Appalachian Naturalist (Calvin) - Latest News and Information
Environmental scientist writing on energy and environmental policy, ecological impacts, and resilience.
Please stop romanticizing low pay in the conservation field with “well I make nothing but least I’m happy” It’s how you get less people wanting to work in conservation when you’ve normalized a generation of making $15-18/hr only ever doing seasonal work. It also further worsens the exploitive practices these non-profits and companies use on immigrant workers, knowing they will settle for lesser pay. Conservation also means advocating for yourself and others
Energy insecurity starts here. Fossil fuels are traded through systems where price is influenced not only by supply and demand, but by conflict, sanctions, and speculation. That means households and utilities can face higher costs even when local production remains...
I don’t think Pennsylvanians understand how big of a deal this is for the health of our state. This would ultimately be a soft ban on fracking in the state. When comment periods open later this year, we have to...
But some of ya’ll think solar ruins farmland forever? Fortunately what you don’t see is the cellar box that is backfilled to help prevent soil impaction. But imagine the amount contamination that occurs during pre-drill/drill/completion/frac/mid-stream etc. Now you might be inclined...
According to EIA’s 2025 Annual Energy Outlook (LCOE for plants entering service in 2030, without tax credits): Onshore wind: ~$40–$60 per MWh Utility-scale solar PV: ~$35–$50 per MWh Natural gas: ~$75–$100 per MWh Coal (new build): ~$60–$90 per MWh Cents per kilowatt-hour: Wind and solar: roughly...
They keep calling it “clean beautiful coal”, so show me the “clean” part. The phrase “clean coal” did not begin in 2016. It traces back to the 1980s, particularly the Reagan-era Clean Coal Technology Program launched in 1985, which promoted pollution-control...
This is what legacy pollution looks like. Acid mine drainage discharging from an abandoned mine. Before this treatment system was established, this would just get discharged into the adjacent stream that feeds into the Monongahela River…which eventually feeds into the...
