Hurricane Helene is estimated to have damaged nearly 7,000 private roads and bridges in Western North Carolina. Two years later, many restoration projects are complete, but the journey hasn’t been easy — and isn’t over for others.

For nearly two years, residents of Unicoi County, Tennessee, have had to make do without a hospital after Hurricane Helene destroyed the rural hospital. Ballad Health, which owns the hospital, broke ground on a new location — in another floodplain — in August 2026.

On Thursday, the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Appalachian Voices and the Sierra Club, sued the Tennessee Valley Authority for violating the Clean Air Act and putting public health at risk by building its new Kingston Gas Plant, which TVA plans to operate alongside its 70-year-old Kingston Coal Plant, before receiving the required air permit or evaluating the impacts of the two plants’ combined emissions.

The Tennessee Valley Authority's decision to extend the life of its Tennessee coal plants comes amid a rapidly shifting landscape for fossil fuels.

A $605 million proposal for a federal prison on a former strip mine site in Letcher County, Kentucky, championed by U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, refuses to die, despite local opposition, a lack of support from the executive branch and numerous other obstacles.

Jackson argued the separate class would prevent data centers from shifting energy costs to residential consumers.

Virginia Gov. Spanberger unveiled a sweeping new Data Center Accountability Framework Friday, calling it the most comprehensive and aggressive data center accountability effort in the country.

Given the Trump-Vance administration’s focus on fossil fuels, it’s clear that the projects expedited by changing the permitting process are virtually guaranteed to be for dirty energy.

The Trump Administration plans to rescind the Roadless Rule, a 2001 rule that protects public land from development. Many rural communities are worried that the rescinding could hurt their economies.

The Shenandoah salamander is a woodland salamander, which has adapted to life at higher elevations away from water. This sparkling rarity lives among the dry leaves, cracked logs, and stony hillocks on the highest peaks of Shenandoah National Park.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it is repealing rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, an action the agency said would remove more than $300 billion in costs for the industry and help “unleash” American energy.

The Tennessee Valley Authority committed to spending billions of dollars on gas infrastructure next to its Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County years before formally deciding to build it. The decision-making process also had “fundamental” errors that violated federal law, the court found.

This week, the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Appalachian Voices and the Sierra Club, sued the Tennessee Valley Authority over the utility’s failure to take federally required steps to protect Middle Tennessee communities from the harmful air pollution impacts of running its Cumberland coal plant alongside its newly built Cumberland Gas Plant.

Virginia’s largest utility is asking regulators to OK a long-term plan to recoup costs for high fuel prices. The new charges could wipe out a proposed customer rebate from a NextEra acquisition.

In a win for communities across the Tennessee Valley, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee ruled that the Tennessee Valley Authority’s decision to build its massive Kingston Gas Plant had “fundamental” errors that violated federal law.

Everyone deserves to feel safe in their community, and our nation’s health and safety regulations are designed to protect us at home and work, ensure our drinking water is clean and keep the air we breathe healthy. But a national defense bill that the U.S. House of Representatives must pass before the end of the year aims to allow the Trump-Vance administration to circumvent any federal, state, or local health and safety protections in the name of “national defense.” This year, Congress is...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE • SEPTEMBER 1, 2026 UMWA President Sanson Warns Weak Mine Safety Oversight Is Putting Lives at Risk Absent MSHA enforcement, corporate retaliation, and stalled silica dust protections create dangerous conditions across nation’s coal mines. TRIANGLE, VA — United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) issued a sharp warning today regarding the dangerous lack …

In his Aug. 25 column, Clint Cooper complains about TVA's critics — including Appalachian Voices — for pushing for cleaner energy and raising concerns about the impacts of data centers and coal and gas power plants that power them.

Virginia’s largest utility is asking regulators to OK a long-term plan to recoup costs for high fuel prices. The new charges could wipe out a proposed customer rebate from a NextEra acquisition.

Sign our petition telling the Forest Service to KEEP the Roadless Rule and protect our forests and communities.

How foraging provides a sense of community in-person and online

Community members from the grassroots groups Davidson and Davie for a Clean Future” and “Davie Against Data” showed up with bold signs, creative chants and powerful speeches to protest Duke’s plans for a massive fossil fuel complex.

People in Sevierville, Tenn., remember their hometown girl, Dolly Parton — not only for her songs, but for her lifetime of generosity to the place she came from.

Health care for coal miners is critical given the black lung disease crisis in Central Appalachia. These clinics are vital first responders.

Capital-Star

The Tennessee Valley Authority changed the way it charges data centers for electricity this week, but the utility did not show its math on how it will

The proposed Cumberland Energy Center would be capable of powering the equivalent of 750,000 homes, but the roughly 4,000 households in rural Cumberland County would have to live with the dirtier air, health impacts, noise and traffic it will cause.

No free passes to pollute our communities!

Local organizing stopped a major fossil-fuel project in Virginia—for now. Help make sure federal regulators do not revive it. Sign the letter to reject the MVP Boost!

In addition to approving the yearly budget, the board voted to approve TVA’s final 2026 Integrated Resource Plan and to create a new rate class for data centers. Environmental groups across the Valley, including Appalachian Voices and CleanUpTVA coalition partners, have been working to shape the outcomes on these critical issues.

Advocates, lawmakers push SCC to scrutinize the company’s energy need calculations and practices.