balancing the scales - August 2012

August 21, 2012

pg. 5

Non-Profit U.S. Postage PAID Lexington, Ky. Permit No. 513

STAY Summer Institute builds cohesive group of mountain youth

Change Service Requested

Volume 31 Number 5

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth P.O. Box 1450 London, Ky. 40743

balancing the scales

Rowan members raise funds and have fun despite fierce weather pg. 4

Officer nominations, platform review start annual process pg. 7

KFTC member Sonia McElroy runs for Shelby Energy board pg. 9

Members open dialogue with new DNR Commissioner Steve Hohmann pg.15

Organizing Toolbox: Registering yourself and others to vote! pg. 6

Office of Surface Mining demands adequate mine bonds pg. 8

Court tells EPA it needs different approach to protect water pg.13

Members express vision for tax reform at blue ribbon hearings pg.17

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balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Table of Contents Letter to the Editor Shelby Energy — Members Bill of Rights is integral to co-op reform New Power Leader Profile: Deborah Pennington

page 3 page 3

Local Updates Rowan members raise funds and have fun despite fierce weather Northern Kentucky chapter reaches out in community STAY Summer Institute builds cohesive group of youth in the mountains Benham and Lynch communities fight proposed permits

page 4 page 4 page 5 page 5

Voter Empowerment Update Organizing Toolbox: Registering yourself and others to vote!

page 6

Officer nominations, platform review start annual process

page 7

New Energy and Transition Update Rural Utility Service seeks public comments Office of Surface Mining demands adequate mine bonds KFTC member Sonia McElroy runs for Shelby Energy board Support for KFTC’s work in California Sam Avery shares his “common sense” home with guests Committee discusses economic transition in the mountains Communicating Coal: shifting the frame to be “for” something

page 8 page 8 page 9 page 9 page 10 page 11 page 12

Canary Project Updates Court tells EPA it needs different approach to protect water Water testing programs continue to grow in eastern Kentucky USGS research addresses health in mining communities Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act seeks moratorium Black Lung on the rise; Rep. Hal Rogers blocks protection for miners Members open dialogue with new DNR Commissioner Steve Hohmann Member Spotlight: Rick Handshoe’s battle for clean water

page 13 page 14 page 14 page 14 page 15 page 15 page 16

Economic Justice Update Members express vision for tax reform at blue ribbon hearings Bush-era tax cuts still harmful to most Kentuckians

page 17 page 18

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth is a statewide grassroots social justice orga­­ni­ zation working for a new balance of power and a just society. KFTC uses direct-action organizing to accomplish the following goals: • foster democratic values • change unjust institutions • empower individuals • overcome racism and other discrimination • communicate a message of what’s 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, Chairperson Sue Tallichet, Vice-Chairperson Dana Beasley Brown, Secretary-Treasurer K.A. Owens, Immediate Past Chair Rick Handshoe, At-Large Member

Nominations for officers and committees page 19 Madison County Chapter page 20 KFTC says “Goodbye” to Nancy Reinhart page 20

I want to help KFTC build power!

Name: Address: City, State Zip: Phone: Email:

Chapter Representatives

Suggested membership dues are $15-$50 annually. ____ One-time Gift: Amount $_____________ ____ Sustaining Giver:

I will contribute $___ (check one):

__ Monthly __ Quarterly

__ Annually Authorized Signature: ________________________ Date: _____________ Circle one: Mastercard American Express

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I want to make my donation to the following organization (check one): ____ KFTC (not tax-deductible) ____ Kentucky Coalition (tax-deductible)

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B a n k W i t h d r a w a l / C re d i t C a rd P a y m e n t Authorization: I authorize KFTC/KY Coalition 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.

Cardholder’s name (as it appears on the card):

Who asked you to join KFTC?

Expiration date: ___ ___ / ___ ___

_____________________________ Date: ____________ For bank drafts, return this form with a voided check from the account you wish to have the withdrawal made. Make checks payable to KFTC or the Kentucky Coalition and mail to: KFTC • P.O. Box 1450 • London, Ky. 40743-1450.

Rosanne Fitts Klarer, Scott County Erika Skaggs, Central Kentucky Ted Withrow, Rowan County Ben Baker, Northern Kentucky Mary Love, Jefferson County Travis Lane, Bowling Green & Friends Carl Shoupe, Harlan County Cleveland Smith, Perry County Megan Naseman, Madison County Elizabeth Sanders, Letcher County Nathan Hall, Floyd County Alternates: Vacant, Scott County; Christian Torp, Central Kentucky; Lisa Bryant, Rowan County; Katie Meyer, Northern Kentucky; Christine Farmer, Jefferson County; Vacant, Bowling Green & Friends; Roy Silver, Harlan County; Tiffany Skiles, Perry County; Meta Mendel-Reyes, Madison County; Ada Smith, Letcher County; Bev May, Floyd County

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 tim@kftc.org.

Subscriptions are $20 per year.

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balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Letter to the Editor

Shelby Energy — Members Bill of Rights is integral to co-op reform Dear editor,

We, member/owners of Shelby Energy, must take a new interest in our co-op as we move forward into the energy future. This is imperative for our children and grandchildren.

There is a nationwide groundswell of reform activity among member/owners of local co-ops and that movement is getting underway here in the Shelby Energy 10-county area. For the first time in 75 years Shelby Energy had a contested election for the board of directors.

A woman named Sonia Mcelroy put forth a valiant effort over many obstacles to win her nomination for that election. Based on the vote of attendees of members who voted at the annual meeting, she came close to winning.

But when the proxy vote was counted she lost by a large margin.

Proxy voting is a threat to the true democracy, which

was a founding principle of the electric cooperatives.

To achieve full member/owner participation in Shelby Energy we must have a Members’ Bill of Rights adopted by the board of directors. This document will allow for openness in meetings, elections and records. We are asking all members to support this effort, by signing a petition and letting the co-op know of your interest.

During a recent audit of East Kentucky Power, the Kentucky Public Service Commission’s recommendation was directed at rural cooperative members, not at the board, saying that in order to bring real reform they must band together and change their companies from the inside.

Patrick J. King Shelbyville, Kentucky

New Power Leader Profile: Deborah Pennington

How long have you been involved with KFTC? Three years

do, to all of us.

How/why did you decide to become a New Power Leader?

I grew up in eastern Kentucky, and what happens here matters to me. Coal has divided families. We need to help each other understand how much harm bad air, water and dirt can

How did you decide who you wanted to invite to be in your cluster of people?

People in my neck of the woods and who feel just as passionately as I do about clean air, water and dirt!

And people that I enjoy working with, and who have good skills, too.

What are some of the things you’ve done with your cluster of folk?

A dessert party … lots of pies and cakes made from heritage recipes. That was great fun and celebrated one of the best things about eastern Kentucky – good food and fellowship. It also has given me the personal

strength and courage to stand up for what I believe to be true.

What are some of the outcomes you’ve seen?

Members are proud of being KFTC members, and share their love for KFTC work with neighbors, so we are educating at a grass roots level. All of us are becoming better informed and educated, more articulate in our ability to communicate with friends and neighbors. It was good to have a presence at the I Love Mountains Day in Frankfort this year.

What are some of your plans or aspirations with your cluster members?

We’re a very small county, with few members. We’d like to recruit more members and develop more leaders.

What skills do you feel like you’ve developed, and what skills would you like to continue to develop?

Networking.

What’s your vision for your community and Kentucky?

Simple – clean air, water and dirt.

What do you think the impact could be of having 1,000 New Power Leaders in Kentucky?

Very powerful!! That’s a great goal!

KFTC Offices and Staff MAIN OFFICE Morgan Brown, Robin Daugherty & Burt Lauderdale P.O. Box 1450 London, Kentucky 40743 606-878-2161 Fax: 606-878-5714 info@kftc.org

FIELD OFFICES Louisville Jessica George, Jerry Hardt, and Colette Henderson 901 Franklin Street Louisville, Ky 40206 502-589-3188 Whitesburg Tanya Turner P.O. Box 463 Whitesburg, Ky 41858 606-632-0051 Berea Lisa Abbott, Amy Hogg, Carissa Lenfert, Sara Pennington and Kevin Pentz 140 Mini Mall Drive Berea, KY 40403 859-986-1277

Teri Blanton 118 Baugh Street Berea, Ky. 40403 859-986-1648 Central Kentucky Tim Buckingham, Jessica Hays Lucas, Erik Hungerbuhler, Heather Roe Mahoney, Dave Newton and Ondine Quinn 250 Plaza Drive Suite 4 Lexington, Ky 40503 859-276-0563 Northern Kentucky Joe Gallenstein 859-380-6103 Floyd County Kristi Kendall 606-226-4159

e-mail any staff member at firstname@kftc.org except for Jessica Hays Lucas use jessicabreen@kftc.org

On the cover: Members of Stay Together Appalachian Youth (STAY) gathered at the STAY Summer Institute.

More than 40 young people from throughout the region, including over a dozen from Kentucky, gathered in early August for the 2012 STAY Summer Institute in Hillsboro, West Virginia.

Dozens of people in attendance had never been to a STAY gathering before, but a family of young movers and shakers emerged over the few days.

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balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Local Updates

Rowan members raise funds and have fun despite fierce weather

For the second consecutive year Rowan County chapter members had to contend with violent weather at the chapter’s largest annual fundraising event.

The chapter is the sole food provider for the Old Time Music Festival held on July 26 and 27 in Rowan County near Morehead. This was the seventh year for the festival. It drew as many as 300 people from across Kentucky and several states and from as far away as Great Britain.

Over a dozen chapter members contributed to this year’s fundraiser.

For Friday night’s dinner, chapter members cooked and served char-broiled hamburgers, hot dogs, soup beans and corn bread, black bean soup and veggie burritos, along with a variety of homemade muffins and cookies.

But in the evening, a freak storm came from behind the mountain north of the farm. As soon as chapter members saw the black clouds they scrambled to pack up as much as they could, but within a minute or two 60 MPH winds slammed

into the festival.

With families running for shelter, chapter members stationed themselves near their two canopies and hung on.

Strong winds threw other canopies into the air and almost lifted our members along with our canopies. Then a cold, driving rain joined the strong blasts of wind. Not one of our members would yield and move to shelter. If the canopies had broken free they easily could have struck children and families fleeing for their cars.

Within 20 minutes the storm passed.

Members gathered up perishables and covered up for the evening, soaked through and exhausted. But Saturday dawned sunny and delightful.

Chapter members were up early wiping up with towels, splinting the somewhat damaged canopies back together for the day and then serving coffee, teas, muffins, scrambled eggs, potatoes and breakfast burritos.

Rowan County member and Steering Committee representative Ted Withrow

emailed the chapter the day after the festival, writing: “Huge success! Everyone worked hard, and when the going got tough, the tough got going; we rose from a devastating storm without a single thought that we would not. That is a character trait of the KFTC family. We are relentless in all we do!”

