balancing the scales - January 2012

Change Service Requested

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

balancing the scales Volume 31 Number 1

January 30, 2012

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

2012 Legislative Session: KFTC members bring forward a vision for Kentucky’s future pg. 14 Legislative Update

pg. 5

Members achieve an unprecedented year in fundraising pg.8 Boyle County members begin to organize and energize pg. 12 Making Kentucky’s democracy a little better – voting rights pg.13 Members tell legislators: now is the time for growing revenue pg. 14 Study shows HB 167 could create 28,000 new jobs pg. 15

I Love Mountains Day February 14, 2012

I Love Mountains Day special guest speaker pg. 16 Capitol sit-in gains momentum pg. 18

Page 2

balancing the scales, January 30 , 2012

Table of Contents

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

Executive Committee Corner page 2 Member Commentary Self-proclaimed “Meter Geek” watches his investment save

page 4

Grassroots Fundraising KFTC members achieve an unprecedented year in fundraising

page 7

Local Updates Rowan County members start 2012 with a slate of local issues Citizen lobby training empowers central Kentucky members Madison County at-home legislative meetings Historic fundraisier rounds out the year in Jefferson County NKY Chapter takes on many issues Boyle County members begin to organize and energize community

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

Voting Rights Update Making Kentucky’s democracy a little better – voting rights Redistricting bill passes House and Senate

page 13 page 13

Economic Justice Update Members tell legislators: now is the time for growing revenue Citizen lobby training — tax focus

page 14 page 14

New Energy and Transition Update New Energy and Transition Team holds first statewide meeting Study shows HB 167 could create 28,000 new jobs On-farm renewable energy solutions, work to build local KFTC chapter I Love Mountains Day special guest speaker Tar Sands activist Melina Laboucan-Massimo to share story Solar installation training has power to transform economy

page 15 page 15 page 16 page 16 page 17 page 17

Canary Project Update EPA delay forces energy allies to submit notice of intent to sue; Capitol sit-in gains momentum and expands to three days a week

page 18 page 18

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 is possible • build the organization • help people participate • win issues that affect the common welfare • have fun KFTC membership dues are $15 to $50 per year, based on ability to pay. No one is denied membership because of inability to pay.

Membership is open to anyone who is committed to equality, democracy and nonviolent change.

KFTC Steering Committee Steve Boyce, Chairperson Sue Tallichet, Vice-Chairperson Dana Beasley Brown, Secretary-Treasurer K.A. Owens, Immediate Past Chair Rick Handshoe, At-Large Member

Chapter Representatives

KFTC Calendar page 19 Members say goodbye to two staff team members page 20 Lexington Loves Mountains page 20

I want to help KFTC build power!

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

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

I will contribute $___ every (check one):

__ Month __ 3 Months __ Quarterly

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

Visa Discover

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

Card #: __ __ __ __ - __ __ __ __ - __ __ __ __ - __ __ __ __

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 Stiles, 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.

balancing the scales, January 30, 2012

Page 3

Executive Committee Corner Editor’s Note: Members of KFTC’s Executive Committee will be using this new “Executive Committee Corner” to share perspectives on such topics as how they became involved with KFTC, why they’ve stayed, or what aspects of particular issues hold special interest or significance for them.

by Steve Boyce KFTC Chairperson The saying “Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes” didn’t start with KFTC, but I think it fi ts us pretty well if you add “but learn fi rst – learn about the issue and its complexities, about how things came to be the way they are, and how they could change through democratic process.”

For my time in KFTC the learning started with tax structure. The year was 2003, my fi rst annual meeting and the time when KFTC began the campaign for comprehensive tax reform. We have worked with Representative Jim Wayne every year since to help shape and support legislation, currently House Bill 127, that reaches toward some basic principles.

One of those principles is that any tax structure for Kentucky should be fair or equitable. There have been some signifi cant partial victories along the way and much useful education, but Kentucky’s tax structure remains mostly unreformed and ominously ineffective while the need for change has become more and more pressing.

So it may be promising that just a few days ago Governor Beshear announced the formation of a “Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform” and put “fairness” fi rst among his “fi ve elements for successful tax reform.” “The tax system,” said the press release, “should treat people equitably.” Of course last year’s Senate Bill 1 put forward by David Williams said, “To meet the needs of the citizens of the Commonwealth, the state and local tax systems should,” among other

things, “be equitable.” Surely anything KFTC, Governor Beshear and David Williams all agree on must qualify as common ground. Right?

I think not. There seems to be no shared understanding of what it means to say a tax system is fair. But we can recognize elements of unfairness in what currently exists and we can envision ways of measuring whether proposed changes would move us in a good or bad direction relative to those elements.

I want to bring attention to one such measurement tool for assessing a key aspect of fairness, a tool that seems too useful and important to be excluded from Kentucky’s legislative process. Sometimes called distributional analysis, it has been provided in recent years, at the request of KFTC and its allies, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a nonprofi t, nonpartisan research organization that focuses on federal and state tax policy.

Distributional analysis shows how Kentuckians at different income levels pay differing percentages of their incomes in state and local taxes. The chart below shows the situation in 2009. Income categories for individuals are represented on the horizontal axis, starting with the “Lowest 20%” at the left (those earning less than $15,000) and ending with the “Top 1%” (those earning more than $346,000). The height of the bars shows the percentage of income people in the various income categories pay in state and local taxes.

When you look from left to right (ignoring the “Lowest 20%” bar – one of KFTC’s victories!), what you see is a signifi cantly regressive tax structure: as income rises, a decreasing portion of income goes to state and local taxes. Is that what we want in Kentucky?

Do we consider that fair? Many people, me included, would answer no. The regressive nature of the tax system puts disproportionate responsibility for paying the tax bill on low and middle-income people.

When new tax legislation is proposed, it seems important – as part of an apparently shared concern for fairness – to ask whether the proposed change improves the regressive character of the current system or makes it worse. For example, Jason Bailey, director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, recently said, “Some want to eliminate or reduce Kentucky’s individual and corporate income tax and become more narrowly dependent on sales taxes.” But distributional analysis shows that “Such plans shift responsibility for paying taxes away from wealthy individuals and corporations to low and middle-income Kentuckians.”

(Lexington Herald-Leader, 12/13/11) Should this kind of shift – toward increased inequality and poverty – be part of tax reform that claims to value fairness or equity?

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, Colette Henderson and Nancy Reinhart 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

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

On the cover: Bowling Green member Dana Beasley Brown explained the impact of our current tax structure to a new member of the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee, Rep. Steven Rudy during an Economic Justice Lobby Day on January 18.

A great majority would say no – legislators included – if the question were framed in that way. That’s why I believe distributional analysis performed by the Legislative Resource Commission should be required – just as LRC fi scal notes are now required – for any bill that proposes tax changes. Requiring that kind of analysis from a trusted source could help establish a clearer frame for good tax policy in Kentucky. It would be a way of agreeing that what happens to ordinary people matters and should be high on everyone’s list – legislators especially – in thinking through whether a proposed tax structure would result in greater fairness.

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balancing the scales, January 30 , 2012

Member Commentary

Self-proclaimed “Meter Geek” watches his investment save

by Sam Avery

When was the last time you looked at your electric meter? If you’re like most people, you don’t even know where it is. But if you’re a “Meter Geek,” you’re likely to answer, “this morning.”

I became a “Meter Geek” the day I hooked up the PV [photovoltaic] system on my own house. I just stood there watching the numbers bounce around. I still check it every day or so.

But I’m not the only one. I got an email from Dennis and Wendy (recent customers): “Yesterday morning the electric meter read one kilowatt hour less than the day you all hooked up the panels. I doubt that we will ever have to pay more than the basic rate again.

Thanks. It is a great feeling.”

Then there’s Don (we installed his system a couple of years ago). He had one of the old rotating wheel meters.

He called me up one day to tell me that, with the sun shining and just the right number of lights on and the coffee maker brewing, he could run outside and watch the wheel come to a perfect balance. It tried to edge one way or the other until the coffee was ready, and then it resumed its backward march. He

used to invite friends over just to stand outside and watch it with him.

When you install solar, you get rewired. You pay attention to things you did not notice before. You watch what the clouds are doing, how the shadows play, and wonder how many kilowatthours you’re likely to produce today.

You think about the sun bringing life into your home. More importantly, you think about where the new energy is going. It’s yours – for free – but there’s only so much and you don’t want to waste it.

You want to have enough for how you live but you want to live by what is there.

The most important thing about being a “Meter Geek” is that you begin to see energy as energy – not just as a bill you have to pay. You stop converting it into dollars. It falls on your roof, you gather it up and turn it into lighting, music, vacuum cleaning, computing or coffee brewing. You’re not buying anything – and not mining or burning anything, either. And you’re paying attention to how energy flows through your life.

If you don’t have a way to produce energy and you’re trying to conserve, it’s all yin and no yang – it’s all going one way and you’re trying to slow it down but you can’t make it stop. But when energy flows both ways you see the yin and the yang. You feel the balance.

The reason I’m raising this topic

Maiden Radio New Album: Lullabies released on Ol Kentuck by Daniel Martin Moore

now is that I am about to have the consummate “Meter Geek” experience. The day I installed my system – the day I became a “Meter Geek” — my electric meter read 3,432 kilowatt-hours (kwh).

That was November 2007. The PV system has been cranking out kwh ever since, more than I have been using.

I walked past the meter on my way to the utility room one sunny day last month and noticed that it was reading 00,002. I finished what I was doing and then actually set up a lawn chair in front of the meter. This was the big moment – 00,001, then… 00,000!

