This is the organizational newsletter for Kentuckians For The Commonwealth
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balancing the scales Volume 29 Number 7 November 5, 2010 Inside... Clay County residents want their com- munity protected One Nation rally mobilizes citizens for “justice for all” KFTC members across the state work hard to impact election Kentucky House leadership supports on- bill financing Beshear, coal industry sue to stop EPA from enforcing clean water protections A post-coal economy: What can Appala- chia learn from Wales? Appalachians Rise Up! Pg. 11
Transcript
balancing the scales Volume 29 Number 7 November 5, 2010
balancing the scalesbalancing the scales
Inside...Clay County residents want their com-munity protected
One Nation rally mobilizes citizens for “justice for all”
KFTC members across the state work hard to impact election
Kentucky House leadership supports on-bill � nancing
Beshear, coal industry sue to stop EPA from enforcing clean water protections
A post-coal economy: What can Appala-chia learn from Wales?
Appalachians Rise Up! Pg. 11
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010Page �
Kentuckians For The Commonwealth
is a statewide grassroots social justice organization working for a new balance of power and a just society. KFTC uses directaction organizing to accomplish the following goals:
• foster democratic values• change unjust institutions• empower individuals• overcome racism and other discrimination• communicate a message of what is possible• build the organization• help people participate• win issues that affect the common welfare• have fun
KFTC membership dues are $15 to $50 per year, based on ability to pay. No one is denied membership because of inability to pay. Membership is open to anyone who is committed to equality, democracy and nonviolent change.
KFTC Steering Committee
Steve Boyce, ChairpersonSue Tallichet, Vice-Chairperson
Dana Beasley Brown, Secretary-TreasurerK.A. Owens, Immediate Past ChairRick Handshoe, At-Large Member
Chapter RepresentativesRoseanne Fitts Klarer, Scott County
Erika Skaggs, Central KentuckyTed Withrow, Rowan County
Scott Goebel, Northern KentuckyMary Love, Jefferson County
Meredith Wadlington, Bowling Green & FriendsCarl Shoupe, Harlan CountyTruman Hurt, Perry County
Megan Naseman, Madison CountyPatty Amburgey, Letcher County
Beverley May, Floyd CountyCari Moore, Knott CountyVanessa Hall, Pike County
Alternates: Matt Doolin, Matt Heil, Lisa Bryant, Antonio Mazzaro, Martha Flack, Sandi Joiner, Stanley Sturgill, McKinley Sumner, Steve Wilkins, Jeff Chapman-Crane, Bobby Hicks, and Erica Urias.
Kentuckians For The CommonwealthP.O. Box 1450 London, Kentucky 407431450
balancing the scales is published by Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and mailed third class from Lexington, Kentucky. Reader contributions and letters to the editor should be sent to 250 Southland Drive Suite #4, Lexington, KY. 40503 or [email protected]. Subscriptions are $20 per year.
Table of ContentsLetters to the EditorA reflection – Farewell Kentucky Mountaineer page 3State provides programs to improve energy efficiency in your home page 4Internet neutrality has implications to threaten internet democracy page 4
Local UpdatesClay County residents want their community protected page 5Rowan members uncover flaws in storage tank program page 6Treat coal ash as the toxin it is, members tell the EPA page 7
Economic Justice UpdateOne Nation rally mobilizes citizens for “justice for all” page 8Unity fair helps highlight fair housing issue in Bowling Green page 8
Voter Empowerment UpdateKFTC members across the state work hard to impact election and to build a stronger democracy for all citizens page 9“Real” issues in Senate race talked about at Youth Candidate Forum page 9
Canary Project UpdateAppalachia Rising: thousands rally for clean water, an end to mountaintop removal and new coalfield energy jobs page 11Battle looms over enforcement of the Clean Water Act page 12Beshear, coal industry sue to stop EPA from enforcing clean water protections; state continues permitting page 13A time line of an abused system and failed enforcement page 14The Cross in the Mountains: a prayer service for renewal page 15
Rural Electric Co-op UpdateKentucky House leadership supports on-bill financing page 16Co-op members share reform ideas with national radio audience page 16
KFTC NewsKFTC members launch political action committee andhistorical grassroots media campaign during final election push page 10Annual membership meeting empowers members to use their personal stories to build new power in Kentucky page 17Awards from the 2010 annual membership meeting page 18
High Road Initiative UpdateA post-coal economy: What can Appalachia learn from Wales? page 19KySEA attends Governor’s Energy Conference to broaden discussion page 19
KFTC Holiday Merchandise page 20Calendar of Events page 20
On the cover: KFTC members Jason Howard, Silas House, Erica Urias, Rick Handshoe, and Bev May participate in the Appalachia Rising march and civil disobedience in Washington D.C.Photo provided by Jeff Chapman Crane.
Last Gift Date Printed On Front Cover! We’veheardfromalotofmembersthattheywouldlovetostaycurrentintheirmembershipdues,buttheyjustdon’tknowwhentheirrenewaldateis.Sonowweareprintingyour last gift datewithyourmail-inglabel*.
Renew by mail: You can renew by sending a contribution and the form on page 16 to our main office.
Renew by phone: Call Morgan in our London office and she can take a credit card, 606-878-2161
Renew online:It’seasytomakeadonationonlinebycheckorcreditcard.Justgotowww.kftc.org/donateBecome a pledger?Whenyourenewyourdues,considerbecomingapledger.YourregularcontributiontoKFTCsupportstheworkallyearlongandwhenit’sautomatic,youcanalwaysknowthatyourduesarecurrent.*Letusknowifthelastgiftdatelookswrong.Databasescanbeimperfectthings.Keepinmindthatittakesabouttwoweeksforthepapertobeprintedandonyourdoorstep.Ifyou’vemadeadonationinthattime,itwon’tmakeitonthelabel.
Stay up to date at www.KFTC.org/blogThe KFTC blog had its biggest month during October
with more than 100 posts!
DearEditor, Farewell, dear friends and relations. Lay downthat squirrel rifle; take a last snort from the jug you hid intheweedsbythewell.Removethestringsofgreenbeansandapplesyouhungtodrybehindthekitchenstove. Shoo the chickens from the front porch; shut the barndoor.Turntheoldgreymuleouttopastureanddepart, for mountain life as we knew it is gone for-ever. Since our forefathers first climbed the rugged mountain wall to find the “Gap” to Kentucky we have held fast, raising patches of corn and sorghum caneonsteephillsidesand inshadowedvalleys, fatteningourhogsonthemastinbeechgroves,anddrivingourleancowshomefromcreek-bottompasturesatmilkingtime. Immune from outside influences and persua-sions,wefoughtourownclannishbattles, remaininguniquelyaloofinspeech,attitudesandcustoms. Our history is one of isolation. Accordingly, weinherited almost intact the strengths and weaknessesofourancestors.Longnotedforourpersonalindepen-denceandinherentfortitudeinthefaceofdefeatandgrinding poverty, we often adopted a gritty “I don’t give a damn” attitude toward everything and every-bodynotourown. Theveryfactthatmanyofusarestillhereisawit-ness toour tenacityandtheunyielding loveweholdfor the simple, agrarian lifestyle.Ourexcursions intothe industrialcitiesof thenorthduringWorldWar IIto find jobs left us often homesick, frustrated and con-fused. We worked, but we yearned, always, to be “back home” – a cherished place where one truly belonged, a place to live and love near family and friends; and when it was time to go, your own plot in the familygraveyard on a high knob overlooking the old homeplace. Intherecentpast,webarelymanagedtoholdourown with the living flood of profiteers that came to take our stands of virgin hardwoods, the coal, natu-ral gas, and the pools of “black gold” flowing freely belowthesurfaceofourland.Weheardconstanttalkof “progress” – motels for tourists, a fried chicken fran-chise,anotherFirstNational,anewroadupBurningFork,andtwocompetingsupermarkets.Theyschemed– educated men from New York and other points north and east – surveyors unrolling topographical maps and pipe-smoking engineers pinpointing likely areasforextractingcoalandgas.Lawyerscametoo,lawyerstakinghardtoreadformsfrombriefcasesfortheland
A reflection – Farewell Kentucky Mountaineerowner to sign on the dotted line – offering a pittance formineralrightsextendingfromthegoodearthtotheblueskyabove! Dearfriends,theyoverlookednothing.Ourmoun-tainshavebeenchewedupandspitoutagain in thenameofprogress.Ourvirginstandsofgiantoaksandpoplarshavegonethewayofthepassengerpigeon.Yetwehaveanothervaluableresourcetheywilleventuallyget to – water. Dams will be built, water harnessed to powermachineryneededtogrindthewheelsofprog-ress. The invasions of the past will seem as nothingwhencommerceandindustryputtheirheadstogetherinthenameofprogress. Soyoumaycryoutinunisonagainsttheinvaders,fight them tooth and toenail as you’ve always fought the enemy who comes to invade you, but in the endyou will lose if you don’t keep fighting. Let down yourguardoneminuteandtheywilleven takeyourmountain tops and it will rain 40 days and 40 nights – bulldozers, concrete mixers, dynamite, overweight coaltrucksandsiltcoveredstreams.Butasanoldsongsuggests, if you flee from them, the ark that carries you to safety from the flood will take you away from your mountainsforever.
No hiding place down here. So farewell to themountains we knew and loved. Goodbye to the banjo picker with callused hands picking “Lost Indian” on the front porch at twilight. Goodbye to the long trek up the hill with bouquets of wildflowers to decorate graves of our loved ones on Decoration Day.A fondfarewell to the little grandmother with her washtubproppedonacane-bottomedchairundertheappletreein the backyard, singing “Little Rosewood Casket.” Give a last whistle to the emaciated coon hound beg-gingforscrapsatthekitchendoor. Farewelltothewalklogthatspansthebranchandto the fishing hole where “newlights” and bluegills bit on warm spring nights. Goodbye to the dedicated old preachers who came each summer as unerringlyas swallows to Capistrano to save your soul (beforemoving on to more lucrative pockets of sin in theBluegrass!). Reserve a very special salute to “Doc” and hisblackbag,whorodehishorseupthebranchwhenyou had typhoid; and to the old “granny” woman who walkedoutofadarkhollowonacold,rainynightto
deliverthebaby. The last lingering, heartfelt goodbye is to a hardbutsimplelifethatgaveussuchanappreciationforthelittle things in life – shuck beans and cornbread when you were hungry; a dipper of cold water from the well in the back yard when thirsty; a sweet baby to love and cherish, and somewhere close by, a good fishing hole (withclear,cleanwater)andbeyondthe fence-row,ablackberry patch – free for the picking on the second weekinJuly.