Northern Kentucky chapter reaches out in community

The Northern Kentucky KFTC Chapter returned to two festivals this year to continue to build upon existing relationships with key ally organizations in the region.

The first event was the third annual Browngrass Festival, a fundraiser benefitting public radio station WNKU in historic Rabbit Hash on July 21. This event, taking place on the banks of the Ohio River in rural Boone County, proved to be a great chance to talk about the concerns around mountaintop removal, discuss voting rights and talk to Owen Electric members about the need for more owner/member protection in the co-ops, as well as investment in sustainable energy here in Kentucky.

The second event was the Fourth Annual Liberty Row Block Party in Newport.

This event, which is put on by a microneighborhood inside the Westside Citizens’ Coalition, serves as a chance for neighbors in Newport to get to know each other and to build a sense of community in Newport.

The chapter used this opportunity to build stronger relationships with community members and organizations in the urban areas in Campbell County, register voters and discuss local concerns about payday lending, unsustainable development on the region’s hillsides and the disenfranchisement of more than 240,000 Kentuckians.

Between the two events the chapter was able to register 11 voters, recruit a dozen new members, raise more than $200 and

help inform people about the various work KFTC is doing both locally and across the state.

Music for the Mountains re-release!

In February 2011, a group of musicians from Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Alabama put together an unbelievable concert and Music for the Mountains CD release party at the historic Southgate House in Newport. The event raised money and awareness in the fight to end mountaintop removal mining, and was done to benefit both KFTC and Ohio Citizen Action.

This year the album has been rereleased online (in a digital format only) for only five dollars, with the proceeds again being split between KFTC and Ohio Citizen Action.

To download a copy of this great album, featuring more than 20 independent and almost entirely local artists, visit www. thisisamericanmusic.com.

Shelby County members gear up for chapter petition

KFTC members in Shelby County are preparing to become KFTC’s newest chapter. Members will hold their first official meeting September 13 and present their chapter petition to the KFTC membership at the KFTC annual meeting in October.

“We invite all KFTC members in Shelby County to join us at 6 p.m. on Thursday, September 13 at the Stratton Center, 210 Main Street in Shelbyville,” said Lisa Aug. “We will provide food, live music and the best company in central Kentucky.”

“As this September meeting is our annual meeting, we will have a short business meeting to elect five people to various positions for the coming year,” Aug explained. “Those jobs are open to any member.”

The five jobs are KFTC Steering Committee representative and alternate, a chapter fundraising coordinator, a membership coordinator and a publicity coordinator.

“Anyone who would like to nominate him/herself or someone else should do so before September 12. Please email Patrick King at oc500@hotmail.com,” Aug said.

Of the 62 (and counting!) KFTC members in Shelby County, about a dozen have been meeting monthly for the last year to work on an initial campaign for reform at Shelby Energy rural electric cooperative.

Members have made several forward strides and are preparing major actions toward getting a Member Bill of Rights adopted.

They also have agreed to start work on two more campaigns: getting a fairness ordinance adopted in Shelbyville and Shelby County, and fighting wage theft in Shelby County.

“As befits a new chapter, we are eager and excited about achieving KFTC goals in Shelby County and statewide,” Aug added.

The album is still available in CD format for only ten dollars. To purchase it in this format, please contact a local KFTC office or organizer, or reach out to Northern Kentucky organizer Joe Gallenstein at joe@kftc.org or 859-380-6103.

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balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Local Updates

STAY Summer Institute builds cohesive group of youth in the mountains

It was “not only a wonderful way to come together face-to-face as Kentucky youth, it was a way to come together as youth from across Central Appalachia,” KFTC member Elizabeth Sanders described the Summer Institute, hosted by Stay Together Appalachian Youth (STAY).

“We shared our own stories and experiences, learned from one another, and brought our individual visions together to create a many-faceted approach for how to stay and thrive in the place we love.”

In summer 2011 more than a dozen young folks from communities all over east Kentucky joined their peers from throughout Central Appalachia for a fourday Summer Institute in Harlan County, filled with workshops, identity caucuses and skill shares celebrating the culture and history of community organizing in Appalachia.

This past spring, STAY held its annual LGTBQ gathering in Berea, bringing together lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer youth from throughout the region to discuss what it means to be LGBTQ and living in the mountains.

The idea for this gathering came out of an LGBTQ identity caucus at the STAY Summer Institute, and involved an entire weekend of community building and visioning of ways to better solidify the unique support they want and need as a community.

Building on these successes, more than 40 young people from throughout the region, including over a dozen from

ties of West Virginia, southwest Virginia, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, and western North Carolina. STAY is currently a consortium supported by Appalshop’s Appalachian Media Institute in Whitesburg, KY, High Rocks in Hillsboro, WV, and the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, TN.

Field trip to the Satellite Observatory in Pocahontas County, WV Kentucky, gathered in early August for the 2012 STAY Summer Institute in Hillsboro, West Virginia.

Dozens of people in attendance had never been to a STAY gathering before, but a family of young movers and shakers emerged over the few days.

Jacqualine Benjie, a new KFTC member from Wallins Creek in Harlan County said, “I thought it wasn’t possible to build strong relationships with people you have only been around for a few days, but that’s not true. While I was at STAY I built relationships instantly, at the moment I said “Hello”! I knew by the feeling I got as soon as I got there this was something special.

I connected with people because I knew they truly wanted to make a difference, and that was heart touching to know there were other youth that wanted to make a difference just like me.”

Young KFTC leaders facilitated workshops on the issues surrounding prison expansion in Central Appalachia and organizing to address it, environmental justice movements in the region, community philanthropy, mountain fighting music, and more. This year’s gathering was held at High Rock’s, a mostly off-the-grid campground, featuring solar and fire-heated showers, composting and evaporation toilets, and a village of hammocks.

A new steering committee was elected and it’s pretty clear that the upcoming year has a lot in store for STAY and this growing network of amazing visionaries.

The ‘Stay Together Appalachian Youth’ Project is a diverse regional network of young people throughout

Central Appalachia who are working together to advocate for and actively participate in their home mountain communi-

to protect their high quality water and their historic coal towns.

Two strip mines also pose great threats. The Lynch reservoir was created

by U.S. Steel in the 1960’s.

They sealed off an underground mine and drilled one bore hole in Looney Creek and another in Gap Branch. The proposed A & G strip mine, (permit #848-0287) would strip through two streams that feed the headwaters of Looney Creek.

The Lynch City Council and many other concerned citizens filed a protest with the Kentucky Division of Mine Permits opposing the A & G strip mine.

The A & G permit has received what is called technical approval from the cabinet.

The Kentucky Division of Water is reviewing the permit. A note has been placed in the permit file by the director.

It says after the water permit discharge is examined by the Division of Water the permit application will undergo further review by the Division of Mine Permits.

It is likely that A & G will have to make a “major revision” because of a Kentucky regulation that prevents discharges within five miles of the intake of any public water system.

Nalley and Hamilton, (permit #867-0472) has proposed another strip mine directly above Lynch. It is on top of Portal 31, (portal31.org), the state of the art underground exhibition coal mine. This multi-million dollar facility is the centerpiece of the culturalheritage tourism for these Harlan County communities. In other permits, Nalley and Hamilton had “12,000 violations of the Clean Water Act.”

“The best part of the STAY Summer Institute each year is the opportunity to meet and spend a few days getting to know other young, energized, interesting people from across Appalachia. During SSI, the entire Institute splits into three groups for half-day field trips to local communities and places of interest. During the last two years, I went on the field trips with the largest group of people. This was such an incredible way to get to know and develop friendships with at least a third (sometimes half!) of the entire camp. There’s nothing that brings people together more quickly than spending half a day traveling in a van together, listening to music, joking around, and getting to visit awesome, interesting and beautiful parts of Appalachia that are often unknown to most of us.”

Stephanie Tyree from Charleston, WV living in Letcher County

Benham and Lynch communities fight proposed permits

by Roy Silver

More than three years ago a “notice of intention to mine” was advertised in the Harlan county newspaper.

The mine permit was reviewed

by KFTC members, including retired coal miners and representatives of the Lynch City Council. They concluded the underground coal mine could endanger the high quality water reservoirs that supply Lynch and Benham. That coal mine could have threatened the historic districts.

KFTC members and Lynch City Councils have asked for changes in four underground coal mine permits.

The former miners and others support responsible and safe deep mining. From the beginning their top priority has been

Nalley and Hamilton has temporally withdrawn their permit application after the Division of Mine Permits asked them to make nine pages of corrections.

After Nalley and Hamilton filed this strip mine permit application, the city of Lynch and four KFTC members asked Tom Fitzgerald and the Kentucky Resources, (kyrc.org) to file a Lands Unsuitable for Mining Petition with the state of Kentucky.

If successful, this will protect both Lynch and Benham.

Tom Fitzgerald and representatives of the five petitioners are currently in negotiations with the coal and land holding companies. It is their hope that they can all agree that protecting Lynch and Benham is important. Please check future issues of balancing the scales and www.kftc.org for updates.

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balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Voter Empowerment Update

Organizing Toolbox: Registering yourself and others to vote!

Our democracy works best when all people have access to good information and are able to participate in decisions affecting their lives and communities.

Voting is just one of many important actions citizens can take to make our voices heard. But it’s important!

The simple act of voting sends a message to our government. Who votes in each election is public information. Politicians pay close attention to that kind of information. They know which communities tend to vote in high numbers, and which don’t. And once they get elected, they are much more likely to pay attention to the voices of those likely voters. In other words, your vote helps make your whole community more influential.

Of course, your vote also helps determine the outcome of elections. While it’s rare that an election is decided by a onevote margin, many races are extremely close. It matters a lot which voters show up and who stays at home! And each election decides much more than just who wins or loses. Elections also shape which issues get attention, which ideas or solutions gain support, and which groups of people are listened to in the public debate.

While it’s easy to be cynical about politics, the truth is that things don’t get better if good people stay on the sidelines or drop out of the game. There is no guarantee that your vote will produce the outcome you were hoping for. But not voting makes it even more likely that things will slide in the wrong direction.

Most of all, voting is one way to keep alive our common vision of a working, healthy democracy. It’s a way of honoring all those who sacrificed to expand and defend the right to vote. And it’s a small but important step toward creating the kind of world we want to live in.

Do I have to choose a political party?

Yes. You must choose one of the three options on the Kentucky voter registration card: Republican Party, Democratic Party or Other. You have the option of writing in the name of another party if you mark “other,” but that’s not required.

If you do choose “other,” you will not be allowed to vote in partisan primary elections, which take place in May to decide which candidates will be on the November ballot. Only registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic Primary, and only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican Primary.

• You can also register by mail. A printable version of the voter registration card is available on KFTC’s website: www.kftc.org.

Who is eligible to vote?