It was bright midday, and the sun was really cranking out the kwh, but what would happen next? I half expected a swirl of smoke to seep out around the meter base, and then POW! But no, it

just sat there. A cloud passed overhead.

I thought, oh no, it’s just going to read 00,000 from now on and I’ll never know how much juice I’m pumping back into the grid. I mean, after all, how often do these meters get to experience a reverse flipover? Are they designed to take it?

And then the sun popped out from behind the cloud. The drum roll began and… BANG! It went to 99,999 (maybe the bang was in my head – you have to be a meter geek to appreciate these things)! But that was it, just like Y2k. I didn’t even get the million-dollar electric bill I was expecting. My meter now reads 99,743 – well on my way to the next reverse flipover, which is due in the year 2049. If it stays as sunny as it has been this September, I’ll be 100, and sitting out in my lawn chair, watching.

Saturday, April 14 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Jenny Wiley State Park Prestonsburg, Kentucky

Join us for a day of workshops by local experts about ways to save and earn money through small-scale farming, forestry, and energy solutions!

All are welcome. There is no cost for the conference. Pre-registration is appreciated: register online at www.kftc.org/growing or call 606-878-2161

Last Gift Date Printed On Front Cover!

KFTC members Julia Purcell, Cheyenne Marie Mize, & Joan Shelley

We’ve heard from a lot of members that they would love to stay current in their membership dues, but just don’t know when their renewal date is. So now we are printing your last gift date with your mailing label*.

Purchase from your

Renew by mail: Send in a contribution and the form.

Renew by phone: Call Morgan to pay by credit card: 606-878-2161.

Renew online: It’s easy to make a donation online at www.kftc.org/donate.

local independent cd store or from olkentuck.com

* Let us know if the last gift date looks wrong. Databases can be imperfect. Keep in mind that it takes about two weeks for the paper to be printed and on your doorstep. If you’ve made a donation in that time, it won’t make it on the label.

balancing the scales, January 30, 2012

Page 5

2012 KFTC’s Legislative Issues at a glance Here’s a quick look at the bills KFTC has a position on so far in the 2012 General Assembly. The KFTC Executive Committee (which serves as the legislative strategy team) reviews bills and amendments weekly. For a current update, visit www.kftc.org/billtracker.

Issue

Summary

Saving Streams (and mountains) House Bill 231

This legislation would prohibit the dumping of mine wastes into “an intermittent, perennial, or ephemeral stream or other water of the Commonwealth.”

KFTC position: Strongly Support

These are mostly headwater streams that are essential to the quality of waterways upstream and downstream. Mine wastes could be placed back on the mine site as part of the reclama­ tion process already specified in state and federal law - rather than dumped over the side of the hill into the valleys and streams below.

Voting Rights House Bill 70

HB 70 calls for a constitutional amendment to automatically restore voting rights to former felons upon the completion of their sentence.

KFTC position: Strongly Support

Tax Fairness House Bill 127 KFTC position: Strongly Support Clean Energy Opportunity Act House Bill 167 KFTC position: Strongly Support

Status HB 231 was introduced on January 9 with 7 cosponsors and has been as­ signed to the House Natural Resources and Environment committee.

All members of the General Assembly and the governor are ignoring their respon­ sibility to protect the people and land of Kentucky. Let them know this. Contact Rep. Jim Gooch and ask that HB 231 be brought up for a vote in committee.

HB 70 has passed out of a House com­ mittee and is on the floor of the House as of Jan 30. In years past HB 70 has had bipartisan support in the Senate, but Sen. Damon Thayer refuses to allow a hearing or vote in the Senate State & Local Government Committee.

Contact Sen. Thayer to let him know you support democracy and HB 70, and so should he.

HB 127 contains four different tax reforms to make our tax system HB 127 is in the House Appropriations more fair and to raise more revenue in order to make progress in and Revenue Committee. key areas like education, higher education, health care, housing and the justice system.

Pass a Renewable and Efficiency Portfolio Standard requiring utilities in Kentucky to get an increasing share of their energy from clean, renewable sources and energy efficiency programs.

Establish Feed-in Tariffs that will set a guaranteed rate for renew­ able energy producers.

Action Needed

Contact A&R Com­ mittee members in support of HB 127 and tax fairness.

HB 167 has been assigned to the House Call the Legisla­ Tourism, Development, and Energy tive Message Line Committee (800-372-7181) and leave a message for all members of the House Tourism, Development and Energy Committee in support of the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, HB 167.

This information is current through Monday, January 30. Check the KFTC web site at www.kftc.org/billtracker for updates on these bills, or the Legislative Research Commission web site at http://lrc.ky.gov/record/10RS/record.htm for updates on all bills. Let lawmakers know your opinions through the Legislative Message Line: 800-372-7181.

Webinar:

health impacts of mountaintop removal mining. The purpose of this webinar is to provide an opportunity for the largest possible set of “The Health Impacts of Mountaintop Removal” people to become familiar with current research and messaging about the health risks facing people living in mining communities – a key Join us on February 6 at 7:00 p.m. eastern time for a webinar about theme we will lift up on I Love Mountains Day 2012. The webinar will the purpose and plans for this year’s I Love Mountains Day and the be open to all. Contact Sara@KFTC.org to register.

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balancing the scales, January 30 , 2012

2012 KFTC’s Legislative Issues at a glance Here’s a quick look at the bills KFTC has a position on so far in the 2012 General Assembly. The KFTC Executive Committee (which serves as the legislative strategy team) reviews bills and amendments weekly. For a current update, visit www.kftc.org/billtracker.

Issue

Summary

Expanded Net Metering House Bill 187

Status

Action Needed

Net metering allows people who generate electricity with their own HB 187 has been assigned to the House renewable systems to put it back into the electric grid and receive Tourism, Development, and Energy a credit from their utility provider. This bill expands eligibility by al­ Committee lowing users (not just owners, as required now) of the renewable equipment to participate, and increasing the maximum capacity for eligible systems.

Call the Legisla­ tive Message Line (800-372-7181) and leave a message for all members of the House Tourism, Development, and Energy Committee in support of HB 187 and HB 167, the Clean Energy Op­ portunity Act.

HB 255 funds a Green Schools Initiative by making $50 million in loan money available to schools for projects that will save a minimum of 25% in energy costs.

HB 255 has been assigned to House Education Committee.

Contact Rep. Rocky Adkins and tell him, “HB 255 is a good start but, HB 167 is Kentucky’s Future.”

Death Penalty Senate Bill 63 KFTC position: Support

SB 63 would replace the death penalty with a life without parole sentence.

SB 63 has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Death Penalty House Bill 145 KFTC position: Support

HB 145 would end the use of the death penalty when the defen­ dant is severely mentally ill.

HB 145 has been assigned to the House Contact members of Judiciary Committee. the House Judiciary Committee.

KFTC position: Strongly Support

Green Schools House Bill 255 KFTC position: Support

It is time to remind legislators that there is strong grassroots support for each of these bills. Here’s how you can help do that: 1) Call the toll-free Legislative Message Line at 800-372-7181 and ask to leave a message for “all members” of the committee listed above for each bill. The message line is open weekdays 7 a.m. – 11 p.m. (just to 6 p.m. on Fridays). Message: Please support House Bill ____ and work for its passage.

2) Call your legislator directly at 502-564-8100 and express support for these bills. This is especially important if your representative is a member of any of these committees. If you are not sure who your legislator is, visit www.lrc.ky.gov/Legislators.htm. You can also see what committees they are on.

3) Write your legislators at: Capitol Annex, 700 Capitol Ave., Frankfort, KY 40601. If you want to email them, find their email address here www.lrc.ky.gov/whoswho/email.htm.

4) Spend one or more days lobbying with other KFTC members at the capitol. Besides the big rallies and lobby days, we have a KFTC presence at the capitol most Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Our lobby day usually starts by 9 a.m. and ends shortly after lawmakers go into session at 2 p.m. If you are interested in lobbying with KFTC, check with your chapter organizer or let Lisa Abbott know you are coming so we can expect you — lisa@kftc.org.

This information is current through Monday, January 30. Check the KFTC web site at www.kftc.org/billtracker for updates on these bills, or the Legislative Research Commission web site at http://lrc.ky.gov/record/10RS/record.htm for updates on all bills. Let lawmakers know your opinions through the Legislative Message Line: 800-372-7181.

balancing the scales, January 30, 2012

Page 7

Grassroots Fundraising

KFTC members achieve an unprecedented year in fundraising

2011 was an incredible year for fundraising by KFTC members across Kentucky. Throughout the year – from Bowling Green to Whitesburg, Covington to Louisville, and Harlan to Lexington – members celebrated KFTC’s 30th birthday and raised dollars with a creative array of house parties, events, tabling and more.

The Steering Committee set our fundraising goal at $350,000 for the year, and we blew the top off that goal by raising $382,958. That’s a 27 percent increase over our 2010 grassroots fundraising. Here are some highlights: January – March • Members gave their time and money to support lobbying efforts in Frankfort.

• Kentucky Rising sit-in in February generated support from across the country.

• 1,200 people – our largest crowd ever – attended I Love Mountains Day. • Multiple events around the state celebrated and supported I Love Mountains Day.

• Hundreds attended our Voting Rights, Economic Justice and Clean Energy lobby days.

• Grassroots fundraising and online donations spiked, including many out-of-state contributions.

• We hit 10 percent of our annual fundraising goal.