MaryLouBrown-Byrd,Nicholasville,Kentucky
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010Page �
Letters to the EditorState provides programs to improve energy efficiency in your homeDearEditor, Improving energy efficiency in your home is one of the cheapest and mosteffective ways to not only lower yourelectric bill, but to lower the collective“bill” we all pay for electricity produced from coal – including environmental and health effects from polluted waterandair. Retrofitting homes for energy ef-ficiency is an ideal market for the“green jobs” Kentucky needs. Yet in this economy, individuals and families areoften stuck between a rock and a hardplace: sure, we’d love to save on ourutilitybillsandstimulatethelocalgreeneconomy,butwecan’taffordatticinsu-lationrightnow! Like many others, I’ve been strug-gling a bit in the current economy. Iboughtmyhouseonlyaboutayearbe-foreIlostagoodjob. PartofthereasonIboughtthehousewas its energy efficient design: it’s a 716-foot “shotgun” style house, built 100 years ago and smartly – almost all the windowsarenorth-facing,andyoucanclose off sections of the house to saveenergy. BackwhenIthoughtIcouldaffordto, I had planned to make the housemore efficient and save on utility bills byatleastputtinginsulationintheattic.But like most people these days, I justdon’thavethefundsforhomeimprove-ment,nomatterthatit’sagreatinvest-mentandtherightthingtodo. I learned about the Low IncomeHousingEnergyAssistanceProgram(LI-HEAP) throughmyownresearch. It’sajoint federal-state funded program – with some local utility partnerships – with dif-feringresourcesandservicesdependingonyourserviceareaandneeds. Its purpose is to help low incomehouseholds, “particularly those with thelowestincomesthatpayahighpro-portion of household income for homeenergy, primarily in meeting their im-mediate home energy needs.” I called thenumberon thewebsitefor the local weatherization program, andafewweekslaterIhadanappoint-ment with someone to come to myhouseandhavemesignsomepapers. About a month after that, I got anappointment with the contractor, whoinspectedmyhouse todeterminewhatneededtobedone.Hethenhadmesignoff and approve it, and informed me
when to expect which subcontractors– all locally owned companies – to come outanddothework. I signed up inApril, and was toldtheworkshouldallbedonebeforewin-tersetsin.Theprocesswasparticularlyslowforme,since theytriagecasesac-cording to need – and as I am not elderly or disabled, don’t have small children,andhaveafunctioningfurnace,Irightlyqualified as a lowest-priority case. Iwasthrilledtolearnallthey’rego-ing to do: replace my hot water heaterwith an energy efficient one, put insu-lation in the attic and exterior walls,weatherstrip my doors, insulate thefurnace ductwork, and several things Ineverwouldhavethoughtof,likeroutemy dryer vent outside instead of intothe cellar – my clothes dry in about 1/3 thetimenow! A few things they’ve done to helpbring the house up to safety codes – like install a carbon monoxide detector, anew smoke alarm, and a bathroom ex-haustfan(topreventmold). So far, they’ve installed the safetycodemeasuresandthehotwaterheater,cut a hole for an interior attic accessdoor, and rerouted the dryer vent. I’mexpecting a call in the next few weeksfrom people to work on the insulationand finish the attic door. It’s pretty awe-some having these subcontractors callevery couple of months and surpriseme – I get an attic access door this week – woohoo! LIHEAP offers other programs forlow-income households, whether rent-ersorhomeowners,likeairconditionersandassistancewithutilitybills.Iencour-ageyoutoseeifoneoftheseprogramscouldhelpyouorsomeoneyouknow. In the past, I might have been re-luctant to sign up for a program likethis,thinkingIdon’twanttotakeawayresourcesfrompeoplewhoneeditmorethanme.Ijustwouldhaveputofftheseprojects and probably never got a lotof themdone, continued topayhigherutilitybills,usemorecoal-generateden-ergythannecessary,andthenpassedtheproblemsontothenexthomeowners. But as I mentioned before, peoplein greater need get priority; and by signingupandspreadingtheword,I’mlifting up a good program that benefits everyone.And hopefully I’m softeningsomeofthestigmathatsometimesnagsatthoseofuswhowanttoaccessthese
programs. The weatherization program in par-ticular benefits all of us by reducing the environmentalandhealtheffectsoffos-silfueldependence,andbystimulatingthegreeneconomy.Andthoughwecer-tainlydon’twanttotakeawayemergen-cyassistancewithutilitybills for thosein need, weatherization is a uniquely good taxpayer investment for the longhaul. It creates less need for utility billassistanceforlow-incomehouseholdsas
billsareloweredandcutoffsreduced. Let’s all be a part of the solution.Energy efficiency is about economic and environmentaljustice,andit’saninvest-mentwecan’taffordnottomake! ForinformationabouthowtoaccessLIHEAP resources in your community,visit http://liheap.ncat.org/profiles/Kentucky.htm.
Linda StettenbenzLouisville,Kentucky
DearEditor, Imaginethatonedayyou’reresearch-ingatopicontheinternet.Yougotoyourfavoritesearchengine,Floogle,butFloogleisloadingmoreslowlythanusual.Afteracouple minutes with few results, you gotoFlahooinstead.Flahooisloadingmuchmore quickly, and you find what you need inseconds.YouassumethatFloogleisjusthaving technical problems today, but inreality,FlahooispayingyourInternetSer-viceProvider(ISP)sothatitswebsiteloadsfaster. Net neutrality is the idea that this isunfair, and that there should be laws toprevent it. Net neutrality proposes thatthereshouldbenorestrictionsoncontent,websites, equipmentor the typesof com-municationthatinternetconsumerschooseto utilize. ThismeansthatyourISPcannotmakecertainwebsitesloadfasterorslowerandcannot slow down any method of onlinecommunication, such as peer-to-peer file sharing.Opponentsofnetneutralityclaimthatgovernment interventionby theFed-eral Communications Commission (FCC)wouldimposeunnecessaryrestrictionsonprivatebusinessandthatcompaniesmightneed to prioritize certain types of traffic to guaranteequalityservicetoallcustomers. WhiletherearenolawsintheUnitedStates concerning net neutrality, the FCCseemstoberulinginfavorofit. In 2008, the FCC upheld a complaint against Comcast that it had illegally in-
hibited customers from using file-sharing software. ThechairoftheFCC,KevinJ.Martin,saidthattherulingwasmeanttosetaprec-edentthatcommunicationsserviceprovid-erscouldnotpreventcustomers fromus-ingtheirnetworksasthey,thecustomers,see fit. However, this year a federal appealscourtrestrictedtheFCC’sabilitytooverseebroadbandservice,sonetneutralityisnotguaranteed. The debate over net neutrality espe-ciallyaffectsKentuckybecausemostofuslive in areas where we have only one In-ternetServiceProvider.IfCompanyApri-oritizes one news website or search engine overanother,wedon’thavetheoptionofchanging to Company B or C; we simply don’thaveachoice. Forthisreason,itisespeciallyimpor-tant for Kentuckians to be aware of thedebateandtowritetoournationalrepre-sentatives when laws are introduced thatfavornetneutrality. While there are many technical sidesto this debate that can be overwhelmingfor the average person, there isonemainprincipleofnetneutrality:we,as internetusers,shouldbeabletovisit thewebsiteswe want and use the equipment of ourchoicewithoutinterferencefromthecom-panythatprovidesourinternetservice.
JennMyattLexington,Kentucky
Internet neutrality has implications to threaten internet democracy
When was your last gift to KFTC? Check the front cover under your name to find out.
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010 Page �
Local UpdatesClay County residents want their community protected Residents in the Teges communityofClayCountyarefollowinginthefoot-steps of the Wilson Creek KFTC mem-bers who were recently successful inprotecting their community from stripmining. Earlier this summer nine peoplewithstrongtiestotheTegescommunity,someofthemKFTCmembers,draftedaLandsUnsuitableforMining(LUM)pe-titionthatcoversthewatershedsofthreecreeks,theUpperandLowerTegesandCraneCreek. Thecommunitystartedworkingonthepetitiononcetheybecameawarethatseveralsmallcoalcompaniesplannedtoopenseveralsurfaceminesinthearea. “Our family goes back five genera-tions just livinginthesamehomenearthe mouth of Lower Teges,” said KFTC member Jessie Lynne Keltner. “All sides ofourfamilyhavelivedinthisareaformany generations. The beauty of thisareahasinspiredmanywritersandhasbeen referenced in books by my sisterAnne Shelby, Siles House and JasonHoward.” Because the LUM was filed after two mine permits were already deter-mined to be technically sufficient, the LUMwillnotpreventaminefromgoingin on Crane Creek or one permit frompotentially opening up between UpperandLowerTegesCreeks. However,iftheLUMisapproveditwillprotecttheregionfromanyfurtherimpactsfrommining. “If this Lands Unsuitable for Mining petitionisapproveditwillbeabigsteptoward ensuring the protection of ourstream and rivers,” said Marti Allen ,
wholivesonTegesCreek. Allthreeofthesecreeksemptyintothe South Fork of the Kentucky River.According toa recent study conductedby the Kentucky Nature Preserve, theSouthForkoftheKentuckyRiverisbyfarthemostpristineofthethreeforksintheKentuckyRiver. This same study also identified 15 freshwatermusselsintheSouthForkoftheKentuckyRiverbetweenOneidaandTeges that are listed on the KentuckyStatelistofEndangeredandThreatenedSpecies. The residents of Teges also see theLUM as a way of protecting the long-term economic opportunities in thearea. “There is a lot of revenue to be made from hunting, fishing, and recreating in thisarea,butthat’sonlytrueifwekeepour creeks and rivers clean,” said Marti Allen. TherewillbeapublichearingontheLandsUnsuitableforMiningpetitiononWednesday, December 15 at the Oneida HighSchool.Thehearingwillbeginat6p.m. KFTC member and Canary leaderBeverlyMay,whopassedalongsomeofwhatshelearnedwhenhercommunityofWilsonCreekdraftedaLandsUnsuit-ableforMiningpetition,saidsheplansto be there December 15 to help support the people of Teges. “We need to have a bigcrowdtheretoshowthatthesefolksare not standing alone.” For more information about thepublic hearing contact Canary ProjectOrganizer Kevin Pentz at [email protected] or 859-986-1277.
Appalachian Citizens Law Center and KFTC Prevail in Suit Against Strict Conditions Placed by Kentucky on All Coal Mining Permits in the Wilson Creek Watershed
“The process for designation of lands as unsuitable for surface coal mining is …premised on the notion that successful management of surface mining depends, in large part, on the application of rational planning principles. While coal surface mining may be an important and productive use of land, it also involves certain hazards and is but one of may alternative land uses. In some circumstances, therefore, coal surface mining should give way to competing uses of higher benefit.”
Mark your calendars! The national broadcast date for Deep Down is Tuesday November ��rd on Independent Lens, which airs at 10 p.m. in most markets. Independent Lens is a national Emmy-award winning PBS documentary series hosted by America Ferrera, whose episodes average one million viewers weekly!
In preparation for the premier, Independent Lens cut a new trailer that is currently being shown on PBS stations nationwide.
At left, KFTC members and Deep Down filmmakers Sally Rubin and Jen Gilomen posed outside of the Independent Lens office.