To be eligible to register to vote in Kentucky, a person must: • Be a U.S. citizen • Be a resident of Kentucky not less than 28 days before the election • Be at least 18 years old by the date of the next General Election • Not be a convicted felon (or, if so, have had your civil rights restored) • Not have been judged mentally incompetent in a court of law

How to register to vote:

• Not claim the right to vote anywhere outside Kentucky

•Visit the Kentucky Voter Information Center if you’re uncertain whether you’re registered to vote or unsure if you’re registered to vote at your current address: https://cdcbp.ky.gov/ VICWeb/VIC.

(If you are a former felon and have completed your sentence, you must receive a partial pardon from the Governor before you register to vote. KFTC organizers can help with that process. Call 606-878-2161 for more information.)

•You can register in-person at your local County Clerk’s office. For a full list of county clerks in Kentucky, visit: http://elect.ky.gov/contactcountyclerks/Pages/default.aspx.

Tips for organizing a voter registration drive • Get voter registration cards from your county clerk or the Kentucky Board of Elections (502-573-7100.)

• Pick a time and location that will help you reach the most people.

• Make your efforts visible, whether going door-to-door or setting up a table.

• Be informed and know the law.

• Check each registration card to make sure the information is complete.

• Turn in all cards in a timely manner, and absolutely by the registration deadline of October 9, 2012.

• Follow up with people you register to encourage them to vote and get involved!

Frequently asked questions when filling out a Kentucky voter registration card What’s the difference between the “address where you live” and my “mailing address?”

The Board of Elections needs to know where you live in order to assign you to the right polling location. So if you get your mail at a post office box number or a campus box number, you also need to list your actual street address.

Do I have to list my social security number?

Yes.

Do I need to get the signatures of two witnesses?

No. That information is required only if the voter is unable to sign his or her name and simply signs the card with an X. Is a phone number required?

No, it is not. But listing a phone number is important since it allows the County Clerk’s office to contact you if there is any confusion or missing information on your card.

I’m a college student. Can I register to vote where I go to school?

Yes. It is your choice whether to register to vote back home or to change your voter registration to the location where you go to school. It may be helpful to think about where you will be on election day. Many people find it easier to vote in the closest location. Otherwise you must remember to request an absentee ballot from the more distant location.

How do I turn in my own voter registration card or cards I’ve collected from others?

All cards must be turned in by October 9, 2012, for people to be eligible to vote in the November 6th election. Cards must be turned in or postmarked to the local County Clerk or the State Board of Elections by this date.

If you collect voter registration cards from people who live in different counties, you must mail those cards to the different County Clerks. A full list of County Clerk addresses can be found here: http:// elect.ky.gov/contactcountyclerks/Pages/ default.aspx

balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Officer nominations, platform review start annual process KFTC’s statewide Annual Membership Meeting is going to be October 26 through October 28 this year at the Kentucky Leadership Center in Jabez.

The annual meeting is a time for all KFTC members to gather together to celebrate great work over the past year, learn new skills and also hold the yearly business meeting. During the business portion of the meeting, members will consider the proposed platform, elect statewide officers and accept new or renewing chapters for the coming year.

In preparation for the statewide annual meeting, all KFTC chapters across the state hold their Chapter Annual Meetings two months prior, in August.

At these meetings, chapter members provide input to the KFTC platform, set local priorities and goals and decide if they wish to continue as a chapter and, if so, select officers.

“The chapter annual meeting is a great time to celebrate another great year of working for justice,” says Kathryn Dunn, Madison County KFTC member.

Chapters select a Steering Committee representative and alternate, and chapter coordinators for membership, fundraising and publicity. They also agree to raise at least $500 for the statewide organization.

In return for their commitment to KFTC, chapters get a seat on the Steering

Committee and receive staff time and organizational resources to assist in their work.

Current officers are: K.A. Owens, immediate past chairperson; Steve Boyce, chairperson; Sue Tallichet, vice-chairperson; Dana Beasley Brown, secretarytreasurer; and Rick Handshoe, at-large.

All have served their term limit in their respective positions but are eligible to be nominated for a different position.

If you don’t live in a chapter area, you have the opportunity to nominate yourself or someone to one of KFTC’s statewide committees or statewide offices or offer a proposed change to KFTC’s platform. Read the descriptions of the committees and offices (next page) and the platform (at kftc.org/about-us/our-platform). Then, fill out the form and return it to: KFTC Leadership Development Committee, 140 Mini Mall Drive, Berea, KY 40403.

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Are you a member of a KFTC chapter? If so, please consider accepting a position as a chapter officer for the coming year, starting this fall.

Chapter officers are: Steering Committee rep Steering Committee alternate Fundraising coordinator Membership coordinator Publicity coordinator All are important roles for which you will receive training and support. The responsibilities can be shared with others. If interested, please contact your chapter organizer for more information.

KFTC Annual Meeting October 26-28, 2012 Kentucky Leadership Center in Jabez Family friendly atmosphere!

Relax, meet new people, visit old friends, learn about KFTC, share stories, dance, listen to music, attend workshops, and have fun!

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balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

New Energy and Transition Update

Rural Utility Service seeks public comments on new rule for financing of energy efficiency upgrades

The Obama administration is seeking public input on a new financing program it’s proposing to fund energy efficiency programs for rural utilities.

According to Tom Vilsack, the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture that oversees the Rural Utility Service, “The upfront costs of energy improvements often preclude homeowners and businesses from investing in cost-effective, energy efficiency upgrades.

This rule will help make those costs more affordable through increased lending opportunities.”

This type of financing allows utility customers to have energy upgrades done to their homes, and the cost of the upgrades are paid back, right on their

bill, with the savings created by those upgrades.

It has similar goals to the Rural Star bill in Congress, which would allow the Rural Utility Service to make loans to rural electric co-ops to do on-bill financing.

While KFTC is still looking at the technical details of this new proposed rule, it appears that it would provide funds that the co-ops could use for on-bill financing for energy efficiency, as the Rural Star bill similarly would. That bill is currently stalled in Congress.

According to the USDA’s press release, projects which will be eligible for financing with this program would include “consumer energy efficiency improvements, energy audits, small scale

renewable energy systems, demand side management investments, and consumer education and outreach programs.”

The proposed rule would make $250 million available for financing projects annually.

The first version of the Rural Star bill called from $5 billion dollars to be made available, while the most recent version didn’t set aside any specific funding, but only gave the USDA the ability to make loans from its existing funds.

Whether this $250 million annually is sufficient is one of the questions the USDA would like people to respond to during the public comment period.

Though KFTC hasn’t taken an official position on it, the proposal looks

promising and aligned with KFTC goals of creating good, local jobs, helping those most vulnerable with clean affordable electricity, and transitioning to an economy that doesn’t do damage to our land, air or water.

In the coming weeks, look at KFTC’s blog or contact organizer Sara Pennington (606-276-9933 or sara@kftc.org) to learn KFTC’s final position on the proposal and how to get involved by making your own comment and supporting clean, affordable energy and energy efficiency in Kentucky’s utilities.

Comments are due to the USDA by September 24. You can read the full proposal in the Federal Register at this link: federalregister.gov/a/2012-17784

Making coal companies pay bonds adequate to assure that reclamation is done properly threatens our way of life in Kentucky, Rep. Jim Gooch said at a legislative committee hearing on August 2.

“There is an assault on Kentucky, and really on our way of life,” said Gooch as he presided over a meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Environment.

Legislators had just heard a report from Steve Hohmann, commissioner of the Department for Natural Resources, about actions to increase bond amounts for coal companies. The change was mandated by the U.S. Office of Surface Mining.

Hohmann repeated several times that Kentucky’s bonding requirements have been inadequate – pointing out that 70-80 percent of forfeited bonds are insufficient and about $4 million a year short, on average, of the amount needed for adequate reclamation.

But state lawmakers still denounced OSM and the Obama administration for prompting the changes.

“It just appears to me that this is just one more approach to inhibit coal production in Kentucky,” said Sen. Robin Webb.

Rep. Keith Hall said he was “mindful of the continued intrusion into Kentucky”

by EPA and the Obama administration. “I continue to be frustrated that they want

to make coal mining illegal. It’s been real a frustration for me as a coal guy … the federal government is trying to intrude into our affairs … with sneak visitations … and everything that’s going on.”

Reclamation bonds are a type of insurance required of coal companies as a condition for receiving a mining or other type of coal permit (processing facility, haul road, etc). If the company goes out of business or otherwise defaults on its obligation to reclaim the disturbed land, the state receives the bond and uses it to see that the land is reclaimed.

The law requires that bonds be an amount sufficient to guarantee reclamation if forfeited. But in Kentucky that amount has not revised since 1992, Hohmann told legislators. As a result, the amount is insufficient in more than two-thirds of the cases.

There are usually between 15 and 25 bond forfeitures per year, Hohmann said.

OSM has been asking Kentucky officials to address this issue for years. But it took a letter threatening to take over Kentucky’s bonding program that prompted new emergency regulations in May. That action will increase bond amounts by a factor of 2.3, though that will still not be adequate in all cases, Hohmann acknowledged. He hopes the legislature will approve a bond pool next year that will make up the difference when bonds fall short.

OSM has not yet approved Kentucky’s changes, and conversations with the federal agency are ongoing.

But legislators let it be known they did

not like the coal industry being forced to pay more.

“I encourage you all to continue to fight back,” said Sen. Brandon Smith.

Office of Surface Mining demands adequate mine bonds

KFTC Chapter Building Armchair Seminars What: KFTC Chapter Armchair Seminars Who: Open to KFTC members in any existing KFTC chapter area or any KFTC member thinking about starting a KFTC chapter.

Where: Your armchair! You will just need to dial-in 1-866-740-1260 and enter access code 8931147. Then log into the online portion of the seminar by going to www.readytalk.com and enter access code 8931147 into the box that says “Participant: Join a Conference”. ! ant to build a stronger local KFTC chapter?

W If so, you are invited to learn – and share- skills for building a more powerful, dynamic and diverse grassroots organization.

Starting Monday, April 2nd at 7:30 p.m. from your most centrally located armchair!

Join other KFTC members from across the state over the phone and online (webinar format) to learn a new skill related to building strong KFTC chapters.

The topic for this armchair seminar will be on identifying and developing a growing base of new, diverse members.

Date:

Monday, September 10th

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Other: You can join just one of them based on the topic you are interested in or join them all!

No RSVP necessary.

Page 9

balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

New Energy and Transition Update

KFTC member Sonia McElroy runs for Shelby Energy board to push clean energy and Members’ Bill of Rights

In June, KFTC member Sonia McElroy, a farmer and retired social worker in Trimble County, ran for the board of directors of her rural electric cooperative, Shelby Energy.

McElroy ran on a platform that aligned with KFTC’s co-op reform work: clean, renewable and affordable energy and a Members’ Bill of Rights, which calls for open meetings, open records, and open and fair elections. McElroy is also a member of the Sierra Club and learned about the board election while working on coal ash issues in Trimble County with the club.