April – June

• We fully launched our monthly renewal program, in which we remind folks who haven’t given since this time last year to renew.

• We gained 46 new members and 20 New Power Leaders in April.

• Letcher and Pike counties both showed significant increases in current member rates.

• In one week, we raised $12,528 in chapter fundraising, due largely to a big Louisville Loves Mountains event in May. • We bumped past 20 percent toward our annual goal.

July – September • We celebrated our 30th birthday with

a big family-reunion-style picnic in August and many smaller events around the state throughout the fall.

• Members made special 30th birthday gifts to KFTC, resulting in more than $19,000 in donations.

• We raised $10,000 through our 30th birthday history booklet, thanks to allies and friends who purchased ads.

• Chapters outdid themselves in chapter fundraising, with Madison County raising more than $1,000.

• By the end of September, we had raised more than we ever had by that point in any previous year.

October – December

• Our fall fundraising campaign was the most ambitious, coordinated and energetic we’d ever attempted – with a mailing, phone banks, weekly email updates, a thermometer to measure our progress, and numerous events around the state.

• We raised the most during November and December that we’ve ever raised during a fall campaign – more than $180,000.

• Weeks of phone banks in chapters across the state raised thousands of dollars through members talking to members.

• The Arty Pie Party in Scott County raised $2,100.

• A house party in New York City raised $2,000.

• An election night phone bank in Lexington raised $400.

• Many members who had not given in years renewed their membership.

• Out-of-state members from Virginia to California invested in KFTC. • A benefit concert December 29 featuring Yim Yames, Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore, Dan Dorff and authors Silas House and Jason Howard raised more than $40,000.

Some members will remember when $180,000 – the amount KFTC raised in November and December – was more than we raised all year.

In 2011, KFTC exceeded the goal by raising thousands of gifts, both large and small, all year long. This commitment was anchored by sustaining donors who give regularly.

Photos L- R: Rick Handshoe showed his love and appreciation to the supporters outside the capitol during the four-day Kentucky Rising occupation of the governor’s office; Louisville Band Beady played at the 3rd Annual Louisville Loves Mountains Festival; Anna and John Harrod played fiddle tunes at KFTC’s 30th Birthday Party in August; Kentucky authors and KFTC members Silas House and Jason Howard participated in an interview before the Dear Companion concert on December 29 which featured Jim James, Ben Sollee, Daniel Martin Moore and Dan Dorff (Photo by Matthew Cardwell).

House Party Films: If you would like to show one of the following films, contact Tim at 859-276-0563 or Tim@kftc.org Reel Power: Films Fueling The Energy Revolution

Deep down: deep in the appalachian mountains of eastern kentucky, beverly may and

age of climate change and highlights com-

new drilling boom in the rocky mountain

munities that are integrating renewable

west struggle against the erosion of their

terry ratliff find themselves at the center

energy projects across the country.

civil liberties, their communities and their

of a contentious community battle over a

www.dirtybusinessthefilm.com

health.

Gasland:

Sun Come Up:

www.splitestate.com

proposed mountaintop removal coal mine.

www.deepdownfilm.org business :

“ clean

coal ” and the

when filmmaker josh fox is asked

some of the the carteret islanders, a peace-

on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a

ful community living on a remote island

trail of secrets, lies and contamination.

chain in the south pacific ocean and now

www.gaslandthemovie.com

some of the world’s first environmental

Cape Spin tackles the root causes of society’s inability to produce a large-scale solution to the global energy crisis it created, fram-

D irty

ing the events of the cape wind project as

investigative reporting that aims to give a

a microcosm of america’s struggle toward

full accounting of the true cost of our

Split Estate:

sustainability and energy independence.

dependence on coal for electricity in the

in the making, as citizens in the path of a

battle for our energy future is a

90-minute

documentary produced by the center for

follows the relocation of

to lease his land for drilling, he embarks

refugees. split estate maps a tragedy

www.suncomeup.com

Page 8

balancing the scales, January 30 , 2012

Local Updates After a busy fall of building grassroots power

Rowan County members start 2012 with a slate of local issues

The Rowan County Chapter started the new year with a packed agenda after a very busy fall.

At its October and November meetings, members discussed the recent KFTC annual meeting, a local polluting tire processing plant, the underground petroleum storage tanks issue, fall fundraising and a chapter Facebook page.

There also were updates and reports from chapter members on KFTC litigation, the Kentucky Deserves Better rally at U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers’ office in Somerset, and chapter voter registration on Morehead State University’s campus.

Chapter members participated in an October 27 public meeting on a proposed Improvement Project for KY Route 32 held by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The meeting, held in Sandy Hook, was well attended with more than 100 people in the gymnasium of Elliott County High School.

Rowan chapter members have been involved with local transportation projects for more than 10 years beginning in 2000 with an ill-conceived third Rowan Interchange Project. Like that project, chapter members have concluded that the Route 32 project is political pork, would waste huge amounts of tax dollars, destroy environmentally sensitive areas and is not needed.

KY Route 32 between Elliottville and Sandy Hook is a winding mountain road that follows the ridgeline between two pristine trout streams. Chapter members agree the road’s 10 or 12 most twisting sections should be upgraded, but believe the idea of spending $100 million to rebuild a rural road that carries 470 cars per day is absurd.

In an earlier round of planning

meetings, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Rep. Rocky Adkins promised local residents repeatedly that the road design would be “culturally and environmentally” friendly. Local residents overwhelmingly voted for that option.

Then, at the October meeting, the cabinet unveiled a new alternative that was not included in the first phase of planning. This “new” alignment is simply blasting a new route next to the old highway, in effect creating two parallel roads right next to each other.

Chapter members are highly suspicious that this is a section of a proposed industrial coal haul road (proposed KY 645 Project extension from Ulysses near Martin County to Morehead) in disguise.

A used tire shredding plant that has been creating problems for neighbors for 13 years got the attention of chapter members when Jean Johnson of Carter County brought it to their attention in September. Since then, chapter members visited her home to view the problems and supported her efforts to get some enforcement action from the Kentucky Division of Waste Management (DWM), Division of Water and Division of Air Quality.

Those efforts finally paid off in early December when the DWM director visited Johnson’s home and met with chapter members. A few days later, inspectors from all three divisions descended on the facility. Three quarters of a pickup truck load of shredded tires and 13 whole tires were removed from Tygarts Creek, which flows next to the plant.

Members hope that will lead to a fullscale investigation and various actions

Letcher County Chapter members chart new waters for 2012

by Elizabeth Sanders

Rowan County Chapter members registered voters on Morehead University’s campus prior to the 2011 general election. to make the facility a good neighbor.

During the fall, the chapter also held a November Friend-raiser at the Fuzzy Duck/Coffee Tree Bookstore.

The event featured KFTC 30th anniversary film I Was There: The First 30 Years of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth.

Chapter members were present to talk about their experiences over the years and inform community members about the chapter’s local work.

In October, a voter registration drive on the campus of Morehead State University resulted in more than 50 new registrations.

Submitted by Doug Doerrfeld, Chapter Publicity Coordinator.

The year is definitely kicking off on a good note for the Letcher County chapter. The 10 folks who came out to the first meeting of 2012 realized they are entering new ground as the chapter moves forward without a staff organizer, but they are up for the challenge.

Chapter organizer Willa Johnson left the organization at the end of December, and we wish her the best of luck.

At the chapter meeting, members discussed all of the many events coming up and got a good overview of bills in the 2012 General Assembly.

Additionally, members are gearing up for the Annual Crepes of Wrath event, a morning filled with breakfast crepes and lettersto-the-editor to legislators, hosted by the Chapman-Cranes.

Members decided to team up with the Harlan County chapter to host a joint potluck and meeting in March, which will be exciting coming off of a packed February sure to be highlighted by I Love Mountains Day. Members are excited about being part of the east Kentucky bus contingent traveling to Frankfort.

Harlan County & Letcher County Joint Potluck Tuesday, March 6, 6 p.m.

Oven Fork Senior Citizens Center 7181 HWY 119 S. Eolia, KY Everyone is encouraged to invite a friend and bring a food dish to share.

balancing the scales, January 30, 2012

Page 9

Local Updates

Citizen lobby training empowers central Kentucky members

by Jessica Barnett

Central Kentucky KFTC members and allies gathered in Lexington on January 11 for a training on “Making Our Voices Heard — Demystifying Citizen Lobbying.” The training was geared for participants to learn how to effectively share their stories and communicate with legislators.

The event began with a review of the legislative process and some general tips for effective lobbying.

Central Kentucky KFTC member Lindsay Bonds stressed the importance of putting a name and a face to every issue. While it’s important to be educated on the bills, personal perspectives and stories can be the most memorable.

“Everyone deserves to be heard,” said Bonds. “Legislators need to know people’s struggles.”

The group took a close look at KFTC’s priority legislation that members will focus on during the 2012 General Assembly, which runs until mid-April.

Participants learned in-depth about bills that will address renewable energy, voting rights, LGBTQ rights, tax reform and ending the destructive process of mountaintop removal coal mining. Participants left with a wealth of information to share with legislators.

East Kentucky chapters organize around energy audits and clean water

Central Kentucky members teamed up with folks from the Scott County chapter to host “Making Our Voices Heard ­— Demystifying Citizen Lobbying. Empowering a new crop of citizen lobbyists for the 2012 Kentucky Legislative Session.”