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010Page �
Local Updates
www.KFTC.org/blog
Rowan members uncover flaws in storage tank programbyBobBurns
For the past several years the RowanCounty chapter has been reviewing thestate’sUndergroundStorageTankprogramand the Petroleum Storage Tank Environ-mentalAssuranceProgram(PSTEAF).Thisarticle explains the efforts to clean up soilandgroundwatercontaminatedfromleakingtanks and shares the results (so far) of thechapter’scampaigntoaddressconcerns. The Petroleum Storage Tank Envi-ronmental Assurance Fund (PSTEAF)isasourceoffundingforthecleanupofcontaminatedsoilandgroundwaterasaresultofleaksfromundergroundtanks.The fund was established in 1994 to as-sist those who lack the finances to clean uptheseleaks.Themajorityofthoseinneed of this assistance are the “Mom and Pop” gasoline station owners. The cleanup of contaminated soiland groundwater can range from sev-eralhundredthousanddollarstoamil-liondollarspercontaminatedsite.From2000 to 2010 more than $591 million has beenreceivedbythefundfromfuelandbond receipts, with more than $280 mil-lion paid for cleanup of contaminatedsoil and groundwater. For the sametime period there has been more than$380 million transferred out of the fund for the state General Fund. The mission of the UndergroundStorage Tank Branch within the Ken-tucky Division of Waste Managementis to “provide for the prevention, abate-ment,andcontrolofcontaminantsfromregulated underground storage tanks(USTs)thatmaythreatenhumanhealth,safety,andtheenvironment.TheUSTBregulates the registration, compliance,closure, inspections and corrective ac-tions of UST systems.” Based on the RowanCountychapter’sreview,itdoesnot appear the Underground StorageTank Branch is fulfilling its stated mis-sion. Itappearstochaptermembersthatsamplescollectedtodeterminecontami-nationfromleakingtankshavenotbeencollected inaccordancewithU.S.Envi-ronmental Protection Agency standardproceduresandhavebeencollectedbypersonsnot registered topracticegeol-ogy in Kentucky. There is also concern
about the amount of monies beingtransferred from the cleanup fund tothe state General Fund and not spent for cleanups. The chapter has written lettersvoicing their concerns to the Under-ground Storage Tank Branch, the stateauditor’s office, the Kentucky Board of Registration for Professional Geologists, andtheU.S.EPA.Thechapteralsohasexpressed these concerns in meetingswith the state auditor’s office and with the Kentucky Board of Registration forProfessional Geologists and an assistant attorney general serving as counsel totheboard. After the removal of an under-ground storage tank from the ground,soil and groundwater samples are col-lected and analyzed at a laboratory to determine the concentrations of con-taminants.Ifthecontaminantsfoundinthesampleareaboveallowablelevelsasiteinvestigationmustbeconductedtodeterminehowfarsoiland/orground-water contamination has spread. Afterthis is determined, a corrective actionplan is employed to clean up the con-tamination. The Underground Storage TankBranch is responsible for ensuring thiswork is done according U.S. EPA pro-cedures. If the environmental samplesarenotcollectedcorrectly,contaminatedsoilandgroundwatermaynotbeidenti-fied. ThechapterwrotetheUndergroundStorage Tank Branch with concerns inJanuary 2008. The response did not an-swermembers’concerns. Thechapterthenwrotetothestateauditor’s office asking it to conduct an audit of the program. Members metwith the auditor’s staff in April 2009. The auditor’s office referred members’ concernstotheDepartmentforEnviron-mental Protection Inspector Generals Office in December 2009. The Inspector General’s Office spoke with the Under-groundStorageTankBranchandwrotethattheseconcernshadbeenaddressedin the January 2008 response from the USTB. The chapter wrote the U.S. EPA(Atlanta regional office) in August con-cerningenvironmentalsamplingproce-
duresusedbycontractors.Thechaptersent a CD with pictures documentingenvironmental sampling proceduresthat were not done according to EPAstandards.TheEPAagreedwithKFTC.If thesamplesarenotcollectedaccord-ingtoprocedures,thelaboratoryresultsare wrong with respect to contaminantconcentrations,andthedecisionsmadebased on wrong laboratory results arewrong. ThechapteralsowrotetheKentuckyBoard of Registration for ProfessionalGeologists in May 2010 asking for the Boardtodeterminewhomayengageinthepublicpracticeofgeologyaccordingto Kentucky Revised Statutes. In ques-tion is whether contractors certified by the Underground Storage Tank Branch
areexempt fromregistration toengageinthepublicpracticeofgeology. Members met with the board andthe assistant attorney general whoservesascounseltotheboardinAugustand September 2010. After discussion, theboardandtheircounselagreedwithKFTCthatonlypersonsregisteredbytheboardmayengageinthepublicpracticeof geology as defined by statute. However, it appears the USTB hascertified and allowed persons to engage inthepublicpracticeofgeologywithoutalicense. Theboardaskedthechaptertosup-plyadditionalinformation.MembersofthechapterplantoattendtheDecembergeologist’s board meeting to discusstheseissuesfurther.
Local UpdatesTreat coal ash as the toxin it is, members tell the EPA “We are here today to ask the EPA to create strong and vigorous regulationsfor coal ash. Kentucky families are atrisk from coal ash and strong regula-tions are long overdue.” That was then KFTC Chair K.A.Owens, one of several hundred citizens, including many KFTC members, whotestified, rallied and marched Septem-ber 28 to demand that the U.S. Environ-mentalProtectionAgencydoitsjobandprotectcommunitiesfromtoxiccoalash.These actions came in response to theEPA’srequestforcommentsonitspro-posedcoalashsafetystandardsatare-gionalpublichearingheldinLouisville. Citizens – many who live near coal ash dumps – testified all day and eve-ning before the EPA panel in supportof the federal government strictly con-trolling coal ash as a hazardous waste. EPAandscientistshavedeterminedthatexposure to coal ash toxins results inserioushumanhealthimpactsincluding
ahigherriskofdevelopingcancer. Protecting people from exposureto coal ash is one of the organizing pri-oritiesfortheJeffersonCountychapter.Earlier this year, EPA proposed newstandards more than 30 years after coal ashwastemporarilyexemptedfromna-tionalsolidwastesafetylaws. “We are here today to ask the federal government,bymeansoftheEPA... toprotect us from an internal threat. TheEPAknowsthatcoalashisapoison.Weask it only to believe its own findings on this issue, and to do its duty,” said Wen-dellBerryofHenryCounty. In his testimony, Steve Wilkins ofMadisonCountyaskedEPAtonotonlypassstrictcoalashsafetystandards,butalso to enforce the standards in Ken-tuckyratherthanallowstateagenciestohavecontrol. “Kentucky has already demonstrat-edthatitcannotbeentrustedtooverseethe handling of coal ash,” he explained.
“Kentucky has been very protective of … the coalindustryandthatprotec-tionfollowscoalthrough-out its life cycle. Coal – the industry – is coddled whileminers,mountains,waterways, communi-ties, whole regions aresacrificed in pursuit ofprofits.” TheKentuckyCoalAs-sociationalsoheldarally,to express opposition toprotecting people fromtoxic coal ash exposure.Several state legislators,including Reps. LeslieCombs, Rocky Adkins,Brandon Smith, J imGooch and Fitz Steele, at-tended. In addition to gettingthe U.S. EPA to adoptstrong safety standards,the chapter is workingwith residents in south-west Jefferson County tostop the expansion of acoal ash dump by Louis-ville Gas & Electric. Permitting of the pro-posed 60-acre coal ash landfill has been the sub-jectofseveralpublichear-
Members of the Jefferson County chapter and several ally groups spoke out during a September 28 rally and public hearing on proposed coal ash safety standards. They called for coal ash to be classified and treated as a hazardous waste, and the public protected from exposure.
ings conducted by the state, includingoneinmid-October.Eventuallyreachingaheightof14stories,theproposedim-poundment would be located adjacenttomanyhomes,inanareawheretherealready are high levels of health prob-lemsfrompollution. LG&E wants to get this expansion passed before any new, stricter stan-dardsareadoptedbytheU.S.EPA. “I can’t see why we would spend
our resources, to expand [the coal ashdump]whenwecandosomethingelse.Thepossibilitiesareendless.Wecanputthatmoneyandenergysomewhereelseandmykidscanhaveabetterplacetogrow up,” said KFTC member Jes Deis, who lives near LG&E’s Cane Run plant. EPA is not expected to release final standardsuntillaterthisyearandisac-ceptingpubliccomments throughmid-November
In an effort to draw more people in during the most recent Artwalk in Whitesburg, Angie Armstrong painted the windows in the KFTC office to highlight New Power messages. The Artwalk is a collaborative event that takes place quarterly in Whitesburg where local artists display and sell their work in various buildings downtown.
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010Page 8
Economic Justice UpdateOne Nation rally mobilizes citizens for “justice for all”
byJanetTucker
A large and diverse crowd ralliedon the National Mall at the foot of theLincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.onthebeautifulandsunnySaturdayaf-ternoon of Oct. 2, 2010. This was the One NationWorkingTogetherRally. Denise Groves, a KFTC member from Louisville who attended the rally,stated, “The rally represented America: white, black, brown, old, young, able,disabled, gay, straight, citizen, non-citi-zen, employed, unemployed, Christian, non-Christian. All together, unified, and workingtorestoreAmericatoherglorydays.” It was a sight to behold! The rallyfor Jobs, Justice, and Education for Allwas sponsored by more than 400 orga-nizations including trade unions, civil
rights,women’srightsandcommunityorganizations, peace and justice groups, and many more. The estimated crowdof 175,000 people came from all over the country, including 2 buses from Ken-tucky. “I hope they look at the mall today,” stated the Rev. Al Sharpton from thesteps of the Lincoln Memorial, refer-ring to the political opposition to thevalues of the event, “because this is what Americalookslike,notjustonecolororone gender.” ThelargeoutdoorTVscreensalongthemallhelpedalotforthoselisteningtothespeeches.Thereweretwooverlap-pingbutdistinctmessagescomingfromtheplatform. OnewasthateveryoneneededtogetoutthevoteinNovember.Inthatsense,this was a rally to expand and fire up the
votersintheprogressivebase.Theotherwas to push Congress and the WhiteHouse on jobs, education, immigrantrights,theenvironmentandpeace. Harry Belafonte recalled the 1963 march. “In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. stoodonthestepsofthismemorialanddeclared that this nation should cometogetherandembraceitsgreaterideals,that we should rally together to over-come injustice and racism and that allcitizens should not only have the right tovotebutexercisethatrightandmakeAmericawhole.That ispartofwhyweare here today.” The participants were enthusiasticand determined to make their voicesheard. I found it exciting to approachgroups and ask where they were fromandwhytheywerethere.Ispoketopeo-ple from NewYork, St. Louis, Pennsyl-
vaniaandWestVirginia, just tonameafew.Theywereteachers,tradeunionists,environmentalists, community activistsofmanystripes.Andweallhadsomuchincommon! After harshly denouncing the “mon-ied powers” on the right, AFL-CIO Presi-dent Richard Trumka appealed to bothunion workers and progressive groupsfor broad unity: “Promise you won’t let anyonequietusorturnusagainsteachother.Promisetomakeyourvoicesheardforjobs,justice,andeducationtoday—and on Election Day,” he declared. “Our bestdaysareahead,notbehindus,andwe will fight for them, and we won’t let anyone stand in our way.” In closing just let me repeat: “Our bestdaysareahead,notbehindus,andwe will fight for them, and we won’t let anyone stand in our way.”