McElroy’s campaign faced an uphill battle, precisely because the co-op’s election process is not yet open or fair.

Shelby Energy not only allows proxy voting (which KFTC opposes), but also changed its by-laws this spring to allow the board to cast votes for any mailed-in proxies. On the proxy ballots that co-op members received, it was not clear that members were granting the board the right to cast their vote.

During the election at Shelby Energy’s annual meeting in late June, McElroy’s work to build local support showed. Friends and neighbors supported her while she campaigned at the entrance to Henry County High School, and many turned out to vote.

If the votes cast in-person during the election had been the only votes counted, McElroy would have almost won. She had 75 votes to the incumbent director’s 84 votes. However, the board chose to cast 940 of the proxies for the incumbent director, and McElroy lost the election.

Even though McElroy wasn’t elected to the board, she accomplished other goals, such as starting a conversation about the need for transparency in the co-op and supporting the campaign for a Members’ Bill of Rights. In a letter to the editor after the election, McElroy wrote: “I will continue to work for open meetings; clean, efficient, and affordable energy; fair and democratic elections; and a Members’ Bill of Rights.”

Following the election, Shelby County KFTC member Patrick King began to

lay the groundwork for a Members’ Bill of Rights campaign with a letter to the editor of the Shelbyville newspaper (below). Over the next four months, KFTC members in the area will be circulating a petition and building a campaign to pass the Bill of Rights by early 2013.

Reform Shelby Energy We member/owners of Shelby Energy must take a new interest in our co-op as we move forward into the energy future.

This is imperative for our children and grandchildren. There is a nationwide groundswell of reform activity among member/owners of local co-ops, and that movement is getting underway here in the Shelby Energy ten-county area.

For the first time in 75 years Shelby Energy had a contested election for the board of directors.

A woman named Sonia McElroy put forth a valiant effort over many obstacles to win her nomination for that election.

Based on the vote of attendees of members who voted at the annual meeting, she came close to winning, but when the proxy vote was counted she lost by a large margin. Proxy voting is a threat to the true democracy that was a founding principle of the electric cooperatives.

To achieve full member/owner participation in Shelby Energy we must have a Members’ Bill of Rights adopted by the Board of Directors. This document will allow for openness in meetings, elections and records. We are asking all members to support this effort, by signing a petition and letting the co-op know of your interest. During a recent audit of East Kentucky Power, the Kentucky Public Service Commission’s recommendation was directed at rural co-operative members, not at the board, saying that in order to bring real reform they must band together and change their companies from the inside.

Patrick J. King Shelbyville, KY If you’d like to learn more about the Shelby Energy Members’ Bill of Rights campaign, contact King at oc500@hotmail.com or 502-314-5102.

Sonia McElroy ran for the board of directors of the Shelby Energy rural electric co-op. McElroy is working to bring democracy to the co-op.

Support for KFTC’s work in California

Musicians in southern California got together recently to celebrate the mountains they know and love, and at the same time sent a message of solidarity to those fighting to preserve the Appalachians.

The third annual Music for the Mountains festival took place July 21 in Green Valley Lake, California, in the San Bernardino Mountain range.

“Three of the bands that performed featured the music of Appalachia and some very moving songs that describe the plight of the miners and also the people who have to live with the devastations of strip mining,” wrote Sandi Huckaby, a festival organizer. “I heard many comments from people about how much they liked the music.”

Jim Cope, one of the musicians, was a Vista volunteer in southern Appalachia during the 1960s so had first-hand knowledge of the impacts of strip mining. He sang some Appalachian ballads, and wore his “Stop Mountaintop Removal” t-shirt.

Workshops, contra dancing and jams

made the day enjoyable for all ages.

The Sierra Club had a booth with copies of Plundering Appalachia, provided

by KFTC, to help festival-goers visualize mountaintop removal, and a petition to the local member of Congress asking for support to end mountaintop removal.

A quilt raffle raised more than $500 that festival organizers will share with KFTC and Appalachian Voices.

Huckaby took the awareness-building a step further with the presentation of a proclamation signed by their local County Supervisor Janice Rutherford declaring the San Bernadinos “Sister Mountains” with the Appalachians, recognizing that the “beautiful, unique and irreplaceable natural environments of these mountain ranges must be protected for future generations.”

“It was very moving and a real highlight of the festival,” reported Huckaby.

KFTC Chairperson Steve Boyce also signed the proclamation.

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balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

New Energy and Transition Update

Sam Avery shares his “common sense” home with guests

“If anyone tells you solar energy doesn’t work in Kentucky, they are wrong. It’s all about a balance of what you use and what you produce,” said Sam Avery.

And he has the proof. His farmhouse in Upton touts several solar features, including a water heater, thermal heating system and rooftop photovoltaic panels.

Sam and Bonnie, his wife, built the house in 1978 shortly after purchasing the tract of land in Hart County. Along with a couple dozen friends, they did so as a part of the “back to the land” movement. Sam incorporated passive and active solar into the design of the home from the start.

“These things just seemed common sense to me when I built the house,” Sam said to a crowd of 35 that gathered at his farmhouse on July 6. A mix of KFTC members and new friends toured the farm to learn about how each of the home’s renewable energy systems works.

Several people climbed up on the roof to see the solar panels and the large tank that holds the home’s hot water. Another group walked down the hill to understand how the electricity-free hydraulic pump that brings water up the hill from a nearby stream works.

Through his business Avery and Sun, Sam, a trained installer, has put solar systems on other homes in the area as well. Two years ago, he installed a system on the home of fellow KFTC members and neighbors Wendy and Dennis Price that produces as much electricity as they use.

Wendy likes how easily the solar panels replaced their reliance on coal-burning gridbased electricity.

“You don’t notice anything different at all, except a few clicks at dawn and dusk when the system comes on and turns off,” she said.

Everyone at the party was a customer of East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s rural electric cooperatives – living in either the Nolin RECC or Farmers RECC district. As a result, the group was particularly interested to learn about KFTC’s Renew East Kentucky campaign to shift the rural electric co-ops toward a culture of energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Avery noted that getting involved in reforming local electric co-ops is a good place to start advocating for clean energy.

“As you know, the co-ops are in fact democratic. But as long as the lights go on, most people don’t think about the fact that we are owners of them,” he said.

The Averys also encouraged people to understand more about the source of their electricity by going on a mountain witness tour in eastern Kentucky and to lobby their legislators for better state clean energy policy.

As a member of KFTC’s New Energy and Transition Committee and having joined the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance as a business member, Avery has been

particularly active in advocating for the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, a bill in the Kentucky legislature that would establish a renewable and efficiency portfolio standard and feed-in tariffs for Kentucky.

Avery described himself to the crowd as someone who is not a “joiner.” But he said he continues to be a member of and donate volunteer time to KFTC because he believes it will work.

“It takes people organized, people writing letters, it takes time. We’ll have progressive energy legislation in this state – we will have it.”

Facts about the Avery farmhouse

• Built in 1978 • Exterior insulation outside of its stone walls creates a thermal wrap • Large windowed front foyer is heated by passive solar and provides an air buffer • Solar thermal collector provides ½ the source of heat for the house and heats the below-ground greenhouse • Solar hot water heater and rooftop tank • Electricity-free hydraulic pump sends 10 gallons of water per hour to the house from the nearby stream • Rooftop solar PV panels produce 16 kilowatt hours per day, which is more electric than the home uses

Please join us for a meeting of the

Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance Thursday, September 20 Location TBA in Lexington 10:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Top: guests learned about the approach Sam Avery used when he built his house in the late 1970s. Bottom: a group went on the roof with Sam to learn about his solar installation.

We’ll be discussing our strategy for the 2013 legislative session and thinking broadly about outreach to unlikely partners in our efforts to pass clean energy policy in Kentucky. Your voice is welcome.

Contact Lisa Abbott at lisa@kftc.org or 859-2005159 to find out more.

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balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

New Energy and Transition Update

Committee discusses economic transition in the mountains

KFTC leaders gathered in July to explore and articulate their ideas for a just economic transition in Appalachia. In a ranging, day-long discussion, they came to agree that:

• The transition should address the issues of inequality in the mountains, but not transfer those inequalities to communities elsewhere. A just transition means there are no losers.

• Eastern Kentucky will transition from a coal-dependent economy to a new economy in the next few decades, and KFTC members should be at the table in creating a vision for the new Appalachia. This transition is already being driven by economic factors, including a reduced demand for coal, abundant and affordable natural gas, and dwindling coal reserves.

• A transition will require a massive, long-term investment in the region.

• Although coal has created a monoeconomy in eastern Kentucky, there will be no one industry – no silver bullet – to replace coal. More likely, a range of small, local enterprises will create a stronger and more sustainable economy in the mountains.

• Education and training of displaced miners must be a priority in any transition plan.

• People in eastern Kentucky must have a voice and play an active role in developing a transition plan, rather than having plans imposed on them.

• Both the process and the results of transition must be just.

Megan Naseman and Mark Henson discuss transition at the Steering Committee meeting in Berea.

• Transition must be holistic – so it doesn’t address only some parts of the landscape while creating “sinkholes” elsewhere.

Members agreed that a transition is already underway and KFTC can contribute by fostering an honest conversation about protecting miners, residents, the land, homes and water that would be affected by another extractive industry such as natural gas. And, beyond mitigating damages, KFTC’s role is to articulate a vision for a healthier Appalachia.

But they agreed that Appalachian transition is big, daunting and unclear.

They reflected on the difficulty of talking about transition, particularly with coal miners, and offering concrete solutions.

“If you want to transition away from coal, it’s got to start with education and skill training for miners,” said Mark Henson, who grew up in Louisa and now lives in Madison County.

Members wrestled with such questions as: What does transition mean in places like Louisa and Jenkins, where layoffs and depopulation have weakened the economy and prospects are unclear?

Events such as the recent American Electric Power decision not to retrofit an old coal plant in Louisa can open a space to talk about transition. By choosing not to retrofit, AEP indicated it would not continue to generate most of its electricity at the Big Sandy plant by burning coal.

But the urgency of the situation can mean rushing headlong into an alternative that may be just as problematic, such as natural gas – another extractive industry with some of the same environmental and health concerns as coal. Letcher County member Liz Sanders noted that now is the time to talk to AEP about next steps that are healthy and contribute to a just transition.

Carey Henson of Madison County emphasized the need for eastern Kentuckians to have a say in what happens in their communities, because the larger national conversation about transitioning away

Rosanne Klarer and Kathryn Dunn discuss Appalachian Transition during a breakout session. from coal doesn’t necessarily consider the impact on Appalachian communities.

“We want to make sure eastern Kentucky comes out a winner, in that what comes out is better than what they’ve had for the last 150 years,” said Sue Tallichet, KFTC vice chair.