Additionally, the group discussed ways to lobby from home for those who cannot make it to Frankfort during the work week. Possible options are lettersto-the-editor, letters to legislators, calling and leaving a message for the legislator. The best way is to schedule a face-to-face at-home meeting with the legislator.

The training ended with a mock lobby meeting that gave participants a

chance to practice their new citizen lobbyist skills.

Finally, the group took the time to reflect on the training. A common theme was the empowerment that comes with having a voice in Frankfort.

“It’s solutions-based. We don’t just complain about problems. We learn how to fix them by working together,” said Rosanne Fitts Klarer, a Scott County KFTC member.

was asked by members to support KFTC proposed legislation ranging from tax reform to voting rights for former felons. Napier was noncommittal for much of the meeting, but promised to support voting rights for former felons during the legislative session.

Chapter members had more success with Rep. Smart, who visited the chapter in Berea in November.

Members asked Smart to support KFTC’s policy proposals by signing on as a cosponsor to KFTC’s proposed legislation. Smart insisted that she read the bills in question before signing on as a cosponsor.

Chapter members persisted, however, particularly with the Clean Energy Opportunity Act (HB 167), which would encourage renewable energy produc-

tion by creating incentives for Kentucky utilities to make the transition to a clean energy infrastructure.

Rep. Smart did agree that she would read the bill and return to discuss it further with the local KFTC members.

Steve Wilkins, Madison County chapter member, met with Smart at a local Berea coffee shop, and convinced her to support the Clean Energy Opportunity Act by signing on as a co-sponsor.

The chapter’s success in getting its two representatives to commit to KFTCsupported legislation demonstrated the importance of lobbying through athome meetings. It forces Kentucky legislators to face the needs and concerns of their constituents face-to-face, rather than in their Frankfort offices, where these concerns may seem far away.

Madison County at-home legislative meetings foster relationships, conversations and commitments

by Cory Lowery

One of KFTC’s most successful advocacy strategies has come in the form of citizen lobbying and at-home meetings with legislators. Local KFTC chapters and citizens invite their legislators to visit their districts to discuss policy with them, the constituents.

During the fall, members of the Madison County chapter invited Madison County’s two state representatives to discuss statewide public policy designed to address some of the most serious problems facing Kentucky.

Rep. Lonnie Napier (R) and Rep. Rita Smart (D) sat down with the members in Berea College’s Appalachian Center to discuss a variety of issues.

Rep. Napier visited in October, and

Floyd County members ended the year with fundraising phone banks and a How$mart presentation at the December chapter meeting.

Members Stephanie Tyree, Bradley Owens and Connie Brooks came out and helped to call KFTC members in Floyd, Knott, Johnson and Magoffin counties. They received some great donations and even better conversations.

Chris Woolery, an energy audit specialist from Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED), came to the chapter meeting and gave a presentation about the How$martKY program and energy efficiency.

Since this meeting, chapter member Rick Handshoe had an energy audit performed on his home and will most likely qualify for this program.

With I Love Mountains Day upon us, members are busy getting ready for this year by calling other members, making pinwheels, and hosting Mountain Witness Tours to raise awareness.

Handshoe will lead a Mountain Witness Tour for Footprints For Peace before group members begin their two-week trek from Prestonsburg to Frankfort in support of clean air, clean water, and a sustainable future.

Floyd County members Beverly May, Nathan Hall, Todd Howard, Connie Brooks, Kathy Curtis, and Allyson Williams have also been busy making preparations for this year’s Growing Appalachia conference that is sure to be the biggest and best yet. Updates and online registration coming soon!

Knott County

Be sure to keep your eyes out for updates coming from Knott County members who are beginning to organize around water quality issues affecting many of the residents in the county.

Page 10

balancing the scales, January 30 , 2012

Members gathered in Boyle County to discuss important issues facing the community but also to take action steps to form an official Boyle County KFTC Chapter.

Bethany Baxter spoke with Ivy Brashear on Dec 29 after the James, Sollee and Martin Moore Concert at the “after party” that was held at Land Of Tomorrow gallery.

Staff and members (left to right): Jessica Hays Lucas, Diane Shackleford, Jim Gormley, Christian Torp, Joe Sonka, Kate Miller (ACLU), ACLU intern, and Jason Smith attended a hearing in the House Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee concerning HB 70, restoring voting rights to former felons.

Scott County “Artie Pie Party” was a big success in late 2011. Community members gathered to learn more about KFTC while enjoying good music, eye catching art, and tasty pies.

February 29: KFTC is the “Charity of the month” at Oakbrook Cafe.

10% of sales from the day will be donated to KFTC to support the work registering, informing, and mobilizing voters.

Open from 11 a.m. – 1 a.m.

Oakbrook Cafe is located at 6072 Limaburg Road in Burlington

balancing the scales, January 30, 2012

Page 11

Local Updates

Historic fundraisier rounds out the year in Jefferson County as James, Sollee and Martin Moore sell out Brown Theatre

On the heels of wrapping up the 2011 Fall Grassroots Fundraising Campaign, Jefferson County KFTC members slammed the books shut on a successful year. Hosting historically the biggest single event fundraiser in KFTC’s 30year history, members donated, planned and executed on all levels, raising more than $40,000 in one evening.

December 29 was an unseasonably warm evening. Generating even more heat were the 1,400 people who swarmed to The Brown Theatre in downtown Louisville to enjoy an evening of music and prose for a cause, to strengthen the downstream connection between Louis-

ville and eastern Kentucky.

The event featured Kentucky musicians Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Ben Sollee, Daniel Martin Moore and Dan Dorff. Also lending their talents to the evening were Kentucky authors Silas House and Jason Howard.

“It is pure joy to be able to play a show like the one we did at the Brown,” said Martin Moore, musician and KFTC member. “Knowing that the monies raised go to support good works around the commonwealth makes it all the better.”

Although the crowd was full of KFTC members, Ivy Brashear took the

opportunity to introduce KFTC to those who were less familiar. An opening video filmed by Kertis Creative introduced the crowd to KFTC through the life of Ivy and her family. It illustrated the true grassroots nature of KFTC and the larger focus of the organization, not on one issue but on many that directly impact the lives of Kentuckians everyday.

Brashear then took the stage to encourage the crowd to learn more about KFTC and to invest in the work.

Fourteen hundred was the sellout capacity of the theater, and during the final week leading up to the event, eager concert goers (and unfortunately some

non-goers) scoured Louisville for remaining tickets.

Louisville Public Media partner WFPK-FM built momentum for the event through ticket giveaways and a guest DJ segment by Sollee and Martin Moore.

The concert was the product of several years of quality relationship building and repeated connections with these artists throughout the years.

Sollee, House, Martin Moore and Howard are no strangers to KFTC. While they have high profile individual careers, they are very much part of the KFTC membership base. (continued on next page)

KFTC member Ivy Brashear introduced the sellout crowd of 1,400 people to Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, Jim James of My Morning Jacket performed a 45 minute solo set, and Dear Companion tour mates Ben Sollee and Daniel

Martin Moore played together and alone as they gave the crowd a variety of old and new tunes including some of their collaborative album, Dear Companion.

Photos provided by Jess Deis

The Northern Kentucky chapter is working to build off of last year’s successes: to continue chapter growth and to promote KFTC members’ work on statewide issues.

This includes working closely with allies to both build skills and raise awareness about important issues in northern Kentucky.

KFTC members are helping to lead the way on payday lending, actively encouraging northern Kentucky state representatives on the House Banking and Insurance Committee to support Rep. Owens’ bill to cap predatory payday lending interest rates at 36 percent.

about the potential dangers to the community from the over-development on and around the Signature Hillsides in northern Kentucky.

Flooding in neighborhoods, road closings and damages to homes and property are some of the problems that people living in affected neighborhoods face.

To raise the level of awareness about these issues surrounding development, the chapter is working closely with local Sierra Club members to host a film festival. Additionally, speakers will present on topics of land management issues and solutions. Speakers will include local

Responsible hill development, payday lending, and alliance building are keeping northern Kentucky members busy

Additionally, the chapter is planning a letter and postcard-writing event at Groove Coffee House on February 12 leading into I Love Mountains Day on February 14. Members plan to gather from 3 - 6 p.m., to share information on the destruction in Appalachia, and write to legislators about the importance of protecting clean water and promoting clean energy.

Awareness Event: Partner with Northern Kentucky Sierra Club

Members of the Northern Kentucky chapter are working to raise awareness

experts on issues pertinent to land management, and those impacted by a lack of regulation.

Films and clips will detail land management usage and concerns in other communities.

Members hope the film series and speakers will raise awareness about the issues, and lead local planning commissions and leaders to begin thinking of long-term solutions to the issues around development.

This event is open to the public and will take place on March 4 from 2 - 4 p.m. at the Erlanger Branch of the Kenton County Library.

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balancing the scales, January 30 , 2012

Local Updates

Boyle County members begin to organize and energize community

The Boyle County KFTC group met most recently on January 9 at the beautiful Danville Public Library. After a brief discussion of the legislative redistricting being proposed for the state – HB 1, which had passed both the House and Senate but may be tied up by litigation – members proceeded to select dates in mid-to-late-April as prospective dates for a mountain witness tour in eastern Kentucky.

A related topic was the annual I Love Mountains Day march to be held in Frankfort on February 14. Quite a few members are committed to attending and hope to have a great showing from our area!

Other topics included how to increase the size and awareness of our

local group’s efforts for economic justice. Members talked about developing a survey to be distributed via email and/or tabling at local stores.

