Environmental Law Has Failed. Can Transformative Ecological Change Begin in Appalachia?

Central Appalachia, a region encompassing parts of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, often is characterized as a “national sacrifice zone.” Fossil fuel industries have devastated the landscape here and in broader Appalachia for more than a century. They also have profoundly exploited the people along lines of class, race, and gender—all in pursuit of maximum profits. I was raised in Appalachia, and I live and work there now at the West Virginia University College of Law. In my new book, Remaking Appalachia: Ecosocialism, Ecofeminism, and Law, I have concluded that legal reform alone from within our unjust and ecologically unsustainable capitalist system will never guarantee Appalachia a healthy environment where people can live safely. Modern environmental law has failed Appalachia because it works through institutions that have been shaped for decades to ultimately support destructive industry over genuine public and ecological interests. Instead, I believe Appalachia needs radical social change to make genuine environmental progress—and that it has the ingredients. Many Appalachians are ready to change the course of our region’s future by demanding true system change rather than niche environmental reforms alone.