Mary Love of Oldham County said eastern Kentuckians can build on their heritage of self-sufficiency as they transition to a new economy.

But even as mountain people reclaim that heritage, they shouldn’t discount the benefits of interdependency between rural and urban areas, Sanders said.

What will it take?

KFTC leaders generated a list of factors necessary for a just transition: • Inventories: what are our assets, allies and obstacles?

• Outreach to other partners (labor groups, churches, community colleges, and others) • Participation in the national conversation about transition and the environment • Creative messages, including art • Public service announcements about

current opportunities • Pressure on existing institutions to offer job training • Communication, education, support and organizing • Money: more and better incentives for training, small businesses and other opportunities Members agreed they see signs the transition conversation is spreading. Over the past six months, Kentucky media have used transition language more, and some politicians – including former Kentucky governor Paul Patton and West Virginia senator Jay Rockefeller – have publicly expressed the need for an honest conversation about transition.

Love listed the Clean Energy Collaborative as another sign of progress.

The collaborative was established when KFTC and allies stopped a coal-burning power plant in 2010. Its purpose is to study energy efficiency and renewable energy options for East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s 16 rural electric co-ops.

Members also mentioned the transition away from tobacco farming in central Kentucky as proof that a transition is difficult but possible. (continued on next page).

Page 12

balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

New Energy and Transition Update

Communicating Coal: shifting the frame to be “for” something

In July, KFTC participated in the Communicating Coal Conference in Denver, hosted by Resource Media and the Sierra Club. The goal of the conference was to “provide a venue for groups working in different regions … to share their winning stories, strategies and tools, and build networks that will further the reach and power of their work” in transitioning beyond coal and toward cleaner energy.

The conference included panels on public opinion polling, tips for attentiongrabbing communications, why and how to talk about climate change, among many others.

KFTC member Tona Barkley, who also is the vice-chair of the collaborative with the East Kentucky Power, the rural electric co-ops, KFTC and allies – attended the conference. She said, “It was a great opportunity to learn about campaigns and strategies around the country and to meet activists involved in those campaigns.”

While much of the conference focused on communications in campaigns to shut down coal-burning power plants and established an “anti-coal” frame and

message, a few panelists more closely reflected KFTC’s emphasis on Just Transition and a vision-centered approach to communications. According to Barkley: Very few of the speakers addressed constructing an economic vision for communities following coal. But one speaker, Brendan Smith of the Labor Network for Sustainability, talked about KFTC’s approach in the Stop Smith campaign, especially commissioning the Ochs Center report. Smith called our approach the “gold standard.” While enormous progress has been made nationwide to stop new coal plants, and work is going forward to retire existing plants, it appears there is still a need to increase emphasis on communicating about what economy will replace the coal economy.

Additionally, a panel of public opinion pollsters emphasized the importance of talking about a “transition” to “clean, renewable” energy, that terms like “shift” or “rebuild” or “sustainable” or “green” aren’t as effective as “transition” and

“clean, renewable.” They also stated that it’s important to remind people of the health benefits of clean energy; that a positive health frame is more effective than talking about the negative effects of “dirty” energy.

They reminded the audience to talk about jobs, and to be specific about them by mentioning exactly what kind of jobs can be created during a Just Transition (engineers, factory workers, contractors, secretaries, etc.).

Finally, they told everyone to “go positive,” to keep hammering the messages that alternatives to dirty energy are “affordable, reliable, doable, and existing.”

Another lesson Tona took away from the conference:

Barkley left the conference with quite a few new lessons learned and an appreciation for the communications work KFTC is already doing here in Kentucky.

She said, “I believe KFTC is a leader in this area. Unfortunately, we were not given a platform at the conference to talk about our work.”

Economic transition (cont.) (continued from previous page)

• Celebrate small victories as proof that transition can happen,

Canary Project in 2003 was a significant pivot from “We’re not against coal; we just want it done right” to “We need to build a better future beyond coal.” The project included goals for both better enforcement of mining laws and a transition beyond coal to a new economy.

Today, KFTC’s work on Appalachian transition focuses on fostering a conversation throughout the region and developing a shared vision. Partnering with the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, KFTC members are:

• Find an entry point that’s personal to either the speaker or the doubter,

• Collecting and sharing ideas and examples of transition,

• Be honest about the things you don’t know,

• Offering workshops and trainings, such as the annual Growing Appalachia conference each spring in Floyd County,

Transition conversations

Because a just transition will likely be achieved through many conversations, KFTC leaders role-played transition conversations. A “neighbor” presented various reasons why transition won’t work or isn’t possible, and the KFTC member rebutted.

Then members shared tips for transition conversations:

• Emphasize that transition will happen even if we choose not to get involved: “This is really hard, but I know what’s going to happen if we don’t try.”

• Invite your neighbors over for a cookout and start talking about what you want for the region and what you can do, and • Share your passion for transition – it can be contagious.

KFTC’s work on Appalachian transition KFTC member Tona Barkley and Brendan Smith of the Labor Network for Suntainability at the Communicating Coal Conference in Denver.

In working with utilities, it’s important to understand the landscape, both political and technological, in order to see our work in the context of what’s happening around the country. I was excited to learn that collaborative work was news to most people I talked to. It made me realize how important, and in some respects groundbreaking, our Collaborative work with the rural electric co-ops really is.

KFTC’s work has always been grounded in a vision for a better Appalachia and Kentucky. The launch of the

• Supporting job generating policies and initiatives, and • Building an organized base of members to demand honest, visionary leaders.

Since KFTC and allies stopped a coal-burning power plant in 2010, KFTC’s work around Appalachian transition has been closely aligned with its work on sustainable energy and renewing the rural electric cooperatives. These three campaigns comprise KFTC’s New Energy and Transition work and have a guiding strategy team of KFTC members.

Page 13

balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Canary Project Updates

Court tells EPA it needs different approach to protect water

A federal court judge did not dispute the destruction caused by mountaintop removal and valleys fills or the science behind limiting the water pollution that results, but on July 31 he did rule that the U.S. EPA overstepped its authority in acting to limit that pollution.

The Environmental Protection Agency should have used a formal rulemaking process rather than issuing “guidance” in trying to control the pollution, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled.

The EPA guidance was issued in April 2010 and finalized in July 2011. It called for testing for potential toxic impacts of mining discharges, determining whether pollution could be reduced or avoided, and – what it is most known for – setting an in-stream conductivity standard.

“The federal court decision is a setback for the people of Appalachia,” said Floyd County KFTC member Rick Handshoe who regularly tests for conductivity in the mining-impacted creeks running through his property and finds they are usually many times the safe limit.

“This conductivity guidance – based on scientific evidence – gives us the first sign that something may be wrong with our water.”

The National Mining Association challenged the EPA in court, and was joined by Gov. Steve Beshear and coal companies, in asking that the pollution standards be thrown out. In a statement issued by his office, Beshear called the court ruling a “victory” even though there is mounting evidence that the pollution the EPA guidance was trying to prevent is making individuals sick and an entire region of the state unhealthy.

“The science EPA has highlighted will continue to be a great tool for people in Appalachia. It’s been a great tool for me. I’ve tested a creek where the water was crystal clear but the conductivity meter ran over 4,000 micro Siemens. That told me something was wrong, and after further testing was done we saw how bad it was – some of the pollutant levels were 100 times the water standard.”

Rick Handshoe

Beshear urged the EPA to release 36 water pollution permits it is reviewing, even though those permits would violate the Clean Water Act. EPA issued its guidance following two extensive peer-reviewed scientific report, as well as multiple independent peer-reviewed scientific reports, that all found that mountaintop removal mines create lasting, irreparable harm to streams and water quality. This final guidance also came after the EPA’s consideration of 60,000 public comments.

But because it was guidance and not a formally adopted rule, the EPA cannot treat that rule as an absolute requirement, which the court judged it had been doing and expecting state regulators to also do.

Judge Reggie B. Walton also limited the EPA’s involvement in coal mine permitting under the federal Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), ruling that “the EPA cannot justify its incursion into the SMCRA permitting scheme by relying on its authority under the CWA [Clean Water Act] — it has no such permitting authority.”

In this same case, last October the court vacated an agreement between the EPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Interior for a col-

laborative review of mining permits.

In a statement issued shortly after the ruling, EPA officials said they are reviewing the ruling and “We will continue to protect public health and water quality for Appalachian communities under the law.”

KFTC as well as a number of other Appalachian and national organizations had intervened in the case in support of the EPA. Tom FitzGerald of the Kentucky Resources Council told WFPL-FM that he believes EPA still has the authority to review and veto permits: “This will change somewhat the way that they approach that. But if anyone thinks this gives a green light to the coal industry to damage streams with elevated levels of sulfates [indicated by conductivity], they have another think coming. Nothing in the rejection of that guidance prevents EPA from saying to a state, ‘We don’t believe you have addressed the potential for sulfate discharges here, and we believe that this permit will cause a violation of your approved water quality standard.’”

No concern about water expressed During an August 2 meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources, the recent EPA ruling was discussed as well as the cabinet’s performance issuing water pollution permits for coal mines.

While the topics were discussed in some detail, KFTC member Mary Love, who attended the meeting, noted that not one legislator expressed any concern about whether the ruling and permitting changes would result in improved water quality or continued pollution. The focus was on making sure coal companies got their permits without any complications or delays.

“As I listened to the testimony and all of the legislators’ questions and responses, I was struck by the fact that there was no mention of whether or not the matters at stake would have an impact on the quality of water around the mine sites,” observed Love. “It seems to me that this is a question that should have been addressed.”

Thank you to those members who set up or increased their sustaining contribution to KFTC. With your help we increased the number of KFTC sustaining givers by 25%. Your recurring contribution helps ensure that KFTC’s work keeps happening every day, all year long: Lobbying in Frankfort Water testing in eastern Kentucky Voter registration across the state and lots of other efforts to build a better Kentucky Your gift ensures KFTC continues to give Kentuckians a voice in issues affecting our lives.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Page 14

Canary Project Updates

balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Water testing programs continue to grow in eastern Kentucky

Building on the successes of the first Community Organizing & Water Testing Training held in Prestonsburg in May, more than 30 people gathered in Whitesburg July 28 to learn, share, and grow together.

Katie, an attendee who lives a few feet from the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Hazard, said, “We came here to learn about community building, and in a way that’s really what we did here within this whole group.”

Folks from eight eastern Kentucky counties, including three generations from one family, shared their experiences of organizing and community science.

The goals of this gathering and similar ones have been twofold. Foremost was to learn water testing methods and ways community organizing can go hand-inhand with water testing to empower and motivate people to protect the quality of their water. The other goal is to develop a group of KFTC leaders who come together from time to time to strategize and learn together about using water testing and organizing to drive change.

Kevin from Knox County shared that “when you get together like this and hear people’s stories, you realize how important water is to all of us.”