A follow-up topic was HB 167, the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, in the General Assembly. All were educated about the bill and asked to call their legislators to encourage them to support and cosponsor the bill.

Next up was a brief report detailing findings pertaining to coal ash storage and the installation (or not) of pollution control at the E.W. Brown power plant in nearby Harrodsburg.

Additionally one member secured some excellent pictures of the coal storage slurry pond adjacent to the Dix River, as well as of the generating plant itself. We also viewed Google Earth satellite views of the facility.

Members discussed possible KFTC training sessions on one or more of several different topics such as effective letter writing, economic justice, lobbying, and voting rights.

We also plan to go over to Berea to attend one of the Madison County KFTC meetings to partner with and learn from their experiences.

Members thought it would be desirable to work with the local political infrastructure and later this spring plan to have Boyle County Judge-Executive Harold McKinney attend one of our meetings.

We also talked about the process of and desire for becoming an official KFTC chapter sometime this year, as well as made plans for a couple members to attend the next Human Rights Commission meeting. We are interested

(continued from previous page)

The planning for the event started with a conversation and a realization that there is incredible talent in Kentucky and KFTC is very fortunate to host much of that talent in the membership.

Some of that talent was ready and willing to very generously donate their time to raise some money for KFTC and the work they strongly believe in.

The event connected with the community on many levels. It illustrated how much KFTC has become a known name in Jefferson County and in Kentucky.

There were numerous volunteers from the chapter that helped with finding the right venue, brainstorming the fundraising opportunities, and approaching new sponsors and community partners. They also helped the day of the event.

Louisville members Abby Miller and Chris Ryczek sold merchandise while Linda Stettenbenz and Shekinah Lavalle tabled and talked to folks about KFTC’s work.

Kristah Lavalle and Jessie White walked around with baskets, encouraging folks to turn in their “opt in” membership forms.

Not only were individual members participating but local partners also stepped forward to promote the event, offer technical assistance, and raise funds. Mike Mays of Heine Brothers’

Coffee single handedly brought in $1,500 in local sponsorships. George Parker of Parker Lane Productions suggested having multi-media displays in the lobby and helped the chapter orchestrate the logistics.

Summer Auerbach, of Rainbow Blossom Foods, provided food and drinks for the artists during the performance.

All these folks, while business partners, are also known members of KFTC in the community.

Many new community partners stepped up to assist in sponsoring and promoting the event. Dragon King’s Daughter and The Nach Bar promoted the event by raffling off their sponsorship tickets.

Hound Dog Press donated their labor to design the event poster. Jim James’s team in New York sent an email blast to the My Morning Jacket list about the event.

To have so many people from different walks of life pitch in on a project like this helped create an evening that was more than just a concert. It allowed many to connect to a growing community that believes that citizens can work together for a better Kentucky.

“I’m certain we’ll continue helping to raise funds and awareness as best we can, and as members of KFTC, continue to ask our legislature to do the right

thing and represent the people of our state, not the special interests,” said Martin Moore.

Everyone who took the stage had thoughtful, insightful, astute things to say about KFTC.

by Jim Porter

Musicians and members raise funds and awareness

The sellout crowd packed the lobby before and after the show, picking up information about KFTC and purchasing merchandise from the musicians and a limited edition print created and hand-printed by Nick Butcher at Hound Dog Press.

in seeing if we can work with the Commission on some local issues.

We briefly discussed a spring/summer fundraising event, and member Eric Mount challenged us all to bring a new person to our next meeting on February 6.

For more information on our next meeting, visit the KFTC calendar at www.kftc.org/calendar or contact member Lee Ann Paynter at aperturienne@att.net.

Scott County Update: Members work to bolster recycling program Scott County KFTC members made a good start to the new year with a January chapter meeting, gearing up for the 2012 General Assembly, as well as a kick-start for the local curbside recycling campaign.

Members walked in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. March, participated in a grassroots lobby training with the neighboring Central Kentucky chapter, and are already planning the 2012 Arty Pie Party for later this year as a chapter fundraiser.

Throughout much of 2011, members worked with city council members and others to find a path forward to provide curbside recycling. Officials have been less enthusiastic in recent months and members have decided to go back to a grassroots strategy of building public support and making sure people contact their city council members.

The chapter is organizing a series of mailings and phone banks to reach out to the people who have already signed the recycling petition, and are pairing that with more public events to collect signatures.

The campaign surge will culminate in a visit to the city council where many members will speak on this issue.

The Scott County chapter meets on the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Scott County Public Library, 104 S. Bradford Lane in Georgetown. All are welcome.

balancing the scales, January 30, 2012

Page 13

Voting Rights Update

Making Kentucky’s democracy a little better – voting rights

Restoring voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society is a legislative priority for KFTC again this year, and members across the state are working hard to win it.

KFTC members ended 2011 with a powerful victory on election night, with the KFTC PAC making a big impact on the Secretary of State’s election, protecting voting rights from a candidate who campaigned on allowing fewer people to vote.

KFTC’s voting rights legislation also received some good media coverage on Kentucky Tonight late in the year, and Central Kentucky chapter members and allies held a voting rights rally in Lexington with 30 participants to build momentum.

More recently, the issue received good coverage in the Richmond Register, held a series of citizen lobby trainings throughout the state, and took to the streets in three different communities to talk to people about voting rights on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Since the start of the 2012 legislative session, members have hit the ground running – picking up cosponsors for House Bill 70 in the state legislature, which is quickly moving towards passage out of the House.

In the past, Senators David Williams and Damon Thayer have refused to allow the bill to even be discussed in committee in the Senate, so that’s where members expect to continue to put pressure.

“We try to get this bill through every year,” explained Christian Torp at a recent Voting Rights lobby training in Lexington. “Sometimes it’s like we’re hitting our heads up against a wall. But speaking for myself, I have a pretty hard head and I don’t envy that wall.”

KFTC members will be in Frankfort almost every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. talking to legislators about voting rights and other priority legislation. Please contact your local community organizer and plan to join.

On Sunday, January 22, Lexington residents including KFTC members, Occupy Lexington activists and many others gathered in downtown Lexington and spoke out against the irrational and undemocratic redistricting process.

Despite having only about 48 hours after Gov. Beshear signed the legislation to organize the event, it was a success, with 125 enthusiastic people attending.

Directly affected citizens in Lexington who are disenfranchised by HB 1 will be left without a duly elected senator until 2014.

Whereas the rally was focused on this particular Senate district, participants broadly recognized that the redistricting plans out of both the Democratcontrolled House and the Republicancontrolled Senate were unjust, hopelessly partisan and against the ideals citizens expect legislators to hold themselves to in the redistricting process.

Sen. Dorsey Ridley, who by this redistricting plan will replace Sen. Kathy Stein as the senator for Lexington, drove more than 200 miles to attend. He stated that the same process that has left Lexington citizens without a duly elected

senator has stolen him from his former constituents in western Kentucky.

Stein (a sponsor of KFTC’s Stream Saver Bill in the Senate), who has represented Lexington since 1997, saw the district she now represents moved to northern Kentucky. Since she does not live there, she cannot run for re-election.

The redistricting plans also are vindictive against other specific lawmakers and create very oddly shaped districts that unnecessarily divide coherent communities and constituencies.

The House redistricting plans move many Republican representatives into districts with other incumbent Republicans, thus potentially reducing the number of Republican members in the House.

Additionally, some district lines are abstract at best, making the district boundaries difficult to navigate.

Rep. Jeff Hoover has asked for an injunction in Franklin Circuit Court against the House plan, challenging it as unconstitutional.

Sen. Stein is expected to file a similar action against the Senate redistricting plan.

Action Needed Action One

Passage of HB 70 would give voice to voiceless Kentucky voters by restoring voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society. Pictured above, Janet Tucker speaks at a rally for democracy in Lexington.

Redistricting bill passes House and Senate; lawsuit filed to challenge unconstitutionality of redistricting plan Follow the latest news at www.KFTC.org/blog

As a standing action, call the toll-free Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181 and leave a message for your Senator and Representative, plus “Senate leadership” and “members of the Senate State and Local Government Committee,” and “House Leadership.”

A simple message like “Please support HB 70” works fine.

It only takes a couple of minutes, and this message will be left for 20 key legislators all at once.

The message line is open 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday and until 6 p.m. on Friday.

Action Two The Voting Rights Lobby Day & Rally is set for Thursday, March 8.

It starts in Room 111 of the Capitol Annex at 9 a.m. with an orientation that will put participants into small lobby teams (mixed with veteran and first-time lobbyists) to talk to legislators throughout the day. No lobbying experience is needed.

Plan to stay for the big rally in the Capitol Rotunda from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – with former felon speakers, singing, and more.

Rally against redistricting plans held in downtown Lexington on Sunday, January 22.

Page 14

balancing the scales, January 30 , 2012

Economic Justice Update

Members tell legislators: now is the time for growing revenue

KFTC members and friends from Warren to Rowan counties came to KFTC’s Economic Justice Lobby Day on January 18 to tell the legislators that Kentuckians deserve better than the nearly $300 million in additional cuts proposed by the governor. They said that now is the time to pass the Kentucky Forward Revenue Plan, House Bill 127.

The governor’s budget proposes almost $300 million in budget cuts, which are on top of nine rounds of budget cuts over the last four years that totaled $1.3 billion. Most state agencies’ budgets would be cut by 8.4 percent in 2013, with no additional funding in 2014.

Higher education would also be cut by 6.4 percent, meaning that tuition would continue to far outpace families’ and students’ incomes. Environmental protection could be cut by 11 percent.

