Podcasts about appalachian citizens' law center

Dr. Brandon Crum from United Medical Group and Rebecca Shelton from Appalachian Citizens' Law Center describe the efforts underway in eastern Kentucky to help protect miners with black lung and other respiratory diseases who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19. Speaking at the June 10th meeting of the WV Association of Black Lung Clinics, Dr. Crum and Ms. Shelton hoped that conference participants, including health care providers and staff at black lung clinics, would be able to use activities they described to support patients in their clinics. They ended their presentation expressing concerns about the continuing spread of COVID 19 in the coalfields, especially as things open up.

Over the past 6 years residents of coal-impacted communities and supporters across the country have urged Congress to pass the RECLAIM Act. which would invest $1 billion on an accelerated clean up of land and water harmed by abandoned mines, and provide a catalyst for economic development on those sites. This report includes Congressional testimony in support of the RECLAIM Act from Eric Dixon, Appalachian Citizens' Law Center in Kentucky, and Pennsylvania Rep. Matt Cartwright just prior to the bill's reintroduction in the U.S. House of Representatives on April 9, 2019.

Citizens from six states traveled to Washington D.C. in late November 2018, to urge their legislators to uphold the fees supporting the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, and to pass the Reclaim Act. One in 5 miners in our region have Black Lung, and that rate has doubled in the past decade. And yet, as rates of the disease rapidly increase, the Trust Fund that provides benefits and health care is under threat. This Mountain Talk episode features the DC press conference with miners and their families, as well as an interview with retired east Kentucky miner Kenny Fleming and organizer Eric Dixon from Appalachian Citizens' Law Center.

This week we're joined by Mary Cromer, an environmental attorney with the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, to discuss some of the environmental legacy issues surrounding the decline of extractive industries in rural areas. Just this week Mary's work and the work of the Martin County Concerned Citizens was featured on NPR, so definitely check that out: https://www.npr.org/2018/10/03/649850498/you-just-don-t-touch-that-tap-water-unless-absolutely-necessary You can learn more about the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center here: www.appalachianlawcenter.org And support us on Patreon here: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

One in five veteran coal miners in Central Appalachia now has black lung disease. But the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund which provides critical support to miners and their families is at risk of disappearing. In this episode of WMMT's Mountain Talk, retired miners Bethel Brock and Jimmy Moore, Patty Amburgey who lost her husband to black lung, and Appalachian Citizens' Law Center attorney Evan Smith describe the disease and the working conditions that caused it, the struggle for benefits for miners and their families, and the organizing effort now going on to save the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. To take action or get more information visit www.blacklungkills.org #blacklungkills

In this episode we bring you stories of Letcher County events aimed at supporting local community members. First, we'll hear audio from the recent Black Lung Town Hall hosted by the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center which brought together researchers, health care providers, lawyers, and community members affected personally by Black Lung to discuss the current epidemic, and strategies towards gaining government support for miners and their families. Then, we'll learn about the recent opening of a brand new commercial kitchen run by Community Agricultural Nutritional Enterprises, Inc. or CANE. The kitchen is located at the old Whitesburg High School and aims to support local farmers in producing value added products to expand their economic possibilities.

Did you miss the roundtable discussion about Economic Transition in Germany and Appalachia? Well, you're in luck! For this Monday Mountain Talk, we'll have a recording from the July 2017 roundtable. Guests include Dr. Timon Wehnert, an energy expert and researcher based at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy based in Berlin, Germany; Betsy Whaley, Vice President of MACED, and Eric Dixon with Appalachian Citizens' Law Center.