Before learning to test water, partici-

pants shared stories of the streams, creeks, and rivers they care about, ones they’re worried about, and why water quality matters to them. Chris from Middle Creek in Letcher County said, “I’ve got two kids.

If it had just been me, I would’ve probably never got involved in this.”

At the end of the workshop, each participant took home a testing wand to use for basic, important measurements of stream health.

In September, participants from the May and July trainings will come back together to check in, evaluate, and build a plan for moving forward together. As this process evolves, KFTC members and folks on the ground doing this work will guide the direction and development of a Community Science and Public Health program of work. Stay tuned for more information on this process and updates from the field.

Long time Letcher County member Herb E. Smith shared some of the last thoughts of the day: “I’ve been thinking all day about the workers – and especially about the many miners who have been losing their jobs lately. It’s important to remember that we are on the same side. We may not always be on the same side with the companies. But we are on the same side as the miners and their families.”

liminary and studies are ongoing. The coal-derived compounds in soil samples were also “certainly different from soils we’re seeing in non-mining areas.” The air content of silica particles, which cause lung disease, was “definitely higher.”

This at least suggests that documented health problems in the region are linked to pollution from mining operations. iWatch News points out that West Virginia ranks last among the states in

physical health and overall well-being (2011 Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index). Kentucky’s 5th Congressional District, where much mountaintop removal mining takes place, ranks at the bottom of 436 districts in terms of physical health.

The USGS research is ongoing, having taken place so far in West Virginia.

The coal industry has tried – unsuccessfully so far – to discredit the studies documenting the health impacts of

mountaintop removal and other forms of strip mining. They have filed Freedom of Information Act requests to access the USGS research, but the agency has declined to release the information until the study is complete.

“We’re out there trying to ask a scientific question and provide data.

We’re a non-regulatory agency,” Orem told iWatch. “Our job is just to provide information.”

New legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives recognizes the growing evidence that mountaintop removal mining is destroying the health of an entire region of people, and calls for an immediate moratorium on the practice.

The Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act (H.R. 5959) would put the moratorium in place on new mountaintop removal permits until comprehensive health studies are completed.

“I’ve heard direct testimony from a woman who unknowingly bathed her 3-year old daughter in arsenic laced water from mountaintop removal. I’ve also heard numerous stories about children

developing asthma living near mountaintop removal sites and teens getting tumors and gallstones from mountaintop removal-tainted water,” said KFTC member Father John Rausch in a press release announcing the legislation.

“Is it a coincidence that people close to mountaintop removal suffer these sicknesses more frequently? Prudence, a cardinal virtue, tells us to stop and check the process. The Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act puts health and safety first. Ultimately, it is immoral to sacrifice the health of our children for cheap electricity!”

Kentucky Rep. John Yarmuth is one

of 15 initial cosponsors of the legislation.

The chief sponsor is Rep. Louise Slaughter, who originally is from Harlan County, Kentucky and now represents a district in northwest New York state. She is a microbiologist with a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Kentucky, and understands the issues at stake.

But Slaughter told iWatch News that she realizes the legislation has a zero chance of passing as long as Republicans control the House. “There’s no question that the mining interests really own the place,” Slaughter said. “I don’t see sudden reversal of that.”

Residents from all over eastern Kentucky took part in a water testing training in Whitesburg in late July.

USGS research addresses health in mining communities Nearly two dozen studies in recent years have documented a correlation between strip mining in central Appalachia and increased rates of a variety of health problems. However, those studies did not explore causal relationships between the mining, the inevitable degradation of the environment and the diseases that are more present in mining areas.

A recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey begins to address the need for this research.

A year of study by the USGS found that mining areas display unusually high pH and conductivity levels in the water, abnormal air particulates and irregular levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil and streams. Several of these compounds are probable or possible human carcinogens.

In a story posted on iWatch News, USGS research geochemist and project chief Bill Orem described a variety of findings that suggest contaminants in the air, soil and water in mining areas are different from those in non-mining areas.

“The water chemistry is definitely affected by something,” said Orem, who emphasized that the findings are pre-

Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act seeks moratorium

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balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Canary Project Updates

Black Lung on the rise; Rep. Hal Rogers blocks protection for miners

Once on the wane thanks to strengthened federal regulations, black lung disease is again on the rise, especially in younger miners, and has become more aggressive, progressing more quickly.

Despite this, Kentucky’s 5th District Congressional representative Hal Rogers – the chair of the House Appropriations Committee – is actively blocking basic protections for miners’ safety and health.

Cases of black lung have doubled since 1997. An investigation by National Public Radio and the Center for Public Integrity confirmed widespread cheating by mining companies on dust samples, and a lack of monitoring and enforcement of the rules by federal regulators.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has proposed halving the legal limits on coal miners’ exposure to coal dust, and that miners use personal dust monitors to monitor their exposure.

Many say these proposals are inadequate. The United Mine Workers of America is one group that points out that these protections are inadequate, and that much more needs to be done to filter the air that miners breath and protect them from the toxic coal dust.

Instead of using his power as the chair of the House Appropriations Committee to increase funding for the safeguards and monitoring and enforcement that would prevent black lung, or fight for stronger safeguards for miners, Rep. Rogers is actually blocking these basic protections

for miners.

The Appropriations budget for the Department of Labor, just released on July 17, includes this provision:

On July 10, for the second time, a small group of KFTC leaders met with Steve Hohmann, the commissioner of the Department for Natural Resources (DNR).

Hohmann was appointed in February of this year to replace the former Commissioner Carl Campbell.

These meetings have proven to be a good first step in building an honest and open dialogue between KFTC members and the DNR, which includes the Division of Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (DMRE) and the Division of Mine Permitting.

In these meetings KFTC members have heard from Hohmann the steps that the Energy and Environment Cabinet says it is taking to better ensure that people and the environment are being protected.

KFTC members have also been able to

learn about the progress in developing the Cumulative Hydrologic Impact Assessments (CHIA’s) and how these may be used to determine the cumulative impacts of multiple mines on certain watersheds.

To help collect some of this information, the cabinet has received grants from the U.S. Office of Surface Mining and some equipment from the U.S. EPA to establish water monitoring trend stations in streams and rivers in eastern and western Kentucky counties where coal is mined. These trend stations will collect information about the quality of the water throughout the year.

There are currently 64 of these trend stations up and running and officials hope to add 69 more.

“Commissioner Hohmann seems to really want to improve the communica-

“SEC. 118. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to continue the development of or to promulgate, administer, enforce, or otherwise implement the Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Coal Mine Dust, Including 20 Continuous Personal Dust Monitors regulation (Regulatory Identification Number 1219-AB64) being developed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration of the Department of Labor.”

The Appropriations Committe chaired

by Rep. Rogers, specifically prohibits the Department of Labor from funding the most basic safety provisions for miners.

When asked about the provision, a spokesperson for Hal Rogers said, “It is the chairman’s position ... that that particular regulation is harmful and costly to the industry and to the economy in general.”

Stanley Sturgill, a retired miner from Lynch, said, “I would like to ask Congressman Rogers, when did we start putting a price on the safety of our miners? When it comes to a miner’s safety, cost should be the last factor.”

Sturgill has tried to meet with Rep. Rogers numerous times without success.

His most recent attempt, in Rogers’ Wash-

ington office, resulted in his arrest.

“It is so sad. It would seem to me that Congressman Rogers and the coal industry have forgotten all the blood-soaked coal that it took to pass the 1977 Mine Act,” Sturgill continued. “I think they have both definitely forgotten Section 2 of the Mine Act”

In Section 2 of the 1977 Mine Act, “Congress declares that the first priority and the concern of all in the coal or other mining industry must be the health and safety of its most precious resource, the miner.”

Sturgill has some words for Rep. Rogers: “It appears to be evident, Mr. Rogers, your first priority and concern is not the health and safety of the mining industry’s most precious resource, the miner. No, Mr. Rogers, your concerns are for the financial burden coal mine safety would place on Big Coal.”

Several KFTC members, including Sturgill, tried to challenge Rep. Rogers on this issue and others recently on WMMT’s Issues and Answers program by submitting questions for the host to ask. Neither Sturgill’s question, nor any one of these questions pictured, got a response.

Do you think Kentucky deserves better? See what other Kentuckians are saying and add your voice on our Kentucky Deserves tumblr site at kydeservesbetter.tumblr.com.

Members open dialogue with new DNR Commissioner Steve Hohmann tion between KFTC members and the Department for Natural Resources. He seems genuinely interested in being an honest broker between his Department and KFTC,” said Carey Henson, a KFTC Land Reform Committee member and Canary Leadership Network member.

“It’s also been refreshing to have someone with his authority not only respond to the concerns of KFTC members but to also listen and better understand the context of those concerns. I felt like this meeting was very positive.”

Holmann also has responded to KFTC members’ requests to learn how the Department for Natural Resources and the Department for Environmental Protection are working together to ensure that the water discharge monitoring reports from coal mines are being adequately reviewed

and analyzed within the cabinet.

Without going into too many specifics, Hohmann told KFTC members that the DNR and DEP are working on a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the goal being to improve the working relationship between the Division of Water (which issues Kentucky Pollution Discharge Elimination System (KPDES) permits and is responsible for issuing any violations) and the Division of Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (DMRE) which has the boots on the ground doing mine inspections.

The two state agencies hope to have the MOU completed by the end of this year. However, according to Hohmann, they already are beginning to implement (continued on next page).

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Canary Project Updates

balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Member Spotlight: Rick Handshoe’s battle for clean water

When you’ve done everything a person could reasonably be expected to do, and more, to safeguard your family and your home, what do you do next?

Reporter Ronnie Ellis explored that dilemma with Rick Handshoe, a KFTC member in Floyd County who has worked tirelessly for years to protect the land and water in his community. Ellis’ story, titled Washed Away Dreams, was published on July 8, 2012 in the Ashland Daily Independent and several other regional papers across Kentucky.

Ellis describes Handshoe’s situation: “He dreamed of a house beside the small creek on land his family has owned for 200 years; he hoped his daughter would one day live in that house when she married and had children; he just wanted a quiet life in Floyd County. His dreams have been washed away by poisoned water.”

Handshoe’s case is compelling for many reasons. He has done just about everything a person could think of to protect his land and two headwater streams on his property from being destroyed by nearby mining. Yet today, both streams are dead, unable to support life due to toxic concentrations of heavy metals and other pollutants.

And with recent blowouts of highly toxic water erupting from the hillside above his home, Handshoe now sends his daughter to her grandfather’s at night to sleep.

Handshoe described his efforts in recent letter to the U.S. EPA: “Over the last six years, I’ve done everything a person can do or imagine to protect my water and property, get the coal company to obey the laws, and get state and federal officials to enforce them. I’ve participated in permit conferences to raise concerns before the mining starts, and I’ve repeatedly reported violations related to water pollution.