Unity fair helps highlight fair housing issue in Bowling Green Recently, the Bowling Green Fair Housing Coalition organized a Fair Housing Unity Fair that offered a funtime,goodfood,informationaboutlo-cal resources, opportunities to organize, and inflated bounce playgrounds. The event was the first big coali-tion event, and was part kickoff, partwelcome party, and part invitation togetinvolvedandtocometoacandidateforumtobeheldthefollowingweek. The Bowling Green Fair Housing Coalition is made up of local service,housing, and community organizations includingKFTC.Thefollowingarethecoalition’sguidingprinciples:
•Residents should have adequate ac-cess toaffordablehousingprogramsthatwillmovepeopletowardowningtheirhomes.
•Renters should have access to hous-ingthat isdecent,safe,andsanitary,with affordable energy efficiency op-tions.
•Renters and landlords should haveclarityabout theirrightsandobliga-tions.
•Renters should have protectionsagainstunfairpractices.
The Coalition also recently pub-lishedanop-edintheBowling Green Daily News about the need for fairhousing policies. Below is a short ex-cerpt:
Bowling Green is a growingcity that’s preserved its small townfeel, one of the reasons we love it.Butsmalltownfolksknowwecan’tdependonhandshakes tomake surethatwe’realltreatedfairly.Weneedtools,afewruleseveryoneplaysby.
Most landlords in BowlingGreenarefair.Butweallknowthatwehaveafewbadapples.Theimpactof these bad apples, on individualfamilies and on our community, isgreat, and the suffering they causeissubstantial.Weshouldn’tletthesebadapplessetthestandard.Let’sputstandards in place that obligate thebadapplestoliveuptoourexpecta-tions.
The KFTC Bowling Green Chap-ter is proud to be part of the BowlingGreen Fair Housing Coalition. Jennifer Wurtsisoneofthememberswhopar-ticipatedinthefair.Belowaresomeofher reflections.
Fair Housing – County Fair Style
Having just gotten back from the
annual KFTC meeting and feeling allpumpedup,Iambitiouslyvolunteeredto help out at my first Bowling Green and Friends chapter event – the Fair HousingCoalitionUnityFair. After slicing A LOT of cake andputting cookies on plates at the re-freshment table, I finally worked up the nerve to say to Patty, “Sooooo … I honestly have no idea what specifi-cally this Fair Housing Coalition fairis all about.” Over the course of the fair,sheandDanaandallthecoalitionpartners helped not only me, but allthe fair visitors, learn just that. Thereare no laws in Bowling Green protect-ingtherightsoftenantsorlandlordsofrentalproperties.Folkscanbeevictedfromtheirhomesatany timewithorwithoutreason,andlikewiselandlordscan have their properties ruined andhavenolegalrecourse. SoweinKFTC,alongwithanin-sane number of partner organizations in the Bowling Green Fair Housing Co-alitionanddonors,decidedtothrowalittle fair in theWestSidecommunitywhere we’ve focused our voter em-powermenteffortstotakeanotherstepin changing that. We made ourselvesa little hand-drawn welcome sign,and all afternoon the local neighbor-hoodresidentskeptrollingin,learningabouttheirhousingoptionsandrightscounty-fair style. Kids rode around
ontheirbikes,gottheirfacespainted,enjoyedappleciderslushiesandpop-corn and waaaaaay too much sugarycake and cookies, bounced around inan inflatable bouncy castle, while their parentsandotheradults collected in-formationandsometastysnacks,too,with the local band keeping us ener-gized and luring folks in from off the street with their “Noizejoi.” My favorite part of working thewelcome table was seeing what a di-verse crowd of people came in – just like the KFTC annual meeting – all ages,allraces,allhairstylesandman-ners of dress. Getting to speak my brokenSpanishinanattempttocom-municate with some of the visitors– and their appreciative smiles despite my poor skills. Looking over at onepoint at the band in surprise: “Is that man playing a flute?” Yes, yes, he was. The fact that one of the first guys to get a raffle ticket stayed till the end and won the grand prize of four tickets to the Corvette Museum. Resources tohelppeoplepaytheirutilitybills.Andlots of conversations with membersof the community about what KFTCis working for, and how they can getinvolved.Fairhousing,socialandeco-nomic justice, grassroots organizing, with a touch of county fair flair. It was an awesome turnout to an awesomeevent.
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010 Page �
Voter Empowerment UpdateKFTC members across the state work hard to impact election and to build a stronger democracy for all citizens KFTC’snon-partisanworkonelec-tions has grown year after year since2004, focusing on non-partisan voter registration, education, and mobiliza-tiontomakedemocracystrongerinthelong-term. Throughout this year, KFTC mem-bers have done solid Voter Empower-mentwork,whichhasgrownmoreandmoreleadinguptotheOctober4voterregistrationdeadlineandtheNovember2 general election. Therewasalotofactivityacrossthestate; KFTC tried many new strategies, including forming a Political ActionCommittee, new staffing structures, new messaging,andanewdatabasesystem. Members are still tabulating andevaluatingthenewefforts,buthere’savery preliminary report-back focusingonthenon-partisanvoterwork.
By The Numbers
• 30,000 - Estimated number of voterscontactedbyphone
• 18,020 - Page views on www.Ken-tuckyElection.org
•77 -consecutivehoursofvoterregis-tration in Central Kentucky’s “Opera-tion Voter Madness” - in addition to substantial voter registration mara-thons inothercountiesandscoresofotherevents.
• 40 - volunteers in KFTC’s largestsinglephonebank-andmostofthesefolkswereformerfelonswhodidnothavetherighttovotethemselves.
•5 -Soundcars indifferentcommuni-ties on election day, spreading thewordwithbigspeakers.
•200+ -Voterregistrationeventsstate-wide this year before the October 4deadline
Therearesomanystories,pictures,andreportsfromthevoterworkontheblog.With more than 100 blog posts related to KFTC’s voter work, the blogexperienced its biggest month to date.Visititatwww.kftc.org/blog
In the next issue of balancing the scales there will be more analaysis ofthe election results and what it meanstoKFTCmembersandforthestateasawhole.
KFTC Members Vote
A whopping 73 percent of KFTC members have voted in allthree of the last general elections
in Kentucky (2008, 2006 and 2005). That compares to only 37 percent of Kentuckyregisteredvotersoverallwhovoted in all three of those same elec-tions. KFTC works hard to make surethat as many Kentuckians as possibleget out and vote – and members take a little pride in knowing that KFTC’s 7,000 membersacrossthestateareamongthemostconsistentvoters.
“Real” issues in Senate race talked about at Youth Candidate Forum On a Thursday night less than twoweeks before the 2010 general election, more than 100 young people between the ages of 5 and 25 gathered in a room at theUniversityofKentuckytotalkaboutissuestheycareabout. “The purpose of this event is to lift up the voices of young people in theU.S.Senatecampaign.Wewanttomakesure that the candidates who representKentuckyintheU.S.Senateunderstandthe issues that young people care about,” said the moderator of the event, BereaKFTCmemberMeganNaseman. Ten young people, all members ofKFTC, prepared issue presentations.They talked about the “real” issues af-fecting Kentuckians – healthcare, educa-tion, building a clean energy economy,andtacklingglobalwarming. Berea student Myles Maxson in histalk about global warming said, “I want
candidates to tellus that theyarereadyto get our fuel from something otherthanfossilfuels.Ifwedothat,thelevelsofcarbondioxidewilldecline,aswillthetemperature.Iwanttohearthattheyarewillingtochangetonewsourcesofpow-er. I want to hear that these candidateswant to stop global warming.” UK student and Louisville nativeJaredFlanerydiscussedonepossibleso-lution to global warming known as “Cap and Trade.” “The first part of cap and trade would be really welcome, the cap. Astrong cap on carbon emissions wouldset us off on the right track towards aregularlyfunctioningclimate,renewablesourcesofenergy,andgreenjobs.It’sthetrade part that I take issue with. Essen-tially,capandtradesetsupamarketforthe sale of pollution rights.” WesternKentuckyUniversitygradu-
ate Greg Capillo talked about some of theprovisions in thenewhealthcarere-formlawthatwillexpandhealthcareforyoungpeople. He talked about how he is able tohavehealthinsurancerightnowbecauseof this law – thanks to the provision that letsyoungpeoplestayon theirparents’health insurance plan until they are 26. He went on to say, “While the health-care reform legislation had many goodprovisions,itdidn’tsolveeveryproblemandcouldstillgofurther.TherearemorethaneightmillionuninsuredchildreninAmerica – that is one in ten.” “I believe that tonight has been one ofthemostimportanteventssofarintheU.S.SenateraceinKentucky.Tonightwasagreatexampleofyoungpeoplegettinginvolved and taking leadership on keyissues facing Kentucky,” said Louisville highschoolstudentNikitaPerumal.
Makayla Urias spoke before the crowd about what it is like living in Island Creek surrounded by strip mining.
Eastern Kentucky members worked to distribute and mail local voter guides in Harlan and Floyd County in the final weeks leading up to the election.
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010Page 10
Kentuckians want the same things as everyone: good jobs, healthy communities, and opportunities for our children. And we know:
It’s time forToday we have the best chance in generations to build a new power economy that will create thousands of new jobs and build better communities. At the same time we must fi x the problems of old power, including the destruction of our mountains, our water, and the air we all breathe.
On November 2, we must elect leaders who make good decisions and who serve the interests of real Kentuckians like us.
KFTC members launch political action committee and historical grassroots media campaign during final election push Two short months ago, KFTC’sSteeringCommitteelaunchedapoliticalactioncommitteecalledtheNewPowerPAC to communicate with voters andcandidatesabouttheopportunitytocre-atecleanenergyjobsandaffordable,re-newableenergyinKentuckyandaboutthe harm done by our dependence onoldpowerfossilfuels. At a press conference in mid-Sep-tember, KFTC’s then chairperson K.A.Owens declared, “Over the coming weeks we will communicate directlywiththousandsofKentuckyvoters.Wewillmakesurevotersknowcandidates’positionsonNewPowerissues,includ-ing the opportunity for clean energyandthetruecostsofcoal.Wewill takeourmessagetothebroaderpublicwithprint, radio, television and electronicads.Andwewilldemonstratetocandi-dates that there is a significant base of support for new power and a brighterand cleaner future in Kentucky.” Bynow,youmayhave receivedorheard some of the ads distributed by
theNewPowerPAC.Printedbelowareseveralsamplesofadsthatraninmanymedia markets before the November 2 election. In addition, the New Power Pacwebsite (www.newpowerky.org) fea-turesseveralradiospotsthatplayedontheUniversityofKentuckysportsradionetwork and many local radio stationsthroughoutthefall. With a week to go before the fallelection,theNewPowerPACanticipat-ed spending more than $126,000 in this electioncycle,themajorityofthatgoingto advertising and direct communica-tionwithvoters. “We hit the ground running this fall, andwewillonlygainmomentuminfu-ture election years,” noted KFTC member Megan Naseman. “Also, true to KFTC’s form,this[mediacampaign]isonlyonepiece of our work. After the elections,we’ll keep lobbying and meeting withofficials. We hope that our work through the PAC will let officials know what broad support there is for New Power.”