KFTC members and allies put forth

HB 127 as a good, commonsense solution that would stave off these cuts and begin to address Kentucky’s deficit by raising the revenue needed to be sustainable.

A recent report from The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy said: “if the tax system was able to perform as it did over much of the 1990s, when General Fund revenue was around seven percent of state personal income, Kentucky would have over $1.5 billion more a year to address shortfalls in education, health and other critical areas.” That’s more money in one year than the cuts of the last four combined.

In telling legislators what they want to see for their communities and the commonwealth, some members used a template similar to the one to the right.

Feel free to use it to write a letter to the editor in support of HB 127!

I live in _________ County and I’m _______. [Are you a parent? A student?

A teacher? Someone who’s concerned about our water quality? Someone looking for a job?]

I want to see __________. [Name the good things you want to see in your life and your community…Things that we all want, right?]

But right now_______. [What’s standing in the way? What do you see instead?]

That’s why, this session, I’m asking ________[your legislator’s name] to support HB 127, the Kentucky Forward Revenue Plan sponsored by Rep. Wayne.

This bill would raise $330 million a year that we could invest in ______________ [How does this bill work toward your vision?], while making the tax structure fairer by lowering taxes for Kentucky’s low- and middle-income families.

I hope that Rep. _____ agrees that Kentuckians deserve a better quality of life, and works to support HB 127, the Kentucky Forward Revenue Plan.

Scott County member Rosanne Klarer used the template to frame up her remarks to legislators, and then she tweaked them to write a letter to the editor.

Here’s her letter: I live in Scott County and I’m a parent, a retired public school teacher, and an active community member. I want to see every Kentucky child, especially those with special needs, have a quality education, and access to an affordable college education. I also want to see clean water and air, and I want it to be monitored so that we know it is safe.

But right now our legislators are kicking the can down the road. They lack the courage to do their jobs to pay for these basic things. I’m asking Rep. Ryan Quarles to support HB 127, the Kentucky Forward Revenue Plan sponsored by Rep. Wayne. This bill would raise $330 million a year that we could invest in education and health services while making the tax structure fairer by lowering taxes for Kentucky’s low-and middle-income families.

I hope that Rep. Quarles agrees that Kentuckians deserve a better quality of life, and works to support HB 127, the Kentucky Forward Revenue Plan.

Feel free to do the same!

Bowling Green member Dana Beasley Brown explained the impact of our current tax structure to a new member of the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee, Rep. Steven Rudy.

Citizen lobby training — tax focus

More than 20 folks from LaGrange to Hazard came to a lobby training sponsored by KFTC at the Capitol on the opening day of the 2012 General Assembly.

After the training, members headed out to kick off another year of citizen lobbying, or as Erika Skaggs from the Central Kentucky chapter put it, “one of the things that KFTC members do best.”

Members were able to catch legisla-

tors in the halls for some lobbying visits, rounding up cosponsors for KFTC’s priority legislation bills in support of voting rights, clean energy, and tax reform.

Then, after some pizza fortification, a crew of east Kentucky members stayed for the State of the Commonwealth Address delivered by Governor Beshear.

Members shared reflections about the address on the way home.

They were excited that the governor

seemed to be committing to tax reforms that are fair and that will grow along with the economy, although members also recognized that these can be slippery words.

KFTC members support tax reforms that are fair, meaning that the responsibility of paying taxes is shared equitably, and low- and middle-income Kentuckians shouldn’t be asked to pay a larger share than the wealthiest Kentuckians.

Tax reform, KFTC further believes, should also generate revenue adequate to meet the state’s needs and priorities, and be sustainable (or elastic, able to adapt to the shifting economy).

Clearly, Gov. Beshear is using some language that reflects the principles

of KFTC and the Partnership for Kentucky’s Future (a tax justice coalition).

The governor, one carload reflected on the way home, would do well to think and talk more about root causes of Kentucky’s challenges, and to think more deeply about a vision that addresses those root causes.

For example, prescription drug prevention programs are very important, but they fall short of addressing a vision for what’s really needed to build a more diverse and dynamic economy in Kentucky. Members were looking for leadership to invest in a vision of vibrant communities, access to quality education and a commitment to the growing clean energy economy.

balancing the scales, January 30, 2012

Page 15

New Energy and Transition Update

New Energy and Transition Team holds first statewide meeting

Good energy was the theme of the day – both in the room and in the goals – at the first meeting of KFTC’s statewide strategy team for New Energy and Transition.

Fifteen KFTC members from across Kentucky gathered in Lexington on December 3 to begin providing leadership for KFTC’s New Energy and Transition work, which includes rural electric coop reform, sustainable energy and the Appalachian Transition campaigns.

KFTC’s Steering Committee decided in 2011 to more closely align these three projects, which have similar goals of promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy, passing clean energy legislation, transitioning away from Kentucky’s dependence on coal, creating new jobs, and saving money for lowincome families.

Most of the folks in the room had been involved with one of the three campaigns. Participants got an overview of all three and will have the chance to choose a work team that focuses on one.

“It was exciting to see these different areas of KFTC work for a better, more sustainable future brought together so that we could learn from each other and understand how so much of our efforts are interrelated,” said Mimi Pickering, a long-time KFTC member from Whitesburg. “I think this is going to be a great way to organize and build momentum for a transition away from coal mining and burning to renewable energy and a just and sustainable economy in eastern Kentucky.”

Lee Ann Paynter, a new KFTC member from Boyle County, also was excited about the potential of this group.

“My hope is that we can generate more awareness and a higher visibility for the options people have to take advantage of sustainable energy,” she said.

“Education is power, so I’d like to expand the opportunities for folks to learn about clean energy, both the things that already exist here in Kentucky such as the solar panel manufacturing plant in Danville, as well as how they can make changes in their own lives and energy usage.”

Members discussed trends, opportunities and challenges to achieving a clean energy vision. Among the trends was the growing acceptance of energy efficiency, even among utilities and politicians who support the coal industry.

Renewable energy, on the other hand,

won’t gain a foothold unless it’s connected with economic development, members said.

Among the opportunities discussed was the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, which does connect renewable energy with economic development by proposing a renewable and efficiency portfolio standard and a feed-in tariff that would create clean energy jobs and businesses by requiring the state to meet benchmarks by a certain time.

Supported in the Kentucky legislature in 2010 and 2011 by the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance, of which KFTC is a founding member, the legislation did not pass but did get a favorable hearing in committee last year.

This year, the legislation is House Bill 167 and is in the House Tourism De-

velopment & Energy Committee.

A lack of public understanding of energy issues was listed as a challenge, as were Kentucky’s legislature and congressional delegation, which are reluctant to support anything they perceive might threaten the coal industry.

Kentucky is behind surrounding states in passing legislation that encourages clean energy development and the jobs it would bring.

Members worked hard but also had fun getting to know each other and playing a game with the “alphabet soup” of acronyms in the energy world – such as EE for energy efficiency and RE for renewable energy.

The strategy team will meet again in May to continue learning together and focus on a 2012 strategy. In the

meantime, they’ll begin building the three work teams and participate in a Facebook group for New Energy and Transition topics.

An important new study released January 12 strengthens the case for passing the Clean Energy Opportunity Act (HB 167) in Kentucky.

Under legislation offered by Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, electric utilities in Kentucky would gradually increase the share of their electricity that comes from energy efficiency programs and renewable energy over the next ten years.

The bill requires utilities to get 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewable energy and achieve 10.25 percent cumulative savings from energy efficiency efforts by 2022.

This study by Synapse Energy Economics, Inc. estimates that those requirements could create 28,000 net new jobs and reduce average electric bills by 8-10 percent over the next 10 years, compared to a “do-nothing” scenario.

The study was released by the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED).

“This study confirms that legislation to diversify our electricity portfolio would be economically beneficial to Kentucky,” said Justin Maxson, president of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development.

“The bill would allow the state to hedge against increasing rates by making homes and businesses more energy effi-

cient. And it would spur the creation of clean energy jobs installing renewable energy projects and making energy efficiency upgrades.

“Efficiency and renewables are already the emerging trend in construction in the commonwealth,” said Kentucky solar entrepreneur Matt Partymiller of Solar Energy Solutions in Lexington. “This report by Synapse captures what Kentucky engineers and contractors already know and what other states have already seen. Legislation like the Clean Energy Opportunity Act will provide the tools necessary for Kentucky builders to create jobs while ensuring Kentucky energy costs

stay low.”

The report predicts that electricity rates in Kentucky will rise and the percentage of electricity that comes from burning coal will decline under either a do-nothing scenario or passage of the Clean Energy Opportunity Act. Natural gas is expected to displace some of the electricity that is now produced by coal under either scenario.

Synapse carried out the study for MACED, a Berea based economic development organization, and the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance, a coalition of more than 50 businesses, affordable housing groups, non-profit organizations and faith-based groups.

Lee Ann Paynter from Boyle County and Mimi Pickering from Letcher County participated in small group discussion at the first NET Team meeting.

Study shows HB 167 could create 28,000 new jobs and provide cost savings to consumers

Clean Energy Lobby Day Tuesday, February 28 Kentucky State Capitol

Support HB 167!

Page 16

balancing the scales, January 30 , 2012

New Energy and Transition Update

Meade County KFTC members show off on-farm renewable energy solutions, work to build local KFTC chapter

Adam Strobel Barr first had the idea of putting solar panels on his farm when he learned that he would need to supply power to his farm’s pond to pump water to his crops.

