As we close out 2024, this newsletter edition celebrates this year’s milestones, challenges, and accomplishments. From honoring 50 years of WV Citizen Action and the legacy of Norm Steenstra to updates on grassroots victories and priorities for 2025, this issue highlights the power of collective action. Tickets are available for our January 11th Anniversary Celebration—don’t miss it!
As we plan for the year ahead, consider making a year-end donation to support our work. Together, we can build a better West Virginia! We hope that this holiday season invigorates you for the year ahead.
With gratitude and warmest wishes,
— The WV Citizen Action Board & Staff
A Milestone Moment: 50 Years of Citizen Action!Our 50th Anniversary Celebration is on Saturday, January 11th, at the WV Culture Center. Join us to reflect on the work we’ve done together, look to the future, and spend time with friends old and new. A highlight will be the presentation of the first Norm Steenstra Spirit Award by the Dunn Foundation to a deserving recipient to who embodies the spirit and dedication Norm brought to his work at WV Citizen Action. Tagged: Environment The Only Way Through is Together: Updates on the Organizing RevivalAs John Green wrote in The Anthropocene Reviewed, “The only way out is through. And the only good way through is together.” Never has that been more poignant or true than in this moment. In the aftermath of this year’s election, we’re bracing for cuts, rollbacks, and deregulation. The issues we face—rising energy costs, the fight for affordable healthcare, the need for clean air, good jobs, and protecting the vulnerable—won’t fix themselves. And the forces pushing against progress are counting on us to feel overwhelmed, divided, and powerless. But here’s the thing: We are powerful together.Tagged: Budget Priorities, Civil Rights, Democracy, Economy, Energy, Environment, Fair taxation, Families, Healthcare Cover Our Care! End Health Care DenialsVirtually every family in the U.S. has experienced the outrage of having a doctor prescribe a treatment or medication only to have an insurance company get in the way. We see and feel the anger people are feeling. We want to unite people to channel this private pain into advocating for constructive policy change in a nonviolent, powerful way. Our Care Over Cost program meets this challenge.Tagged: Families, Healthcare Hydrogen, Carbon Injection, and More Government-Sanctioned Pollution, OH MY!While people around the world were still distracted by the results of the November election, the Appalachian Regional [Dirty] Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) hosted an “open house” as a first attempt at direct engagement with the public on their proposed development in the region. After two years of the project being public, developers held the open house at West Virginia State University in Institute, in a county with zero ARCH2 sites since Chemours and TC Energy pulled out of ARCH2. Tagged: Economy, Energy, Environment, Families Hydrogen has Brought Subsidized False PromisesIn recent months, the Appalachian Regional “Clean” Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), and hydrogen more broadly, has received praise from industry leaders and elected and appointed officials. However, what ARCH2 puts on the table is another taxpayer-funded false solution that fails to address West Virginia’s economic and environmental woes. Tagged: Economy, Energy, Environment, Families West Virginia on the Frontlines: Join Us in the Fight for Climate ActionWe have always been on the frontlines of environmental and public health crises in West Virginia. From the perforation of our landscape from oil and gas extraction over the past 160 years to the rapid development of the coal industry over the past 140 years, our water sources, air, and health have consistently borne the cost of this “progress.” As a result, we’ve also seen a middle class emergence and gradual erasure here. The prospect of economic stability for our families keeps these industries afloat.Tagged: Economy, Energy, Environment, Families WVEC Sets Legislative Priorities at Annual RetreatIn September, West Virginia Environmental Council’s member groups and other interested citizens from across the state met at Tygart Lake State Park for our annual retreat. Approximately 50 attendees heard presentations, discussed emerging environmental issues facing our Mountain State, and played a crucial role in shaping our 2025 legislative priorities. Tagged: Democracy, Economy, Energy, Environment A Unique Holiday Gift: Support Local Music and Grassroots ActivismThis holiday season, give the gift of music and social change! WV Citizen Action is celebrating 50 incredible years of people power, and we invite you to be part of this milestone moment. Join us on Saturday, January 11, 2025, at the WV Culture Center.Tagged: Budget Priorities, Civil Rights, Democracy, Energy, Fair taxation, Families, Healthcare, Workers
