Appalachia Rising Resilient

[Vernon]

WriterMary Woodbury finds deep resonance in the music of Rising Appalachia, who draw on the rural landscapes of her family, and whose musical fusion offers ideas of resilience and community in the face of change and loss.

Mom was born in a log cabin in Francis Holler in Brinkley, Kentucky, a small, sleepy town in the Appalachian hills. Her dad and mother never had an education past the 4th grade nor ever learned how to drive a car. They lived off the land and probably rued that Pappaw had to work in the coal mines to earn money (he later had a carpentry business) or that the little crick in their front yard was really just a sewer pit.

Rising Appalachia integrates all these styles in their music, and has an upcoming album, Leylines, coming in May, which will include Ani DiFranco, Trevor Hall, and Maurice Tuner. According to their website:

Another Rising Appalachia song, Harmonize, further ties together past and present, as the band actually travelled to the Salish Sea, near my current home in British Columbia, to film the video and meet old friends and family there. The video is a story of rites of passage for a teenager and includes old crafts like sailing, blacksmithing, seed-saving, fishing, and even love and courtship.

Rising Appalachia was founded by sisters Leah and Chloe Smith, the band established an international fan base due to relentless touring, tireless activism, and no small degree of stubborn independence: find out more at risingappalachia.com.

ClimateCultures is a network of over 230 artists, curators & researchers in many countries. Our Directory showcases the diversity of interests, practices & works bringing creative responses to our ecological and climate crises. You can search for individual members below.

See our Links page for a wealth of organisations, networks and information sites on different aspects of environmental and climate change or the Anthropocene, with perspectives including the arts, humanities, and natural, physical and social sciences.

1921 was the largest labor uprising in US history. In August of 1921, over 10,000 coal miners answered the call of the United Mine Workers of America, marching to end the mind guard system, which kept the coal fields in a police state, supported by a private force of armed guards.

While it has been 100 years since the Battle of Blair Mountain, there is still progress to be made. One of the biggest struggles is the loss of wealth being taken out of state. In the 1870s, West Virginia created a legal system to separate land ownership from mineral rights. As a result families owning land with coal underneath it, did not have control or ownership of the mineral. Instead it traveled out of state into company pockets.

The National Association of Counties explains that due to the decline of coal demand, communities reliant on the industry are impacted not only by job loss, but in lower tax revenues. The outcome is major shortfalls in the funding for municipal needs, infrastructure, and schools. Additionally, according to the Just Transition Fund, every direct coal mining job lost results in four more.

Studies show widespread support for creating a jobs program to hire unemployed coal workers to safely close down old coal mines and restore the natural landscape. An obvious way to fund these jobs and programs is through a carbon tax; however, legislatively it is hard to predict if this would ever come to pass.

Being resilient through the decline of the coal industry means retraining displaced workers and creating new economic engines. It means looking at the impact on more than just direct workers, but entire communities. Resilience is about creating possibility and opportunity in communities that have consistently faced hardship and loss.

The Biden-Harris administration enacted a series of policy changes and executive orders during their first days in office, including rejoining the Paris Climate accord, canceling the Keystone XL pipeline and ending fossil fuel subsidies.

Change is most successful when it is created based on the ideas of local leaders. New partnerships and networks of cooperation across regions are needed to create sustained change and prosperity, often with the long term support of an anchor, institution or organization.

Collaborations are taking place across the country from solar cooperatives to labor unions to environmental groups, all with the goal of creating a national economic transition. The Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia, which is facilitated by Dialogue + Design Associates, is a beautiful example of this.

The bills include the Brightfields Act, which creates a grant program to promote renewable energy development on coal mine sites and other brownfields. It also includes power purchase agreements bills to ensure schools and local governments in Southwest Virginia have access to no money down financing, and federal tax incentives for solar.

In addition to these incredible bills, Appalachian Voices was just awarded $1.5 million by the Appalachian Regional Commission to catalyze commercial and institutional solar projects for coal impacted communities throughout Central Appalachia.

This grant is in part due to regional collaborations, enabling groups to work together, acquiring the tools, resources, and investments needed to create change. The work happening across central Appalachia is both inspirational and creating important, sustainable change.

Find out more about renewable energy at the US Energy Association. Discover more about the work of The Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia and its three co-conveners: Appalachian Voices, University of Virginia College at Wise, and People Incorporated.

In late July 2022, torrential rainfall caused flash floods in eastern Kentucky and central Appalachia, resulting in 39 deaths and catastrophic damage to homes, businesses, bridges and roadways. Family homes and buildings were swept away in the rising flood waters and many people were left stranded relying on helicopter and boat rescue teams to take them to safety.

Recognizing the importance of helping Kentuckians in need, the Code Council reached out to the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters (UA) Local 248, who were already participating in flood relief efforts, to help organize a donation. As recommended by Gavin Tussey, UA Local 248 Vice President and Director of the Training and Apprenticeship Program, the Code Council donated to the Caney Baptist Church Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund in Pippa Passes, Kentucky. The relief fund supplies flood victims with necessities, like food, water and clothes, in an effort to help get them back on their feet and welcomes volunteers to help deliver and hand out resources.

As an aid to community disaster response, the Code Council and the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA) sponsor the Disaster Response Alliance (DRA). The DRA maintains a national database of skilled, trained, and certified building safety professionals who are standing by and ready to assist communities in need. The DRA is always looking for volunteers. If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a DRA second responder resource, please visit the Volunteer Now link on the DRA website.

The Code Council also has several resources available about incorporating disaster-resilient provisions of the International Codes (I-Codes) during flood recovery, reconstruction, and in future flood prevention and mitigation efforts.

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