“I’ve learned to do my own testing for basic measures like conductivity, iron, pH and total dissolved solids.

I got my own equipment, and I take weekly measurements. When I call state inspectors to report a problem with the water quality in my stream, I am 110 percent sure they will find a violation because I’ve already done the tests.

“I’ve organized my community, joined organizations like Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and the Sierra Club, and filed lawsuits with the help of the Appalachian Citizens Law Center. I’ve participated in a three-day sit-in in the Kentucky governor ’s office. I’ve traveled to Frankfort and DC to make my concerns known, and I’ve hosted hundreds of inspectors, top agency and elected officials, journalists and concerned citizens at my home.

“The sad truth is that none of those efforts have been enough to prevent the total and permanent destruction of two perennial streams that once fed my gardens and that continue to flow downhill into the stream that is our community’s public water source.”

Handshoe’s story captures just how hard it can be for Kentuckians to get help from their elected officials and state and federal agencies that are supposed to enforce our mining and water quality laws. Gov. Steve Beshear, who visited Handshoe’s property in April 2011, refused to be interviewed for Ellis’ story.

In addition to showing his polluted streams to numerous high-ranking government officials over the years, Handshoe has hosted hundreds of students, religious groups and members of organizations like KFTC, Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, Footprints for Peace who have come to learn and show support.

Today Handshoe has an important message to all those agencies, elected leaders, concerned individuals and friends.

“This whole situation makes me wonder how long will all these agencies allow this poisoned water to flow

Rick Handshoe talked with Governor Beshear about the acid mine drainage in the settlement pond above his home in April 2011. downstream before they take any action?

I can’t sleep. You know how when you have a baby you sleep with one ear open?

That’s what I’m doing. It never ends. And it is making me angry.

“It’s too late to protect my water. But we have got to prevent the destruction of places like Lynch, Kentucky where there is still good, clean water today. The people living in eastern Kentucky and Central

Appalachia deserve better.”

Readers who want to learn more about Handshoe’s efforts to get water quality laws enforced can read two casestudies about problems he’s faced on each of the perennial streams that run through his property in Floyd County.

Those documents can be found on KFTC’s website at www.kftc.org/blog/washedaway-dreams

and see firsthand some of the problems coal companies are creating.

“I’ve been impressed with the spirit of openness and cooperation the commissioner has shown” said Mary Love, co-chair of the KFTC Land Reform Committee. “His willingness to answer our questions and to meet with folks in eastern Kentucky rather than in Frankfort has been refreshing.

“It’s also been a good experience to work with the commissioner to begin plan-

ning a small meeting with regional DMRE office supervisors and KFTC members so that we can learn ways to better support each other. Our members can learn how to collect information that is helpful for inspectors, and the supervisors can hear from people what it’s like to live with some of these problems 24 hours a day seven days a week. These are small steps but it feels like we are moving in the right direction.”

Department of Natural Resources commissioner (cont.) (continued from previous page) some changes.

KFTC members are planning to continue to meet with Hohmann quarterly throughout the year. The next meeting will be in October. The last two meetings have been held in Floyd County and the next meeting will be in Harlan County.

In addition to sitting down and talking with KFTC members in eastern Kentucky, Hohmann has been willing to also go out

balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Economic Justice Update

Page 17

Members express vision for tax reform at blue ribbon hearings KFTC members have been coming out in full force in support of tax justice this summer, speaking out for investments in good jobs, clean air and water, quality educations, and healthy, vibrant communities where everyone contributes their fair share toward our vision for Kentucky.

A Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform began holding public forums in May, inviting everyday Kentuckians (though of course paid lobbyists show up, too) to share their best ideas about needed state tax reforms.

The commission was appointed earlier this year to study and build consensus around tax reforms that meet the guidelines of fairness, competitiveness, simplicity and compliance, elasticity and adequacy. These are consistent with KFTC’s principles of tax reform: fairness, adequacy, sustainability and supportive of the well-being of Kentuckians.

KFTC members have been making thoughtful, personal, common sense contributions to these meetings that have shaped and improved the commission’s work and recommendations. The statements have made clear that everyday Kentuckians are engaged in the commission’s process, and that Kentuckians hope and expect that the commission will forward their ideas and concerns to Governor Beshear to be included in legislation in the 2013 General Assembly.

Beyond this, KFTC’s organizing has also created good space for local conversations about tax reform, helping to generate support for our message across the state.

Here are some of the highlights from members’ statements across the state: “I hope you’ll hear the call of Kentuckians: meet our collective needs with our shared resources, and consider deeply the impact your decisions will have on all citizens of the Commonwealth. And don’t sacrifice much needed revenues in the search for corporate competitiveness…we need solutions that benefit all of us, not just those who run major companies.”

Alan Smith, Bowling Green “When I dream for my children, I do not dream that industries will want to hire my kids because they come cheap. I dream that industries will want to hire my kids and their

friends because they are the brightest, most skilled labor force in the world. Not in spite of being Kentuckians, but because they are Kentuckians.”

Dana Beasley Brown, Bowling Green

“High-tech training should be in college in East Kentucky.

Unless you want East Kentucky to just eventually become a place where you just have a bunch of elk…We need jobs.”

Russell Oliver, Perry County

“I have the privilege to attend a brand-new school, South Warren High School. But as I look at all of the new technology and opportunities the facility provides to me and my fellow classmates, I can’t help but think of the schools even a few counties away who do not share these educational opportunities. This, to me, is wrong.”

Jacob Abrahamson, Bowling Green

I just recently got my GED and I’m starting my first semester of college. My grandparents adopted me at a very young age and although they did an outstanding job raising me, we always struggled. We didn’t do without essentials, but there were hard times, and there still are. I think the tax situation in our state is unfair…How can we save anything if 11% of my income goes to taxes, while the top 1% only pays 6%? I’d love to see the higher incomes taxed at a higher rate, and an Earned Income Tax Credit.

Cleveland Smith, Perry County

“I came here today to tell you what a difference a state EITC would make to me and to other working people. This winter I had to make a choice between car insurance and a flooded basement. I had only enough money on hand to fix on one the problems, and since I must drive to work, I must have the insurance. So the water has leaked, and now my daughter lives in a house with mold. I wouldn’t have to worry that the air my little girl breaths is hurting her.

Food, housing and healthcare – Kentuckians deserve these things….A little bit of extra money [through a state EITC] goes a long way for someone in my situation.”

Molly Tevisorona, Jefferson County “I have heard others in Kentucky holding up Tennessee as having a model tax structure that Kentucky should emulate.

I’m here to disabuse you of that notion. We were founded because Tennessee’s success in attracting industries is a house of cards built on tax incentives to seduce businesses to locate facilities in the state. As soon as those incentives expire, they will look for incentives in another state or offshore. Tennessee has the vacant factories to prove it.”

Bill Howell, Executive Director of Tennesseans for Fair Taxation “Progressive income tax continues to have a place in the tax system. Some people argue that a flat tax would be fairer than a progressive tax. Believe this only if you believe that your second $50,000 of income would improve your life as much as your first $50,000 of income. And I don’t think that’s so.”

Erik Lewis, Rowan County

“I’m here as a proud but concerned parent. I have two children with no disabilities, and one child with disabilities.

Due to lack of funding, I have to fight for everything for all of three of them. We’ve been successful with my disabled child, but resources are lacking for the other two….There’s no funding. Progressive income taxes is a way to get the money for the education that every child deserves.”

Connie Brooks, Floyd County “I’m a working mom and I have two children. My husband and I both work full time. We’re one of those families that fall through the cracks. My opportunities would have been much better if we had a more progressive tax system.”

Allyson Williams, Floyd County “When I hear that the YUM! Corporation doesn’t pay taxes…I know what’s happening here in the community college because I worked with adults who are returning to formal education. I know how much they struggle because they pay so much more of their income in taxes than the highest income bracket.”

Jean Rosenburg, Floyd County You can submit comments online on the Lt. Governor’s home page, under Tax Reform Commission: http:// ltgovernor.ky.gov/taxreform/Pages/comments.aspx.

For more information, and tools and resources, visit KFTC’s Blue Ribbon page atkftc.org/blue-ribbon.

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balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Economic Justice Update

Bush-era tax cuts still harmful to most Kentuckians

KFTC has long supported policies that help create the Kentucky that we all want: good, safe, communities; good, secure jobs; and good schools – all the things that we pay for with our public dollars. KFTC supports taxation that is balanced, fair, and reasonable. In that spirit, KFTC has once again endorsed letting the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy expire.

The “Bush tax cuts” are the income tax cuts (for earnings, capital gains, stock dividends and other types of income) and estate tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003.

How have they impacted families?

According to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, people who earn over $1 million a year get an average tax break of $143,000 from the Bush tax cuts. People making about $50,000 a year get an average tax break of about $1,000. They’ve also been costly. Extending the Bush tax

cuts from 2013 through 2022 would cost $5.5 trillion, according to Citizens for Tax Justice.

Since 2009, the tax cuts have been expanded and extended. President Obama expanded certain parts of the income tax cuts that helped low-income families-certain provisions increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit – as part of the 2009 economic recovery act.

At the end of 2010, after much debate, President Obama and Congress enacted legislation that extended all these tax cuts for two years, through the end of 2012.

Beginning in 2013, President Obama proposes to make permanent the income tax cuts for the first $250,000 a married couple makes annually and the first $200,000 that a single person makes annually. This would mean, for example, a married couple with $1 million in income would pay the lower tax rates for their first $250,000 of income, but would pay the higher tax rates (the rates at the end of the Clinton years) on the remaining

the House Republican plan would impact our commonwealth here: www.kypolicy. org/content/who-would-benefit-alterCurrent tax proposals and Kentucky: native-ways-extend-bush-tax-cuts According to a report by Citizens Another KCEP report about how the for Tax Justice, here’s how Kentuckians House Republican budget (the Ryan budwould fare under the Congressional get) would impact Kentuckians is here: Republican plan: www.kypolicy.org/content/reducingThe richest 1 percent of Kentuckians federal-deficits-without-significantwould get more than 27 percent of the tax revenue-increase-would-cost-kentuckycuts going to Kentucky. billions The richest 5 percent of Kentuckians Check out this calculator from Citiwould get 43.5 percent of the tax cuts zens for Tax Justice to see how you’d be going to Kentucky. impacted under President Obama’s plan Meanwhile, CTJ finds that that under and the House Republican plan: ctj.org/ President Obama’s proposal, only 1.1 taxcalculator percent of Kentucky residents would lose The Center for American Progress any portion of the Bush income tax cuts has a helpful article comparing the in 2013.

Senate Republican plan and the Senate You can find the report on CTJ’s webDemocratic plan, Senate Republican Plan site, here: ctj.org/ctjreports/2012/06/ The International Film Series at theRaises Far More People’s Taxes than the the_bush_tax_cuts_obamas_approach_ Kentucky Center for African American Heritage Senate Democratic Plan: Republican Plan vs_congressional_gops_approach_stateOnly Concerned with Keeping Taxes Low by-state.php Presents for the Rich. You can find it here: www.

