Solutions
aw58461 May 27th, 2010
It’s never too early to be thinking of solutions. After all, we have been for quite awhile. In August, we will witness the emergence of thoughtful help on this front and we are proud to be partnering with the Solutions Journal to promote a special August edition and introduce our members to the new bi-monthly.
This special Appalachia edition of Solutions—appearing both in print and online—will be a powerful presentation of this region’s challenges and potential. With a diverse range of perspectives, rich historical accounts, and detailed descriptions of solutions already in place on the ground, the Solutions special issue will be Appalachia’s playbook for an economic and environmental transition.
It will draw on the experience and creativity of some of the best minds working on Appalachia issues today. Solution’ current list of contributors includes ecological design expert John Todd, Justin Maxson–President of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, Erik Reece, author of the acclaimed book Lost Mountain: A Year in the Vanishing Wilderness: Radical Strip Mining and the Devastation of Appalachia, Michael Hendryx, Evan Hansen, Jeff Biggers, author of Reckoning at Eagle Creek and The United States of Appalachia, and Wendell Berry, a great inspirational environmental writer who is also a farmer, an academic, and brings a wealth of experience to his writings.
Appalachia is a special place—one of the most biologically diverse and culturally rich regions on the planet. But it is only one of several regions in the United States with an economy dependent on fossil energy production and where the people fear they will suffer when America makes its necessary transition to a low-carbon economy. The challenge in each of these regions will be to make the transition as deliberately and thoughtfully as possible. Central Appalachia has the potential to become a national model of the positive transition to America’s clean energy future.
Please visit our partner’s website www.thesolutionsjournal.org to explore their interactive website. You will find articles, links to related material, and live video feeds, making this an expanded collaborative effort to address the issues facing our beloved Appalachia.
Thank you for all the work you do to create a brighter future for the Central Appalachian region and its people.
Kathy Selvage