coal Communities Across the Nation Want Biden to Fund an Economic Transition to Clean Power

By James Bruggers

Democrat Lt. Col. Amy McGrath (left) is running against Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to represent Kentucky in the Senate. Credit: Jason Davis/Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images

Senate 2020: Mitch McConnell Now Admits Human-Caused Global Warming Exists. But He Doesn’t Have a Climate Plan

By James Bruggers

Supporters of "Black Lives Matter" protest as they commemorate Breonna Taylor on what would have been her 27th birthday on June 5, 2020. Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Video: Kentucky’s Primary Shows Environmental Justice is an Issue for Voters

By Anna Belle Peevey, James Bruggers

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