Kentuckians want the same things as everyone: good jobs, healthy communities, and opportunities for our children.
Today, right now, we have our best chance in generations
to build a new power economy that will create
thousands of new jobs and build better communities.
At the same time we must fi x the problems of old power,
including the destruction of our mountains, our water, and the
air we all breathe.
And we know: It’s time for
On November 2nd, we must choose political leaders who will make better decisions and who will serve the interests of real Kentuckians like us.
We are We want what everybody wants: decent jobs, healthy communities, good schools and opportunities for our kids.
We can have a tax system that builds a better future for all of us. We need to elect leaders who will make choices based on what’s fair and good for Kentucky families.
Rebecca, Madison County
Visit www.new-powerky.org to see copies of the ads, postcards, web ads, and radio commercials used during the media campaign.
Canary Project UpdateAppalachia Rising: thousands rally for clean water, an end to mountaintop removal and new coalfield energy jobs The largest national protest everagainst mountaintop removal miningtookplaceinWashington,D.C.onSep-tember 27 as more than 2,500 people—including many coalfield residents and allies from across the country—gath-ered in front of the White House tomaketheirvoicesheard. “We disobeyed. We were in the wrong.Butwewereinthewrongfortheright reasons,” said Floyd County KFTC leader Bev May, reflecting on the arrests madeduringAppalachiaRising. Appalachia Rising was organized and led by Appalachia residents fromKentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, andTennessee. While folks chanted “We are Appa-lachia,” nearly 120 people participated in nonviolent civil disobedience andwere arrested at the event. Folks werearrested for refusing to move from anareaneartheWhiteHousewhenaskedtodosobypolice. Arrestees included 15 KFTC mem-bers, primarily from eastern Kentucky,including leaders Bev May and RickHandshoe from Floyd County, MickeyMcCoyfromMartinCounty,CariMoorefromKnottCounty,andothers. KFTC member Megan Naseman ofMadisonCountywasarrestedyetcontin-ued to chant, “What do we want? Clean water. When do we want it? Now!” OtherarresteesincludedrenownedNASAclimatescientistDr. JamesHan-sen, retired and former coal miners,religiousleaders,andyoungfolks.Fouradditionalpeoplewerearrestedatasit
in at PNC Bank in DC, protesting itsrole as a lead financier of mountaintop removalcoalmining. “It’s hard for me to break the law,” noted Rick Handshoe. “But this was different. Iwant it togetout topeoplegloballyaboutwhat’shappeninginmycommunity.It’snotjustkillingtheenvi-ronment; it’s killing people.” “Being arrested? That’s such a small price to pay for being heard,” explained Mickey McCoy. “My home and people arepayingtherealprice formountain-top removal.” Cari Moore added, “I got arrested becauseIwantedtocallthepresident’sattention and the public’s attention tothe greater crimes of mountaintop re-moval. Iwantedtoencouragemygov-ernment to pass laws that will protectour mountains, our environment, ourhealth and safety, our rights, and ourcultural heritage.” “I’d like for President Obama to pick up a pen, before he has dinner today,and, with a stroke of that pen, abolishMTR and strip mining,” said McCoy. Appalachia Rising wasn’t onlyaboutdemandinganend tomountain-top removal mining. Protesters alsocalled attention to the need for a justtransitionforAppalachia. “I got arrested because I want a new future for Appalachia,” explained May. “We targeted the Obama administration because he’s the only elected official whocanstopMTRandannounceaneweconomic plan for Appalachia.” “We weren’t just marching against MTR.Weweremarchingforajusttran-sition,” noted KFTC’s Canary Fellow Teri Blanton. “Our people—who’ve cre-
ated energy for this nation for the last100 years—need to be a part of the new power,newenergyrevolution.Ifwearegoingtohaveanychanceforthisposi-tivefuture,we’vegottosavethemoun-tains that are left.” “I want to see the end of the boom and bust, band-aid economy that thecoal industry has given us,” reflected McCoy. “I know we’ll have coal around inthenearfuture,butthetransitionhastobemadetodaytoestablishasustain-able, diversified, vital, and thrivingeconomy in Appalachia.” “We know that jobs that come from destroying mountains don’t last,” ex-plained May. “What we need for work-ersinthecoalindustryisthesamesortoftransitionalhelpthattobaccofarmersgot todiversify their crops.Rightnow,coal only employs 2.6 percent of the eastern Kentucky workforce. We needhelpgettingthoseminersintonewjobslike reforestation, home weatherization, windmills, and more.” “I want folks to have job opportuni-tieswheretheydon’thavetorisktheirlives,” said Moore. “I want people to feel a sense of control and options in theircommunities.And,ontopofthis,Ialsowanttoseeuspreserveourcultureandmaintain our unique identity. We can’tdothatwithoutourmountains.Ourcul-tureandourmountainsareintrinsicallylinked.” Moore continued, “Politicians have been telling Kentuckians that coal pro-videsjobs.ButweknowthatMTRmin-ing eliminates jobs. And we’ve gainedimpoverished communities. We’re noteven breaking even, let alone gainingprosperity.Weseesurfaceminingthreat-eningBenhamandLynch,communitieswith very real potential for creatingsustainable jobs,energyandmoneyforthearea.Ifpoliticiansreallycaredaboutjobs,they’dhelpusstopthatmininginthose communities.” “We’re sacrificing the long-term future of our region for the short-termprofit of a few,” concluded Moore. As much as anything, September27 was about speaking truth to power and educating the public about whatis happening in Appalachia. As KFTCmembersandalliestelltheirtruths,they
increase the number of folks who willjoin in the fight. KFTC member Sarah Blanton re-ported that one police officer said to her, “If I were not wearing this uniform, I’d berighttherewithyou.I’mfromPaints-ville.” Greg Capillo of Madison County said, “Out of this event there are more policeandmorefolksinDCandbeyondwhoknowmoreaboutMTR.Thepoliceseeprotestseveryday.ButIdon’tthinktheyseepeoplelikeBevandRickeveryday—folks who take a stand and say,‘Here’s what’s happening to me, mymountains, my family, our home.’ It’sreally powerful.” Pointing to the marks on his armsthat were created by the arrest bands,Rick Handshoe told the bus driverbringing him back to Kentucky, “I got thesestripesonmyarmsforyourgrand-children and for my grandchildren.”
KFTC member Cari Moore
KFTC member Jen Gilomen
KFTC member Bev May
KFTC members Greg Capillo and Rick Handshoe
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010Page 1�
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Canary Project UpdateBattle looms over enforcement of the Clean Water Act Inthelastcoupleofyears,thebattleover mountaintop removal has focusedlargely on the enforcement of the CleanWaterAct. Thelastcoupleofmonthshaveseenaflurry of legal activity as groups look for legalsolutionstosupporttheirpositions. The stage was set starting in 2009 whentheObamaadministrationtoldtheU.S. Environmental Protection Agencyto start enforcing the Clean Water Act(CWA),basedonsoundscience.ThathasresultedinaseriesofactionsbytheEPAtolimittheamountofnewpollutionfromcoalminesintostreams. Insomecases,thathasmeantfurtherreviewandoccasionallydenialofpollu-tion discharge permits, including block-ingofpermitspreviouslyissuedbystateofficials. Thatactionwassteppeduprecentlywhen EPA exercised its authority toreview 12 pollution discharge permits Kentucky officials had approved, delay-ing their issuance. Gov. Steve Beshear then announced that he was joining theKentuckyCoalAssociationinalawsuittostoptheEPAfromtakingthisaction(seerelatedstory). ThisissimilartowhathashappenedinWestVirginiaandnationally,withsep-aratelawsuitsagainsttheEPAfromWestVirginia’s governor and the NationalMiningAssociation. Inmid-October,KFTCandsevenoth-erconservationandsocialjusticegroupsaskedtointerveneintheNationalMining
Association lawsuit, which is trying toblock the EPA from considering scientific information during the permit reviewprocess.
“It’s past time for the EPA to enforce the Clean Water Act,” said KFTC member Rick Handshoe, whose Floyd Countycommunity is surrounded by nine val-ley fills with three more pending. “In my neighborhood it’s too late; the water has been destroyed – but we can’t let this hap-pen anywhere else.”
Cambrian Coal TheEPAactionsarehelpingtoexposecharges that KFTC has been making foryears: that Kentucky officials routinely ignoreCWArequirementsinissuingpol-lutionpermitstocoalcompanies. Thisisespeciallytrueofthelawthatsays the cumulative impact of all pollu-tionsourcesshouldbeconsideredbeforenew pollution is allowed. Many easternKentuckystreamsarealreadysopollutedthatnonewpollutioncouldbeallowedifthislawwereenforced. That is the case with a 791-acre min-ing permit issued to Cambrian Coal inApril.Thestate’sgrantingof thepermit
didnottakeintoconsiderationthatmorepollution would add to the cumula-tive levels of the impacted Pike Countystreams, some sections of which are
alreadytoopollutedtosupporttheirdes-ignateduses. “I grew up along Elkhorn Creek; I’ve hiked and fished in that area for years. As a child I used to swim in the creek, butnowIamconcernedthatsurfacemininginthisareahasstartedtodegradethewa-ter to an unsafe level,” said aquatic biolo-gist and local resident James Stapleton.“Water is the back bone of our economy here in Elkhorn City.And at the end oftheday,weneedpeopletokeepvisitingourareatorecreateandsupportourlocalbusinesses.” KFTC,theSierraClubandtheAppa-lachian Citizens Law Center challenged thatpermit,andinlateSeptemberanad-ministrativelawjudgeissuedastrongly-worded and thorough (95-page) ruling suspendingtheminingpermit. In reaching his decision, Judge Ste-phen Blanton stated that the deficiencies in the permit were “extremely environ-mentally troubling because the water-sheds receiving the discharges here arealready impaired waters and pollutantsfrom surface coal mining operations intheimpactareaarethecauseofthatim-pairment.” But twoweeks later theBeshearad-ministration vacated the administrativeruling. Energy Cabinet Secretary LenPetersorderedtheminingandpollutiontoresume. Peters’ action is now being chal-lengedincourt.Routine CWA violations KFTC, Kentucky Riverkeeper, Ap-palachian Voices and the WaterkeeperAlliance provided further evidence inearly October that state officials do little toenforcetheCleanWaterActforminingactivities. The groups notified ICG Coal and Frasure Creek Mining, who operate inKnott, Perry and Pike counties, of theirintent to sue if the companies did not
complywiththeCleanWaterAct. Specifically, the groups charged that the companies exceeded the pollutiondischarge limits in their permits, con-sistently failed to conduct the requiredmonitoring of their discharges and, inmany cases, submitted false monitoringdata to the state agencies charged withprotectingthepublic. “Our state officials have closed their eyes to an obviously serious problem,” saidTedWithrow, the retiredBigSandyBasin Management Coordinator for theKentuckyDivisionofWaterandamem-ber of KFTC. “These are not small exceed-ances – some are over 40 times the daily maximum. This should have been a redflag.” Under the state-issued permits,companiesareallowedtodischargelim-ited amounts of pollutants into nearbystreams.Thosesamepermitsalsorequirethe companies to carefully monitor andreport theirpollutiondischarges tostateofficials. Many of the monitoring reports re-vieweddidnotchangefromonereport-ing period to the next. For example, atoneFrasureCreekoperationallmonitor-ing data from the second quarter 2008 are repeated identically on the thirdquarterreport,andbothreportsaredated7/15/2008 – weeks before the end of the thirdquartermonitoringperiod. Theseclaimscouldbe justthetipofthe iceberg. A recent trip to Kentucky’sDivision of Mine Reclamation and En-forcement regional offices by Appala-chianVoicesstafffoundstackafterstackof discharge monitoring reports frommore than 60 coal mines and processing facilitiescoveredindustonthedesksofmineinspectors’secretaries.Theydidnotappear to have been evaluated for com-plianceformorethanthreeyears.