Find a report by the Kentucky Center The Louisville americanprogress.org/issues/2012/07/ for Economic PolicyPremiere with anof… analysis tax_plans_charticle.htm about how President Obama’s plan and $750,000 of their income.

Directed by Anne Lewis and Mimi Pickering Appalshop Films

Sunday, August 26, 2012 3:00 pm Talkback with the filmmakers immediately follows screening Kentucky Center for African American Heritage Russell Hall 1701 West Muhammad Ali Boulevard Louisville, KY 40203 FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Chart is from the Center for American Progress, cited above.

Anne Braden: Southern Patriot is a first-person documentary about the extraordinary life of this American civil rights leader and Louisville native.

When charged with sedition for attempting to desegregate a Louisville neighborhood in 1954, Braden used the attack to embrace a lifetime of racial justice organizing matched by few whites in American history. Ostracized as a “red,” but praised by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as one of the civil rights movement’s staunchest white allies, Braden fought for an inclusive movement community and mentored three generations of activists.

More details about the premiere at kcaah.org/events

Page 19

balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Nominations for officers and committees

KFTC is accepting nominations for statewide officers and members of its governance and issue committees (descriptions below).

Any member who is current in membership dues may nominate him or her self or another member to serve in one of these positions. The form to the right may be used.

All nominations will be considered by the Leadership Development Committee. Officers are elected at the annual meeting in October. New committee assignments will be finalized in November by the Steering Committee.

Call for Nominations

for KFTC Statewide Officers and Committee Members

It’s time again to start thinking about how you would like to be involved in KFTC’s leadership structure, or who else you would like to see involved. Every year, all chapters and the statewide organization select leaders for the coming organizational year. Chapters are selecting their officers at annual chapter meetings this month. Statewide officers are chosen at the annual meeting in October. The Steering Committee appoints members of other governance and issue committees at its leadership retreat in November based on recommendations from the Leadership Development Committee.

KFTC members whose dues are current may nominate themselves or any other member to be considered as a KFTC officer or committee member, as listed below. For each statewide officer nomination, please list the name of the nominee, the office to which that person is being nominated and a brief statement saying why the nominee is qualified. Use a separate sheet of paper if more space is needed. Current officers have each served one year in their current position and are eligible for renomination to the same or another statewide officer position.

The Leadership Development Committee will recommend a slate of candidates for the four statewide officer positions to the Steering Committee for its approval. The candidates will be listed in the September issue of balancing the scales, and presented at the October Annual Business Meeting for election. Nominations also will be accepted from the floor at the October meeting. Officers serve one-year terms, and are limited to two successive terms.

Take a moment to nominate yourself or any other member for KFTC’s Executive Committee and other statewide committees.

This form must be returned by the last day of August.

Personnel Committee — Members may participate in hiring decisions and review annual staff performance evaluations. This committee provides guidance and makes recommendations about personnel policies and issues. Meets as needed.

Person making the nomination: Phone:

Finance Committee — Reviews and recommends budget and quarterly financial statements. Reviews and recommends financial policies and practices. Meets periodically in person and by conference call.

You may nominate as many people as you like for any of the following positions: 1) Chairperson 2) Vice-Chairperson 3) Secretary-Treasurer 4) At-large Representative

Leadership Development Committee — Develops, evaluates and helps implement KFTC’s leadership programs.

Nominates and reviews nominations of people to serve on statewide committees and offices. Meets several times a year as needed.

Nominee: Office nominated for:

Land Reform Committee — Coordinates KFTC’s statewide campaigns on issues connected to natural resources.

Meets 3-6 times a year, as needed.

Economic Justice Committee — Develops and coordinates campaigns on economic issues, including tax justice.

Meets 3-6 times a year as needed, often by conference call.

New Energy and Transition (NET) Committee: Develops strategy and priorities for three related KFTC campaigns: Rural Electric Co-op Reform, Sustainable Energy, and Appalachian Transition.

Voter Empowerment Committee: Develops and evaluates KFTC’s strategies for registering, informing and motivating voters, including our restoration of voting rights campaign.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS Nominees for the Executive will be considered by the Leadership Development Committee, which will recommend a slate of candidates to the Steering Committee. Candidates will be described in the September issue of balancing the scales. A final vote will be held at the October Annual Meeting.

Nominee: Office nominated for: Why?

Why? KENTUCKY COALITION BOARD NOMINATIONS Kentucky Coalition is the tax-exempt sister organization of KFTC. There are three elected positions on the KC board. Nominees for the Kentucky Coalition board will be considered and voted on using the process described above for the Executive Committee. You may nominate as many people as you like for the Kentucky Coalition board.

Nominee: Why? Nominee: Why? COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP NOMINATIONS KFTC’s statewide committees include: Personnel; Finance; Leadership Development; Land Reform; and Economic Justice; High Road; and Restoration of Voting Rights. You may nominate yourself or anyone else in the organization for these roles.

Nominees for these positions will be reviewed by the Leadership Development Committee and appointed by the new Steering Committee in November.

Nominee: Committee nominated for:______ Nominee: Committee nominated for:______ Nominations must be submitted in writing no later than August 31 to: KFTC Leadership Development Committee, 140 Mini Mall Dr, Berea, KY 40403 or emailed to lisa@kftc.org.

Page 20

Madison County Chapter continues to organize on all fronts The Madison County KFTC chapter has spent the summer educating candidates running for local office about KFTC’s legislative agenda, giving a tour of the new Berea solar farm, working on the issue of fairness, and hosting their large annual “Friend-Raiser.”

• Chapter members have met with three of the four candidates running for two state House districts.

These nonpartisan issue briefings with each candidate last about an hour, and chapter leaders spend 15 minutes talking about and answering questions on each of four topics: comprehensive tax reform, voting rights, clean energy, and ending mountaintop removal. The hope is that candidates will learn about the issues and talk about them on the campaign trail. It’s also a great way to begin developing a relationship with whoever wins in November.

• Chapter members have also been busy working with members of Bereans for Fairness to continue building a local movement that encourages the City of Berea to adopt a Fairness Ordinance. A local Fairness Ordinance would make it illegal in Berea to discriminate in housing, public accommodations, and employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

• In July the chapter hosted a free tour of the new Berea solar panel

farm at Berea Municipal Utilities.

More than a dozen people braved the 100+ degree heat to come check out the exciting new solar array. KFTC members helped the city get the solar farm and want to make sure it is used as a model for what other cities can also do. “I’m excited that we’re getting the opportunity to share Berea’s innovative approach to clean energy with a wider community, as well as learning about energy efficiency solutions and discussing the future of energy as the country transitions away from fossil fuels,” said Berea KFTC member Carey Henson.

A screening of the documentary Kilowatt Ours and discussion followed the solar tour.

• On August 4, the chapter held its annual Friend-Raiser. More than 125 people gathered at Irvine McDowell Park in Richmond for an evening of family fun, food, and live music. The bluegrass jam band The Blind Corn Liquor Pickers headlined the event. “It is a good time to see old friends and meet new ones,” says Madison County member Tress Spencer.

The chapter also raised more than $800 for KFTC through the silent auction. Auction items donated by members included handknitted hats, a homemade sushi dinner for two prepared by a member, local pottery, and more!

KFTC staff says “Goodbye” to Nancy Reinhart

In late July the KFTC family bid a fond farewell to staff member Nancy Reinhart who has worked tirelessly over the last several years as a Research Associate and Organizer focusing specifically developing and staffing KFTC’s work around new energy and transition.

Reinhart brought with her a passion for research and science, great organizing instincts, and an incredible determination to make Kentucky better.

She’s helped further successful campaigns to transition Kentucky to clean and affordable energy options, and she’s been central in the creation

and momentum of the Clean Energy Opportunity Act.

Nancy has also played a vital role in both the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance and the brand new Shelby County Chapter of KFTC (whom will petition this year at the Annual Membership Meeting).

Reinhart has left the KFTC staff family to work for the Frontier Nursing School and is managing the Rural Health Internship Program.

We wish Nancy and her family the best possible future and we look forward to continuing to work with her as a life-long KFTC member.

balancing the scales, August 21, 2012

Chapter Meetings & Other Upcoming Events Aug. 26 “Anne Braden: Souther Patriot” film screening, 3:00 p.m., Kentucky Center for African American Heritage.

Aug. 27 Madison County chapter meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Berea College Appalachian Center, 205 N. Main St., Berea.

Aug. 28 Letcher County chapter meeting, 6 p.m., Whitesburg KFTC Office. Contact Tanya@kftc.org or call 606-632-0051.

Aug. 28 Harlan County chapter meeting, 6 p.m., SKCTC Harlan Campus, Mining Building Room 221. Contact Tanya@kftc.org or call 606-632-0051.

Aug. 28 Bowling Green chapter planning meeting, 6:30 p.m. at The Foundry, 531 West 11th St. Contact JessicaBreen@kftc.org or call 859-276-0563.

Sept. 6

Scott County chapter meeting, 7 p.m., at the Georgetown Public Library.

Email Dave@kftc.org or 859-420-8919 for more information or to volunteer.

Sept. 10 Floyd County chapter meeting, 7 - 8:30 p.m., St. Martha’s Catholic Church in Prestonburg. For more information contact Kristi@kftc.org or call 606226-4159.

Sept. 10 KFTC Armchair Seminar “Growing Your Base”, 7:30 p.m. For more information and to register contact Carissa@kftc.org or call 859-893-1147.

Sept. 10 Jefferson County chapter meeting, 6:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, 809 South 4th Street in Louisville.

Sept. 13 Shelby County Celebration: Come and celebrate the decision to become a KFTC chapter. Bring and friend and a dish to have some fun, 6:30 p.m. at the Stratton Center. Contact Sara@kftc.org for more information.

Sept. 17 Reel Power Film Festival, Union College, 6 p.m. at Union College Student Center. Films to be screened are “Deep Down: A story from the heart of coal county” and “Gasland.” For more information contact Tanya@kftc.org or call 606-632-0051 Sept. 18 Northern Kentucky chapter meeting, 7 p.m. at 25 W 7th Street in Covington. Contact Joe@kftc.org or call 859-380-6103.

Sept. 20 Central Kentucky chapter meeting, 7 p.m. at the Episcopal Diocese Mission House (corner of Martin Luther King Blvd. and 4th Street) in Lexington.

Sept. 20 Rowan County chapter meeting, 6 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church on 5th Street in Morehead.

Sept. 20 Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance (KySEA) Semi-Annual Meeting, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Location TBD. For more information contact lisa@kftc.org or call 859-200-5159.

Sept. 24 Madison County chapter meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Berea College Appalachian Center, 205 N. Main St., Berea.