“The first motivation for me getting this system is that it broke my heart to think about another power line running across the farm.”

Electric costs are continuing to rise.

Meade County Rural Electric Cooperative, which serves the farm, just had a 30 percent increase in rates this year.

With the help of grants from both the state and the county, Barr, his father and uncle installed a solar-powered irrigation pump on their family farm — Barr Farms — earlier this fall.

While these are the first solar panels they have installed on the farm, Barr and his wife, Rae Strobel Barr, are no strangers to sustainable practices.

They work hard to build healthy soil and reduce the farm’s carbon footprint by using small machinery and draft horses when possible. And they use these practices as a marketing advantage when selling farm products, which include beef, chicken, eggs and vegetables, to a largely urban, environmentally-sensitive consumer base.

Barr was excited to show off the solar pump to his neighbors at a house party he hosted on November 13, to benefit KFTC and the Community Farm Alliance.

“I know that the sun is the greatest

source of energy we have available to us,” Barr told 20 guests as they peeked inside the pump to see how it works.

“Growing plants is the most efficient way to harness the sun’s energy and we just don’t yet know how to harness it well for other uses. But we’re getting there and I wanted to try this out – to know, does it work? Will it last?”

The pump should last for 20-30 years with minimum repairs and pump 3,000 gallons per day even with some cloudy days mixed in, Barr said. It cost $7,000, $1,700 of which was supplied from money available for on-farm clean energy projects through the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy and $2,500 came from the Meade County Agriculture Investment Program.

“When I was in Finland traveling, I noticed that everyone had solar panels — they were everywhere, powering part of all the electricity use you could see,” said Brandenburg resident Beverly Furnival. She wondered why we don’t have more of these in Kentucky.

Guests also learned about how the geo-thermal heating and cooling system works at Barr’s father’s house, which is located on the farm.

The system’s installer, Chuck Dever of Dever Enterprises in Elizabethtown, told guests that geo-thermal systems are both efficient and have a quick payback. When replacing propane or heating oil the payback time is as little as 4-5 years.

KFTC member Adam Strobel Barr discussed his solar-powered irrigation pump.

Dever installs the systems in homes of all kinds, including homes as small as 1,000 sq. ft., noting that the average system costs about 1 to 1.5 cents per square foot. He said that through word of mouth Kentuckians are starting to catch on about what an economic bargain it is to heat and cool through geo-thermal.

“I put in the first geo-thermal system in Hardin County. That was more than 22 years ago. And now, business is booming. It had been increasing and then the fed-

I Love Mountains Day special guest speaker

eral tax credit really helped it to grow.”

At the end of the party, Adam and Rae asked guests to join KFTC and CFA and then facilitated a discussion about what issues people care about locally. Folks mentioned interest in garnering support for the Meade County Farmers’ Market and getting more farm-fresh food in area schools.

The group also discussed how advocating for state energy policies that support the growth of renewable energy, such as the Clean Energy Opportunity (continued on next page)

Tar Sands activist Melina Laboucan-Massimo to share story

I Love Mountains Day special guest speaker: Tar Sands Activist, Melina Laboucan-Massimo ‘What you do to the land you do to yourself.’

Melina Laboucan-Massimo stands in solidarity with Kentucky’s mountain people. Her indigenous Lubicon Cree community in Alberta, Canada has been devastated by tar sands extraction. In both Canada and the United States, she has been a key leader in the fight against the notorious Keystone XL pipeline. Laboucan-Massimo

will join Kentuckians at I Love Mountains Day in Frankfort, where she will speak about the impact of fossil fuels on her community and the need to build a new, clean energy economy.

“We have seen the destruction of our lands happen right before our eyes. Our water is being contaminated and we are seeing droughts throughout the region,” Laboucan-Massimo said. “My family used to be able to drink from our watershed, and now within my lifetime we can no longer

do so.”

Get a sneak peek at LaboucanMassimo’s story and her inspiring work by reading more at www.kftc. org/love1. You can also hear her powerful voice against damaging fossil fuel extraction, and learn about her vision for a clean energy economy, in this video clip www.kftc.org/love2.

And then join KFTC and Melina on Tuesday, February 14 at 12 noon on the front steps of the Capitol in Frankfort for I Love Mountains Day!

balancing the scales, January 30, 2012

Page 17

New Energy and Transition Update

Solar installation training has power to transform economy

Carey Grace Henson has lived in Berea for much of her life. She recently joined 31 other Kentuckians at a vocational training in solar photovoltaic system design and installation offered by the Kentucky Solar Partnership.

Henson was able to afford the training thanks to a grant from the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED). MACED supports the development of small businesses in eastern Kentucky and has a special emphasis on supporting sustainable energy enterprises.

“I have been interested in alternative energy since I was in high school,

and I am 40 now,” said Henson. “I had never had the opportunity to get any training. So when the grant opportunity came up, I jumped on it.”

She plans to use her new skills to bolster a career in sustainable building practices. But she thinks more should be done at the state level to make clean energy solutions more affordable and accessible to people like her that want to build a career in the field.

Henson said she’d like to see more grants and low-interest rate loans, more training, and state energy policy – energy policy that encourages utilities to use renewable resources. “There are people

Meade County solar-powered farm

(continued from previous page) Act (HB 167), could make the clean energy systems on Barr Farms more widespread. This bill is supported by both KFTC and CFA through their partnership in the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance.

“But what’s the grand vision?

What can we do to change the world, to change our situation?” asked guest Roger Furnival.

“We want to use this conversation as a starting point for talking about sustainable energy in rural Kentucky.

I believe everyone changes through a conversation, just like the one we are having tonight. It’s about citizen politics – regular people using their

voices,” Adam Strobel Barr replied.

Rae Strobel Barr highlighted why she and Adam wanted to host a friendraiser for KFTC and CFA. She noted that they are interested both in building community in Meade County and connecting these local issues to the larger movements effected by KFTC and CFA’s work.

“Both organizations have been transformative for us because through them, we can have a voice in changing things we care about.”

If you live in Meade or Breckenridge counties and are interested in joining this local conversation, contact Nancy Reinhart at nancy@kftc.org or 502-589-3188.

Adam and Rae Strobel Barr sell their produce at a Louisville Farmers’ Market.

all around that would like to do this sort of thing, but money and policies in the state are the primary barriers,” she said.

Henson’s long-term goal is to buy land in eastern Kentucky and establish a sustainable demonstration site that would include green buildings, solar, wind and micro-hydro power.

“I would really like to demonstrate how alternative building techniques and energy can be used and they are not that weird, difficult or expensive. I am a mother of five – three are still in school – so it’s something that I am working on slowly but surely,” she said.

New Energy Transition Briefs Kentucky falls in national energy efficiency ranking

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) recently ranked Kentucky 37th out of 50 states. ACEEE applied their annual state energy efficiency scorecard as the measure. This represents a step down from previous years’ rankings. In 2010, Kentucky was 36th and in 2009 it was 33rd. The rankings are based on an array of metrics including state levels of funding towards energy efficiency and best practices in state energy efficiency policy and program implementation.

Fort Knox Army base partners with EKPC’s Nolin Rural Electric Co-op to install clean energy systems

Over the last two years, Fort Knox has partnered with the co-op to create a plan to reduce energy use 35 percent by 2012. The plan includes energy efficiency upgrades, a major solar installation, and a geo-thermal heating and cooling system placed in the base barracks.

Annual savings from the energy plan is estimated to be $2.8 million. (Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy)

Around the world, the U.S. military has been a leader in employing renewable energy and alternative fuels, mostly as a matter of national security. A July 2011 story in The Atlantic Monthly by KFTC member Lucy Flood described some of the Navy’s efforts.

You can read it here: http://bit.ly/ ys06ye.

Carey Grace Henson recently attended a solar photovoltaic system design and installation training offered by the Kentucky Solar Partnership.

Industrial efficiency efforts in Richmond save money for Sherwin-Williams plant

Sherwin-Williams is the largest producer of paint in the United States today. The company owns more than 3,000 stores throughout North America, with one of its largest plants located in Richmond, Ky. The Kentucky-based Sherwin-Williams plant is doing something unique – it’s leading the way on industrial efficiency.

In 2008, via a partnership with the Division of Energy’s Industrial Technology Program, Sherwin-Williams began the process of launching an energy reduction program. By 2010 the plant had reduced its total energy consumption by more than 25 percent — with a potential to reduce energy intensity to 50 percent as more improvements are brought online. (Source: interview by Lauren McGrath of Sierra Club with plant engineer) Energy improvements can save money and create jobs in Cincinnati area, study finds

Energy efficiency upgrades to the area’s homes and nonprofit buildings can save area residents up to $60 million in lower energy bills and create more than 300 local jobs, according to a study released last month by the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance. The study looked at the economic impact of energy efficiency investments to the metropolitan area, which includes the Kentucky counties of Boone, Campbell and Kenton.

Page 18

balancing the scales, January 30 , 2012

Canary Project Update

EPA delay forces energy allies to submit notice of intent to sue; lack of protection a concern in coal ash communities

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has delayed for too long steps to protect communities from toxic coal ash, so a group of state and national groups, including KFTC, has threatened to sue the federal agency.

The groups delivered to EPA officials a Notice of Intent to Sue letter on January 18. It gives the agency 60 days to respond before the groups can file a lawsuit.

“With many coal ash dumps located in populated areas, the public depends on EPA to do everything possible to protect our health and keep our communities safe,” said KFTC member Mary Love. “We need strong standards so we can not only clean up communities that have already been poisoned but make sure these toxins never again leak into our homes and communities.”