Support for EPA Many elected officials are supporting theEPA’senforcementoftheCleanWaterAct. Again in mid-October, 50 members of the U.S. House of Representativessent a letter to EPA Administrator LisaJackson, saying that the agency’s actiondesigned to protect the health of neigh-boring residents “represent significant progress for communities struggling inthe shadow of mining.” U.S.Rep.JohnYarmuthwastheonlyrepresentative from Kentucky to co-signtheletter.
Our state officials have closed their eyes to anobviouslyseriousproblem.”
Ted Withrow, KFTC member and retired Kentucky Division of Water basin coordinator
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010 Page 1�
Canary Project UpdateBeshear, coal industry sue to stop EPA from enforcing clean water protections; state continues permitting On October 18, the Kentucky Coal Association filed a lawsuit against the U.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA) for enforcing scientific standards designed to protect central Appala-chianstreams. Within 24 hours Governor Steve Beshear ordered the state to intervenein the lawsuit on the side of the Ken-tuckyCoalAssociation. “It’s a shame our governor is siding with the polluters rather than protect-ingourwater.Bydoingthisheisfailingthe people of Kentucky,” said KFTC memberandCanaryLeaderEricaUriasfromPikeCounty. This lawsuit was filed because in lateSeptembertheEPAuseditsauthor-ity to deny ten Individual KentuckyPollution Discharge Elimination Sys-tem (KPDES) permits also known as“402” permits. 402 KPDES permits are required forallwaterthatleavesaminepermitthrough a pipe, and each water dis-chargepipeonapermitneedstohavea 402 permit. These permits are meant
tolimittheamountofpollutionthatisdischargedintostream. There are two kinds of 402 permits coalcompaniescanget.OneiscalledanIndividual permit. Individual permitscanbereviewedbytheEPA.Coalcom-paniescanalsotrytohavetheirpollu-tion activities covered by the General 402 KPDES permit for coal mine pollu-tiondischarge. Kentucky’s General 402 KPDES permit was issued in August of 2009 and lasts for 5 years. The General per-mit was issued more than half a yearbefore the EPA issued Guidance on Conductivity last April. During the 5-year life of a General KPDES permit, coalcompaniescanapplytohavetheir402 KPDES applications covered by the umbrella General Permit. Since the EPA approved of Ken-tucky’s General 402 KPDES permit in August 2009, both the Kentucky Divi-sion of Water (that issues 402 KPDES permits) and the EPA agree that theEPA does not have any authority toreview 402 KPDES applications that are
covered by the umbrella General per-mit. SinceJuly1of thisyear,Kentuckyofficials have approved 102 KPDES ap-plications to be covered by the General 402 KPDES permit. Only the Beshear administrationcan decide to stop allowing pollutionfrom coal mines to be covered by theinadequate General permit. The Guidance on Conductivity issued by the EPA on April 1 of thisyearisbasedonseveralpeerreviewedstudies that show when the naturalconductivity of central Appalachianstreams rises above 500 micro Siemens the organisms that live in the streamsbegin to die, especially mayflies that are considered an indicator of the overallhealthofastream. SinceApril, the EPA has used theConductivity Guidance to require that Kentuckysetanumericallimitoncon-ductivity for the discharge from coalmines. Without this numerical limitthe EPA will not allow coal mine ap-plications to receive an Individual 402 permit. The Kentucky Division of Waterhasrefusedtosetanumericallimitonconductivity for either the Individualor the General 402 KPDES permits. Kentucky officials would rather do a narrative analysis of the stream afterthepermithasbeenissued. “I think we should use the best pos-sible science to set limits on pollutionallowedinourstreams.But,evenifthey(EPA)doublethelimitonconductivityto 1,000 (micro Siemens) coal companies
wouldhaveahardtimemeetingthoserequirements,” said KFTC member and Canary Leader Rick Handshoe fromFloyd County. Handshoe has used aconductivitymetertoregularlytestthe
Ann Pancake, noted authorof Strange As This Weather Has Been, received Morehead StateUniversity’s esteemed ThomasandLillianD.ChaffinAwardforAppalachianWritinglastmonth.Publishedin2007,thisnovelfo-cusesonasouthernWestVirginiafamilydevastatedbymountaintopremovalmining.Pancakeisana-tiveWestVirginianwhogrewupinRomneyandSummersville.Basedon both interviews and actualevents,Strange As This Weather Has Beenwasherfirstnovel. The Thomas and Lillie D.Chaffin Award for AppalachianWritingwasestablishedin1996torecognizeexcellenceinAppa-lachianwritinginallgenres.PastwinnersincludeErikReece,SilasHouseandDeniseGiardina.
Perry County members had an information booth at the annual Black Gold Festival in Hazard. Although the tensions have escalated around conversations about coal, KFTC members still thought it important to have a presence at this and other local festivals this fall. These information tables provided a space for members to talk about issues, clarify what KFTC is really about, and encourage more people to get involved with the issues facing their communities.
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balancing the scales, November 5, 2010Page 1�
Canary Project Update
August 2009
Kentucky issues the General 402 Ken-tucky Pollution Discharge EliminationSystem(KPDES)permitforcoalmining,approvedbytheU.S.EPA.
TheKentuckyDivisionofWaterissuesthispermit every five years for coal mining and otheractivitiesthatdischargeintoKentuckystreams.Coalcompaniesmayapplytohavemanytypesofpollutiondischargescoveredunder this permit, rather than apply for amorecostlyIndividual402KPDESpermit.
March 2010
Kentucky issues 29 Individual 402 KP-DES permits for pollution dischargesfromcoalminingactivities.TheEPAdidnotobjecttothesepermits.
InKentucky,ifapollutiondischargemeets
A coal company can be covered by the General 402 KPDES Permit unless the permit will:
certain criteria – for example, it will takeplacewithin5milesupstreamofanexistingdrinking water intake – the coal companymust apply for an individual permit andmaynotapplytobecoveredunderthegen-eralpermit.
April 2010
April 1 – EPAissuesdetailedguidanceon water quality standards in CentralAppalachia that established water con-ductivity benchmarks, effective imme-diately. All Individual 402 KPDES per-mitsinKentuckyissuedgoingforwardshouldfollowit.
Waterconductivitytestseffectivelymeasurewaterpollutionfromcoalminingactivities.Previous EPA guidance, approved in the1970s, was based on technology guidelinesinstead of water pollution measurements.Basingguidance onnumericwater quality
datamakeslawenforcementmoreclear.
April 8 – EPA expresses concern overKentuckyDivisionofWater’sapprovalto cover several significant coal mining pollution discharges under the General 402 KPDES permit.
Since the EPA had already approvedKentucky’sGeneral 402KPDESpermit inAugust2009, itdidnothavetheauthoritytorevieworrejectthesedecisions.
May 2010
May 13 – EPA objects to 12 Individual 402 KPDES permits under review based on failure to ensure that conductivitybenchmarkswouldbemet.EPAissueda final denial of 10 of these permits four monthslater.
July 2010July 13 – EPAperformsareviewofCleanWaterActpermitsforsurfacemininginAppalachian States and identified that Kentucky had failed to uphold waterpollution limitations from coal miningactivities.
July - October 26th - Kentuckyallowed more than 100 pollution dis-charges to be covered by Kentucky’sGeneral 402 KPDES permit for coal min-ingactivities.
October 2010October 18 – TheKentuckyCoalAsso-ciation files suit against the EPA in the UnitedStatesDistrictCourtinPikeville,opposing the use of the conductivityguidance in denying 11 Individual 402 KPDESpermitsforcoalmining.
October 19 – The Commonwealth ofKentuckyjoinsthelawsuit,sidingwiththeKentuckyCoalAssociation.
A time line of an abused system and failed enforcement
streamsaroundhishome. TheKentuckyCoalAssociationandtheBeshearadministrationarearguingthat as scientific evidence is collected and points to increased conductivitybeing a danger to stream life, the EPAshouldnotbeallowedtochangepermit-ting requirements to reflect the need to decreaseconductivitylevelsinstreams.SincetheEPAallowedsomepermitstobe issued before all of the science wascollected and reviewed, then the EPAshould not be allowed to change thepermitrequirements,theysay. According to the Kentucky coalindustry’s lawsuit, the EPA has usedthe Conductivity Guidance to deny 10 permits since April. However, the Kentucky Division of Water has usedthe General 402 permit to grant 102 ap-plicationsbetween July1andOctober28 – something the Kentucky Coal As-sociation and Governor Beshear failed topointoutintheirlawsuit. The General 402 permit does not setanumericlimitonconductivityandthe Kentucky Division of Water cancontinue to use the General permit until 2014, allowing coal companies to pol-
Canary Brief
An independent scientific re-viewconfirmedU.S.EPAresearchthat shows valley fills associatedwith mountaintop removal min-ingareassociatedwithincreasedlevelsofconductivityandthattheseincreased levels of conductivitythreatenstreamlifeinsurfacewa-ters. InAprilofthisyear,basedontheseconclusions,EPAissuednu-mericwaterconductivitystandards.Water conductivitymeasures theabilityofwatertopassanelectriccurrent—that,inturn,isaffectedby the presence of pollutants,suchasseleniumandarsenic.Thehighertheconductivity,themorepollutionispresent.Thenewcon-ductivity standards, if enforced,will significantly limit valley fillsinKentucky.
luteKentucky’sstreamswithimpunity. TheEPAhasnotedthatKentucky’sown data from the 305(b) report sub-mitted to Congress this year showsthat coal mining is heavily damagingwater resources in eastern Kentucky– data that the Beshear Administration
(continuedfrompreviouspage) has ignored in continuing to issue 402 permits that add to the accumulatedpollutionlevels. The 305(b) report says that 82 per-cent of waters in the Big Sandy Riverbasin are “impaired,” mostly from sur-facecoalmining.
