Your Voice Matters
“I get to work with the best people on the planet,” declared Matt Wasson, Director of Programs of Appalachian Voices, “People who really care and don’t just go on with their lives but look at the climate crisis and say, no we are throwing everything we have into stopping this machine.” This environmental advocacy group does so much more than just “I ♥️ Mountains” as their famous bumper stickers may suggest. “Our mission is to draw a line in the sand about what we are prepared to destroy and what communities we are prepared to leave behind in pursuit of the economic growth of super wealthy corporations,” says Matt. With this in mind, @appalachianvoices has fought against various issues such as coal-ash pollution, mountaintop removal and fracking since its inception in 1996.
Today, App Voices has offices in KY, TN, VA and WV, but headquarters has always remained nestled in the heart of downtown Boone. Matt reflects, it's incredible to be able to live in a place like this and work on internationally important work.” Lately, Matt has focused on the NC Energy Democracy program which he says is “very reactive to Duke Energy and fighting against their plans to not take climate change seriously.” He even keeps suits and shoes in the office in case he needs to bolt down off mountain to Raleigh. Recently, they celebrated the defeat of the Duke Energy Rate Increase bill and got to enjoy what Matt called “the champagne moment, which is so rare to get in this type of work.” Working locally with the Climate Action Collaborative, Blue Ridge Conservancy and the Boone Sunrise Movement, App Voices has put together a Boone Energy Democracy Tour to be taking place in January or February of 2020. Matt says the tour will be a way to “empower people who really care about these issues to be more effective in the fight against them” by having people affected share first-hand the direct negative effects of environmental destruction.
“I just love all the things happening in Boone,” says Matt, “A lot of people really get that this global transformation that we have to make is connected to personal transformation and healing we need to do as individuals.”