Coal ash contains a toxic mix of arsenic, lead, hexavalent chromium, mercury, selenium, cadmium and other dangerous pollutants that results from burning coal.

“Imagine this toxic ash embedded in your child’s lungs,” said Kathy Little, who participated in a national telephone press conference announcing the action.

Little lives just a few hundred yards from the Cane Run coal ash disposal site in Louisville.

“It’s a horrible feeling. This ash is everywhere,” she said, adding that she has to use a special cleanser to get the ash off her home and furniture. “We have no buffer zone. Homes are within 50 yards of the coal ash landfill and pond.”

Three years ago, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced plans to set federal coal ash rules by year’s end. In May 2010, the EPA proposed a hybrid regulation to classify coal ash either as hazardous or non-hazardous waste. After eight public hearings across the country and more than 450,000 public comments, the agency decided to delay finalizing the rule amid intense pressure from the coal and power industries.

“Delayed coal ash regulations have put my family and many others around

the country needlessly at risk,” said Little.

Numerous studies, including some by the EPA, show the inadequacy of current coal ash practices to protect public health and the environment. The documentation shows coal ash poisoned aquifers and surface waters at 150 sites in 36 states, including in Kentucky,

Despite this, the EPA continues to fail to update federal coal ash standards, even though the law requires them to at least conduct a review every three years.

The legal action would force the EPA to set deadlines for review and revision of relevant solid and hazardous waste regulations to address coal ash, as well as the much needed, and overdue, changes to the test that determines whether a waste is hazardous.

The action was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of Appalachian Voices (NC), Environmental Integrity Project, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, French Broad Riverkeeper, Moapa Tribe Band of Paiutes (NV), Montana Environmen-

tal Information Center, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Prairie Rivers Network (IL), Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (TN) and KFTC.

by Rachel Harrod

While most have sat quietly with their signs, engaging passersby in conversation when possible, some have serenaded the governor ’s staff with mournful coal songs or laid corpse-like beneath fake tombstones to symbolize the death and destruction caused by mountaintop removal mining.

Other participants shared school projects about mercury pollution, made sculptures, conducted a survey, or dressed up like Santa to deliver lumps of coal to Gov. Beshear and legislators on the “naughty” list for their unquestioning support of destructive mining practices.

Jeri Howell of the Frankfort High School Earth Club, who carried her message to the governor through song, explained why she got involved with the sit-in: “My friend in Hindman can’t drink the water. He says it upsets his stomach, gets him sick. My friend in Whitesburg can’t seem to quit writing songs about the hardships of a coal miner and the devastating impacts it has on families … Call me crazy, blame me for wanting to ruin Kentucky’s economy,

bash me for being a ‘dirty tree hugger,’ but I won’t stand for the governor and legislature of Kentucky supporting this Hell we are creating in Appalachia.”

Caroline Taylor-Webb, a state government retiree who now devotes most of her time to civic pursuits, fell in love with the mountains at age 11 while spending a summer with her father in the Red River Gorge. “From then on, I considered myself an environmentalist,” she said. In 1988 and 1989, she teamed up with friend Dr. Louise Chawla to conduct an oral history project on Kentucky conservationists.

The project took them through Appalachia, where they interviewed, among others, author Harry Caudill and Mary Rogers of Pine Mountain Settlement School. While working for the Department of Natural Resources, she got to visit some “reclaimed” strip mine sites, but they were “a joke,” she said.

Strip mining was bad enough, but with the expansion of mountaintop removal, surface mining became even more destructive.

Taylor-Webb knew she had to do

something. She now coordinates scheduling all of the shifts for the sit-in and is excited about maintaining an increased presence at the Capitol through the legislative session.

Southeastern Louisville: LG&E Cane Run Road power plant and coal ash storage facility

Capitol sit-in gains momentum and expands to three days a week

Inspired by last February’s weekend occupation of the governor’s office by 14 Kentuckians determined to hold the Beshear administration accountable for its complicity with the coal industry, long-time KFTC member and Kentucky Heartwood founding member Chris Schimmoeller wanted to do something to keep the pressure on the governor.

She began talking to friends about a weekly protest outside the governor’s office. A number of Schimmoeller ’s friends enthusiastically embraced the idea, and on Earth Day 2011 they kicked off the Sit-In for the Mountains.

Since then, protestors have visited the Capitol one day a week to sit in or just outside the governor’s office with signs urging Gov. Beshear to protect the mountains, streams and communities by ending mountaintop removal mining. More than a hundred people have participated, including coalfield residents, former miners, Kentuckians with strong ties to Appalachia, and others concerned about air and water quality.

JOIN THE ACTION! Now that the Capitol is bustling with legislators, lobbyists, citizens and the media, the Sit-In for the Mountains organizers have increased their presence at the Capitol to three days a week, Tuesday through Thursday. Anyone interested in participating may contact Caroline Taylor-Webb at SitInfortheMtns@gmail.com or 502-229-8269 to schedule a shift. Shifts are two hours (or longer if you can manage it).

balancing the scales, January 30, 2012

Page 19

Kentucky Needs Your Voice I Love Mountains Day

Tuesday, February 14, Capitol Steps Join with hundreds of other Kentuckians to call for an end to the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining and ask our leaders for the clean energy solutions that provide good, safe jobs and healthy communities for Kentucky.

12:00 pm.....................Gather (visit with friends and listen to live music).

12:30 pm..........March (around the capitol and the Governor’s Mansion).

1:00 pm............Rally (speakers, music, and a true vision for Kentucky).

Wear red, bring a homemade sign and a pinwheel.

Register online and find information at www.kftc.org/love.

Daniel Joseph Dorff New Album: Living Room

released on Ol Kentuck

by Daniel Martin Moore Purchase from your local independent cd store or from olkentuck.com

Calendar of Events Feb. 2

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.

Feb. 4

Land Reform Committee meeting, 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Contact Kevin Pentz at Kevin@KFTC.org or 606-335-0764 for location and more information.

Feb. 12

NKY Postcard making, letter writing, and pinwheel making party, 3 6:00 p.m. at Groove Coffee House (640 Main Street Covington, KY) in support and preparation for I Love Mountains Day! The chapter will be providing all needed materials. For more information contact Joe@kftc.org or call 859-380-6103.

Feb. 13

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

Feb. 13

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 859-986-1277.

Feb. 14

I Love Mountains Day Join hundreds of Kentuckians in standing up for our land, water and people.

Gather at noon on the Capitol steps for a march that will start at 12:30, followed by a rally on the steps at 1 pm. Wear red, bring a homemade sign and a pinwheel. Register online and find information at www.kftc.org/love.

Feb. 16

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

Feb. 16

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

Feb. 21

Northern Kentucky chapter meeting, 7 p.m. at 25 W 7th Street in Covington. Contact Joe@kftc.org or call 859-380-6103.

Feb. 27

Madison County chapter meeting, 7 p.m. at Berea College Appalachian Center (205 N. Main St., Berea).

Feb. 28

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

Feb. 28

Clean Energy Lobby Day Join allies in the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance for a day of conversations with legislators about the benefits of clean energy and the Clean Energy Opportunity Act of 2012. Meet in Room 113 of the Capitol Annex with a rolling orientation between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Feb. 29

NKY Fundraisier at Oakbrook Cafe, All Day! Oakbrook Cafe 6072 Limaburg Road Burlington, KY. 10% of all sales that day will benefit KFTC, and the restaurant will feature a team trivia event focused on Kentucky history and current events.

Mar. 6

Harlan County & Letcher County potluck, Tuesday, March 6, 6 p.m.

Oven Fork Senior Citizens Center 7181 HWY 119 S. Eolia, KY. For more information contact Tanya@KFTC.org or call 606-632-0051.

Mar. 8

Voting Rights Lobby Day Join us as we speak out for voting rights for former felons who have served their debt to society. Meet in Room 111 of the Capitol Annex starting at 8:30 am for lobbying throughout the day with a rally in the Capitol Rotunda from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Page 20

Members say goodbye to two staff team members

At the close of 2011 and beginning of 2012, KFTC members and staff had to said goodbye to two outstanding staff members.

Willa Johnson, the Letcher and Pike County Organizer, said goodbye to the staff team in December as she embarks on her next adventure creating a homemade cupcake business in eastern Kentucky.

“I’m taking away with me the thought that KFTC has one of the best staff teams out there,” said Johnson.

“My time being a part of it is very special to me.”

Johnson was a strong chapter member prior to joining the staff team in 2010. She was a delegate on the Witness For Peace trip to Colombia and a participant in Appalshop’s Appalachian Media Institute.

Additionally, she has been and will continue to be active in the youth organizing to keep Appalachian youth in the mountains and to help create a more vibrant economy.

The Steering Committee has chosen to not fill this position for the time being.

Additionally, the Steering Committee has chosen to not renew the contract for the Development Associate position due to budget projections for 2012.

John Stoll Malloy, who filled the development associate position, left at the end of January.

“The last year and a half of working with KFTC has been a great experience. I’ve gained so much inspiration from the leaders, staff, and (most especially) members of this amazing organization,” said Malloy. “I am so grateful for the opportunities that everyone here has given me to grow, but most of all, I’ll never forget the joy and honor it has been to be a part of the KFTC family.”

Malloy is taking a break before he jumps back into independent political consulting and working towards greater civic engagement.

balancing the scales, January 30 , 2012