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010 Page 1�
Canary Project UpdateThe Cross in the Mountains: a prayer service for renewal
byJohnS.Rausch
Withstormcloudsgiving theskyachanging pattern of various lights anddarkness, 75 of us gathered at Wiley’s Last Resort on September 11 nearWhitesburg for a religious service. Wedesigned “The Cross in the Mountains” asanecumenicalprayerservicetorenewAppalachian communities, althoughthe4-acreprayersitelookedontoBlackMountainwherestripminingwaseatingaway part of Kentucky’s highest ridgeand many of the prayers specifically al-ludedtomountaintopremoval(MTR). Still,theprayerserviceadvertisedaholistic view for community: a healthyenvironment for children, safety forminers, sustainable jobs for the unem-ployed,healthyforests,cleanwaterandsecurity from flooding and propertydamagefromMTR.
Forsometimereligiousleadershavewanted to cast MTR in an ethical andreligiouscontext.Itrepresentsoneofthefew ways of appealing to church-goerswho think only in economic perspec-tives.Wewantedaprayerservicethatin-volvedtheparticipantsatopamountaininthevicinityofMTRwherethecontrastof human greed and the grandeur ofGod was clearly visible in creation. The Way of the Cross (Latin: ViaCrucis) offered a pliable prayer formatthat lent itself for reflection about a va-riety of issues in the mountains. Madepopularinthelatemiddleages,theWayoftheCrosstracesthelasthoursofthelife of Christ in 14 stations (or “pauses for reflection”) from his condemnation byPilatetohisburialandresurrection.Just as the Way of the Cross invites abeliever to relive the hours of tortureand crucifixion of Christ, we recalled the
tortureofEarthanditspossibledeathaswewalkedfromstationtostation. In the first station (“Jesus Is Con-demned to Death”) we remembered that “The broad-form deed condemned the land.” On the eighth station (“Jesus Consoles the Women of Jerusalem”) we recalled that “Mothers and spouses weep over the death of miners.” At the eleventh station (“Jesus is Nailed to the Cross”) we reflected that “Drug and al-coholaddictionnailmany,especiallytheyoung, to a cross for life.” Slowly, reverently the participantsmoved from station to station follow-ing a large processional cross whileholding smaller ones with sins againstcreation written on them. Larry Sloan,an artist from Knott County, designedthe processional cross weighing about25 pounds that featured a lump of coal nearly shaped like a heart at thecrossbeamswithbarbedwirearoundit.Whentheserviceendedthecrossstoodontheproperty’sedgewiththescarsofBlackMountaininthebackground. The individual white crosses heldbyparticipantsenumeratedsinsagainstcreation: “Water Pollution,” “Blasting that threatens life,” “Methane in water wells,” “470 Mountains Leveled” – more
than 30 sayings in all. Hoping for a huge turnout, we made 190 hand-held cross-es, but those not used went to KFTCparticipantswhocarriedtheminD.C.atAppalachiaRisingtwoweekslater. “The Cross in the Mountains” repre-sented prayer both vertical and horizon-tal.ThebagpipesplayedbySamNew-tonfromMaryvilleCollegeandtheRe-quiemfortheMountainscomposedandsunginLatinbyDr.HunterHensleyofEasternKentuckyUniversitystirredtheheart in a heavenward way asking forGod’s help. The prayers that identified thesinsagainstcreationmovedpartici-pantstorededicatethemselvestoasaferenvironment, alternative jobs and therenewalofAppalachiancommunities. In the end, “The Cross in the Moun-tains” combined elements of a demonstra-tion, a celebration and a time of prayer,butmostagreedtheexperiencewasemo-tionallystirringanddeeplyspiritual.
Followthislinktowatcha6-minutevid-eo from the Stations http://www.you-tube.com/watch?v=WKhC-CtdQOw
KFTC member Mickey McCoy (right) held a cross bearing a heart shaped lump of coal at “The Cross in the Mountains” stations of the cross service.
KFTC Canary Fellow Teri Blanton (second from right) received the Revel Award from the Rainforest Action Network (RAN). Also honored were Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, Rivani Nopor and Uki Serara for being true defenders of the rainforest, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who, along with Teri, was honored for work to stop the destructiveness of coal and for sustainable energy. RAN has been the leader in corporate campaigns to get banks to stop financ-ing mountaintop removal mining. Within the last two years, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo along with Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley have passed policies limiting their financial relationships with coal operators that practice mountaintop removal. Over the last couple of years, KFTC members have joined RAN at several bank shareholder meetings to educate corporate officers and other shareholders of the effects that their decisions have on the lives of the Appalachian people. The public witness continued in September during Appalachia Rising with an action at a PNC Bank location in Washington, DC. PNC finances mining companies responsible for almost half of all mountaintop removal coal mined in the U.S.
Donation Box: We are looking for a photocopier for our Jefferson County Office. If you have anything that is currently working that you would like to donate, please contact the office at 502-589-3188.
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010Page 1�
Rural Electric Cooperative Update
I want to help KFTC build power! Name:
Address:
City, State Zip: Phone:
Email:
I wish to make my donation to the following organization (check one):____ KFTC (not tax-deductible) ____ Kentucky Coalition (tax-deductible)
Bank Withdrawal/Credit Card Payment Authorization: I authorize KFTC/KY Coalition & Vanco Services, LLS to debit my account or charge my credit card in accordance with the information provided. I understand that this authority will remain in effect until cancelled or changed by reasonable notification to KFTC/KY Coalition.
Who asked you to join KFTC?
Suggested membership dues are $15-$50 annually.____ One-time Gift: Amount $_________________ Pledger: I will contribute $___ every (check one): __ Month __ 3 Months __Quarterly __Annually
For bank drafts, return this form with a voided check from the account you wish to have the withdrawal made. For checks, please make payable to KFTC or the Kentucky Coalition and mail to: KFTC • P.O. Box 1450 • London, Ky. 40743-1450.
Kentucky House leadership supports on-bill financing Last month, Speaker of the HouseRep. Greg Stumbo, House Majority LeaderRep.RockyAdkins,andHouseMajority Whip Rep. John Will Stacysubmitted a letter to the KentuckyPublic Service Commission (PSC) insupport of an on-bill financing pilot program. IfapprovedbythePSC,theprogramwould make funds available to fourruralelectricco-opsinKentuckytohelp200 households that are most vulnerable to rising electric rates make energy ef-ficiency improvements to their homes. The improvements would save thehouseholds money on their electric billandpartofthesesavingswouldbeusedtopayofftheimprovements. MACED(theMountainAssociationfor Community Economic Develop-ment)isworkingwiththefollowingfourco-opstoseekapprovalforanewtariffmechanism to get the pilot programsofftheground:BigSandyRuralElectricCooperative, Grayson Rural Electric Co-operative,JacksonEnergy,andFleming-MasonRuralElectricCooperative. KFTC has hundreds of membersincountiesservedby theseco-ops,andseveralmembershavebeenworkingformore than a year to bring “new power” – including new clean energy power in the form of increased energy savingsprograms – to their co-ops. Hereisthefullletterfromtherepre-
sentativestothePSC:We are writing in support of the joint ap-plication of the Big Sandy Rural ElectricCooperative,Fleming-MasonEnergyCoop-erative,GraysonRuralElectricCooperativeandJacksonEnergyCooperativeforapprovalof a pilot “On Bill” financing program titled the “KY Energy Retrofit Rider.”
Theproposedpilotprojectpresentsanoppor-tunitytotestandfashionautilitybasedpro-gramtohelpKentuckyelectriccustomersac-cess financing for affordable energy efficiency retrofits for their homes and businesses. The resulting reduction in energy consumptionwillrealizesavingsforthepropertyownersand help slow the demand for new electricgeneration,asavingsforallcustomersoftheparticipating cooperatives. As proposed itis important that capital for the energy effi-ciency retrofits will be provided by MACED through various funding sources ratherthan an expense or liability of rate payers.ReducingdemandforenergyisanimportantcomponentofKentucky‘senergypolicy.Asatwoyearpilotwithlimitedparticipationtheproposedprogramcreatesanopportunitytorefine and improve upon the concept before deploymentonawidespreadscale.
We encourage you to approve the proposedprogram to begin this important undertak-ing.
Several KFTC members applauded
thestridesmadetowardthisprogrambyMACEDandtheco-ops,andexpressedappreciation for the support of Houseleadership. “It is encouraging to see Speaker Stumbo,FloorLeaderAdkinsandHouseMajorityWhipJohnWillStacyacknowl-edging that energy efficiency programs areneededtohelplowincomeKentuck-ians struggling to pay constantly risingutility bills,” said Doug Doerrfeld, a KFTC and Grayson Rural Electric Co-op
member. “Disconnection rates are soar-ingacrossKentuckyasthiscrisisbeginstounfold. “It is imperative that in the next legislative session these House leaderswork to pass energy efficiency standards for Kentucky to increase the benefits of energy efficiency to all Kentuckians struggling to pay their bills.” The co-ops and MACED are nowawaiting the PSC’s ruling on the pro-gram.
