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West Virginia coal miners are getting retrained as beekeepers to boost the economy and the environment

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Coal mining is on the decline, leaving many coal miners in West Virginia without jobs. The Mine Safety and Health Administration says there are about 55,000 positions, and just 13,000 of those jobs are in West Virginia. The dwindling amount of work is leaving some struggling to make a living, but the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective is giving those coal miners a way to find new jobs and make a supplemental income as coal mining diminishes.

The Appalachian Beekeeping Collective trains coal miners and other low-income residents in mining communities to keep bees. Some coal miners are getting retrained to work in the tech industry, however beekeeping allows coal miners to continue to work in a job that requires a similar skill set. "The older folks want to get back to work, but mining is never going to be like it was in the '60s and '70s, and there is nothing to fall back on, no other big industries here, so all of these folks need retraining," former coal miner James Scyphers told NPR. "Beekeeping is hands-on work, like mining, and requires on-the-job training. You need a good work ethic for both."

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Business

Finnish company making food of the future out of thin air

A new report from the United Nations warns that climate change is threatening to shrink our global food supply. Extreme weather such as droughts and floods plus our own exploitation of natural resources might prevent the human race from being able to feed itself. The report also shows we are losing soil between 10 and 100 times faster than soil is forming. But one company in Finland might have found the solution.

Start-up company Solar Foods is ready if the day ever comes where we finally consume all of our resources thanks to a new protein powder they've created based on a concept by NASA. The company pulls carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by using carbon capture technology, then adds water, nutrients, vitamins, and electricity to the CO2, triggering a fermentation process that's not too different from beer, according to CNN. The finished result is a white, powdery, high-protein substance known as Solein.

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Innovation

Nonprofit plants its 250 millionth tree in order to help heal the planet

Eden Reforestation Projects (Eden) — a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide poverty relief by employing local villagers in Haiti, Madagascar, and Nepal to help with reforestation — recently announced they've planted 250 million trees around the world.

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climate change conservation environment
Articles

America burns more of its used plastic than it recycles and it’s turning our planet into a trash fire.

This needs to stop.

Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

We have a plastics problem. Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced. Yes, that’s billion with a “b.” But it isn’t just the production of plastic that’s the problem. It’s also the disposal of plastic. Whatever you do, don’t burn plastic.

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climate change environment
Articles

Recently discovered footage shows Bernie’s been warning us about ecological disaster since before it was cool. ​

The video is from 1989 when he was mayor of Burlington, Vermont.

The world was a much different place in 1989. The Soviet Union had just fallen, George H.W. Bush was the newly-elected president of the U.S., and Bill Cosby was the number one sitcom star in America.

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environment
Articles

The Federal Government Has Long Treated Nevada As A Nuclear Dumping Ground

Nevadans pointed out the safety risks in moving nuclear waste along highways and railroads to their state.

A 2015 tour of an entryway into the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Photo by John Locher/AP Photo.

Nevadans can be forgiven for thinking they are in an endless loop of “The Walking Dead” TV series. Their least-favorite zombie federal project refuses to die.

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energy environment pollution and waste
Articles