In early October, KFTC and ruralelectric co-op members Tona BarkleyandSteveWilkinswereontheradioinNewHampshireandbroadcastnation-ally, talking about the movement tobringnewpowertoruralelectricco-opsbothinKentuckyandacrossthenation. Barkley and Wilkins were invitedtoparticipateasthemainguestsontheBurt Cohen Show after Mr. Cohen, thehost,readaboutKFTC’sworkandotherco-op reform work in the Huffington Post. Bothmembersdidawonderful jobof laying out for the national audiencewhattheco-opreformmovementisallabout – how working for more democ-
racy and transparency can bring aboutmorecleanenergypower. Weaving together personal storieswith discussions of campaign finance reform, energy efficiency retrofits, clean energy legislation, Kentucky politicsand more, they paint a vivid picturehow co-op members and KFTC mem-bers are working to bring “power back to the people.” Ifyou’re interested in cleanenergyandhearingBarkleyandWilkinsshareKFTC members’ work with the world,thisbroadcastisworthalisten.Listentothepodcasthere: http://burtcohen.com/Portals/0/RadioShows/KentuckyPower.mp3
Co-op members share reform ideas with national radio audience
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010 Page 1�
Annual membership meeting empowers members to use their personal stories to build new power in Kentucky KFTCmembersgotpersonalatthe2010 Annual Membership Meeting, ex-ploring thepower of theirownstoriestobringaboutsocialchange. Our Stories: The building blocks ofNew Power, held October 8-10 at the 4-H Leadership Center in Jabez, asked participants to think about their ownplace in the movement for social, en-vironmental and economic justice andtocrafttheirownstoriesasameansofconnectingwithothersarounddivisiveissues. Unlikerhetoricandideology,storiesarepersonalandcreateaconnectionbe-tweenpeoplewithsharedvalues.Evensomeonewhodoesn’tknowallthefactsor solutions has a story. As MadisonCounty member Greg Capillo said, “No one can take your story from you.” In skillbuildingworkshops,mem-bersbeganbythinkingabouthowtheybecame involved in a particular issue– “the story of self.” Then they moved beyond themselves to the “story of us” andthestoryofthemoment. Madison County member MeganNasemandescribedherownevolutionfromakidwholovedtoclimbtreestoa“botany nerd” at Berea College who got involved with KFTC when she visitedFloyd County to test streams affectedby mountaintop removal mining. Andfinally to the side walk in front of the WhiteHouse,whereshewasarrestedinSeptember for protesting mountaintop
removalaspartofAppalachiaRising. “I’m just one person who has a story of why we chose to sit down infront of the White House,” she said. Naseman pointed to this momentin history, when conversations aboutmountaintop removal have spreadacross the region and the nation, as atimewhenstorieshaverealpotentialtomove us beyond this destructive prac-tice. “Right now these conversations are on the tip of the tongue of a lot morepeople than are in this room,” she said. Stories have the power to inspirehopeandactionandcreateasensethat“we’re all in this together.” Values such as equality, democracy and the righttocleanairandwatermotivatepeopleandconnectthemtootherswithsharedvalues. Stories can also activate new“frames” in our minds that enable us to thinkaboutissuesinnewways. Tona Barkley of Owen Countydescribed a faith-centered upbring-ing that taught her the sacredness ofthe landandher connection tonature.Concernedabouttheeffectsofcoalmin-ing and burning, Barkley began to seeherselfaspartofsomethinglargerandgot involved lastyear inKFTC’sworkto prevent a new coal-burning powerplantincentralKentucky. “Our call to action sometimes seems overwhelming – it does to me,” said Barkley. But the movement is gainingmomentum and a new day is possible
inKentucky,shesaid. “This day is ready to be born, peo-ple. It’s up to us to bring it into being,” Barkleysaid. Participants were urged to keepworking on their stories beyond theweekend and practice sharing themwithothers.Inspiration, business and fun The annual meeting is an oppor-tunity for KFTC members to come to-gether and inspire each other, recognize hardworkandheroicefforts,electnewofficers, and have some fun. At the Saturday evening banquet,more than 60 people and organizations were recognized for outstanding work at the local, state and national levelsduring the past year (see page 18 for names). Between workshops, membershiked the grounds around the leader-ship center, jumped in the lake, andpicked music on the porch. At theHome Grown Talent Show Saturday night, they regaled each other with anassortment of acts from social justicecheerleadingtopoetryandevenanAbeLincolnmonologue. Before wrapping up on Sunday,members got down to business: elect-ing statewide officers, approving new and returning chapters, and adoptingchangestotheissueplatform.Formorephotosoftheevent,visitwww.kftc.org/am-photos.
A letter to my new familybyJenniferWurts
Last month, I attended my firsteverKFTCevent-theAnnualMem-bershipMeetinginJabez,KY.Attherisk of sounding melodramatic – itmademylifefinallymakesense.
I went last weekend becausein third grade I learned about en-dangered and extinct species, and Icried.Andthenwaterconservation,andIdemandedthatmyparentsin-sulate thepipessowewouldn’t runthewateraslongwaitingforittogethot.Irodemybicycleupanddownthealleybehindmyhousenear themiddle of our small town, betweenthe tree-lined train tracks and thecornfield with the rainbow-coloredmorning glories growing up thestalks.AndwhileIpedaled,IplottedhowIwouldsavetheworld.Iimag-inedmyselfgivinggrandspeechesatthenextschoolassemblyafterweallsang“ProudToBeAnAmerican”andthen me and my classmates savingtheenvironment. Buthow,exactly?It was too tall an order for a thirdgrader, I felt too overwhelmed bytheimmensityofthetasktosavetheplanetandthepeoplewhocalled ithome,andsoIgaveup.... To read the entire blog visitwww.kftc.org/wurts
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010Page 18
Awards from the 2010 annual membership meetingSpecial Friends Awards: ArizonaChansler,volunteer;JustinMax-sonandJasonBailey,MountainAssociationforCommunityEco-nomicDevelopment;KentuckyEnvironmentalFoundation,allyintheStopSmithCampaign;Cum-berlandChapterofSierraClub,allyintheStopSmithCampaign;Layla&AustinMusselmanforhostingtheAshbourneFarmsBarnPartyfundraiserinJuly;LindaGeorgeforfaithfulworkinsupportofKFTC
Ally of the Year Award: To the ally that has done the most over the past year to support KFTC’s work: RainforestActionNetworkforitscorporatecampaigntostopmountaintopremoval
Executive Committee Awards: Presented to Executive Committee members for their service:SusanWilliams,PamMaggard,SteveBoyce,DougDoerrfeld,K.A.Owens
Membership Recruitment Award by number of new members:JeffersonCountyChapter
Welcome to the Family Award: ScottCountyKFTCChapter,NorthernKentuckyKFTCChapter
Membership Recruitment Award by the largest percent of growth:FloydCountyChapter
Sister Marie Gangwish Award: To the member who has worked steadily and creatively to raise the grassroots funds that support KFTC’s success:HeineBrothers’Coffee,Louisville
Evelyn Williams Award: To the member who persevered against great obstacles and over time to win an important victory: BeverlyMay,FloydCounty
Alice O. Martin Award: To the member who has done the most work behind the scenes to strengthen KFTC as an organiza-tion:TedWithrow,RowanCounty
Daniel Thompson Bridge Builder Award: To the member who has diligently and faithfully worked to bring together diverse groups of people within KFTC: BeckiWinchel,JeffersonCounty
Joyce Wise Award: To the KFTC member who has overcome personal adversity to help others: RussellOliver,PerryCounty
Gladys Maynard “The Start of Something Big” Award: To the member(s) whose commitment and action leads to the develop-ment of a major movement or event in the cause for justice:
Joe Begley and Everett Akers Award: To the member who is jailed, loses a job, or faces some other major adversity because of their work for social justice: BobBurns,RowanCounty;KFTCmembersandstaffwhowerear-restedinanactofcivildisobedi-enceduringAppalachiaRising:BeverlyMay,RickHandshoe,TeriBlanton,ColleenUnroe,JasonHoward,GregCapillo,MeganNaseman,CariMoore,MickeyMcCoy,PaigeCordial,AndyLong,JimmyHall,JenGilomen,CassiePfleger,BetsyTaylor
Funder of the Year Award: To the individual or organization that has provided exceptional guid-ance and resources to KFTC in its struggle for social justice: AtlanticPhilanthropies
Hazel King Lifetime Achievement Award:To the KFTC member who has committed his or her life in the service of others by working for social justice: DougDoerrfeld,ElliottCounty
Members from Bowling Green and Berea took a few minutes to take a “family” photo at the Annual Membership Meeting.
At the Annual Membership Meeting members learned how to build and tell their personal stories about how they became involved in social justice work.
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010 Page 1�
High Road Initiative UpdateA post-coal economy: What can Appalachia learn from Wales? KFTC members attended the sym-posium “Appalachia and Wales: Coal and after Coal” Oct 14-16 at Appala-chian State University in Boone, NC.The event focused on the historicalties and parallel trends in productionbetween coal-mining regions inAppa-lachiaandWalesoverthelastcentury. LikeCentralAppalachia,Waleshasalonghistoryofcoalmining.YetmostoftheminesinWalesshutdowninthe
1980s, forcing former mining regions to find alternative ways to sustain their communities. Duringtheevent,arangeofschol-ars, artists and activists provided aninterdisciplinaryviewofhowissuesre-latingtocoal,climatechange,economy,and technology have shaped the coal-fields of South Wales and Appalachia. KFTCmembersparticipatedintwopanels related to economic transition
for coalfield communities. Sylvia Ryerson, a VISTA workingwithWMMT-FMinWhitesburg,wroteablogpostfortheInstituteofRuralJour-nalism,whichcanbefoundat:http://irjci.blogspot.com/p/appalachian-coal.html. Sylvia also produced a WMMTspotthatcanbeheardat:http://appal-shop.org/wmmt/node/2204. KFTC’sRandyWilson’smusicandstorytelling was featured on Friday
eveningof thegathering.KFTC’scloseallyAppalachianVoiceshostedameet,greet and eat at their offices for the many grassroots folks attending theevent. Event co-organizers, KFTC memberTomHansell andPatBeaver, andAppala-chianStateUniversityprovidedsupporttobring KFTC members and other regionalcoalfield residents to participate in the sym-posium.
The Kentucky Sustainable EnergyAlliance (KySEA),ofwhichKFTCisafounding member, tabled at the Gover-nor’s Energy Conference on October 20 and 21 in Louisville. Members had many good conver-sations with Kentuckians from acrossthe state who are interested in whattheycandotomoveKentuckytowardsacleanenergyfuture. Severalschoolteachersstoppedbythetable,interestedinhowtheycouldmove their schools towards clean en-ergy. Peopleinterestedininstallingsolarpanels on their homes were curiouswho theyshouldcontact tomake thathappen. Business owners and otherindividualsaskedhowtheycouldcon-tributetowardsKySEA’seffortstopassclean, affordable and sustainable state
KySEA attends Governor’s Energy Conference to broaden discussionenergypolicy. KySEA’spresencewasparticularlyimportant given that the conferenceseemed to have a theme of “transi-tion.” Presentations throughout the twodays focused on how Kentucky’s andthenation’senergylandscapeareshift-ing and that an increase in renewableenergysourcesandadeclineintheuseofcoal-burningpowerareinevitable. KentuckyEnergySecretaryLenPe-tersstatedthatthroughtheconference“we are exploring ideas for how we make this transition, this transforma-tion go most smoothly for everyone.”KySEAisanallianceof individuals,busi-nessesandorganizationsworkingtogetherto promote clean, sustainable and afford-ableenergysolutionsforKentucky.Itwas
formedin2009.Giventhechangingenergylandscapeandtheneedsofsomanyfamiliesfacing skyrocketing energy prices, KySEA
ispoisedtodoexcitingworkoverthenextfew years. Visit www.kysea.org to learnmore!
balancing the scales, November 5, 2010Page �0
Calendar of EventsNov. 16 NorthernKentuckychaptermeeting,7p.m.,FlorenceCity
Please make checks payable to KFTCPO Box 1450. London, Ky 40743
Green KFTC Tee: American Apparel Available in Adult Sizes:
XS, S, M, L, XL, XXLAvailable in Baby Doll Sizes: M, L
$12plus $2 shipping
Songs for the MountaintopA collection of songs by Kentucky Artists Against Mountaintop Removal, including: Jean Ritchie, The Between-ers, George Ella Lyon, Clack Mountain String Band, Kate Larken, Anne Shelby, Reel
World String Band, The Doo-littles, Randy Wilson, Ford
MacNeil, Fred Brown & Tom Gilliam, and Brett Ratliff.
$15
Missing Mountains: We went to the mountaintop
but it wasn’t there.
35 Kentuckians write against mountaintop
removal mining
Foreword by Silas House; Afterword by Wendell BerryEdited by Kristin Johannsen,
Bobbie Ann Mason, & Mary Ann TaylorHall
$16plus $2 shipping
Lost MountainA Year In The Vanishing
Wilderness
Signed by AuthorErik Reece
$20plus $2 shipping
Red Mountains Tee: American ApparelAvailable in Adult Sizes:
XS, S, M, L, XL, XXLAvailable in Baby Doll Sizes: M, L
