balancing the scales - May 2011

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

balancing the scales Volume 30 Number 3

May 11, 2011

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

KFTC members share vision, hopes, and expectations for eastern Kentucky with governor

Inside...

Betty Morgan remembered

pg. 3 Stacy Branch Community hopes for protection from EPA

pg. 7 Growing Appalachia, lends action to people’s vision

pg. 10 Clean Energy Collaborative gets off to an encouraging start pg. 13 Fairness in Taxation Act and The People’s Budget: two good solutions pg. 15 And much more

Members ask for safe, clean drinking water

Page

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

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 Rick Handshoe KFTC At-Large Member Back in 1990, before I even joined KFTC, I was trying to organize my community, after mining moved in below my dad’s house. I saw mud all over the place, trucks running people off the road. The coal companies just moved into the community and

took over.

People in the community here stick to their own business, and the coal company took advantage of that.

We’d lived here all of our lives when these companies moved in and changed our lives. They were treating people badly.

We’d call an agency and someone would come out and say there’s nothing wrong, because the company would know they were coming.

I bought $30 worth of poster board, made a template and spray-painted a bunch of signs. They said, “Call this number for mud on the road,” and “Call this number for coal truck trouble,” and it gave the phone numbers. I was just trying to tell the community this is wrong and they could do something about it.

I went out in the middle of the night, from one end of that road to the other putting those posters up. Then in the morning I had to go to work – I was still working for the state police at the time.

I guess it shocked the coal company when they came in that morning. The news in the neighborhood was that the guy running the mine went to the local grocery store and asked, “Are the people really that mad at us?” They tore some of the signs down, but it did help straighten them up a little.

I did this to get the people, more than just one person, to start reporting these problems. I knew by working with the state police that if you get a bunch of reports coming in, they’ll take a look at it more than just one person reporting something. Most people didn’t even know the number to call.

That’s what got me started, just to try to get the community to work together. And it did generate some response. When mud was all over the road, people would see my signs and had the number to call. It also let the coal companies know the people were getting

upset.

Nobody for years knew who did that. I didn’t even tell my dad for a long time.

That was my first step of seeing that something as simple as knowing who to call can make a difference. It showed me that things can get better.

Later, I moved up here, about a half mile from where I did live. It was the same thing – mud and dust.

I got a petition and went up and down the road, talking to neighbors.

Someone gave me a copy of balancing the scales; we talked to some folks in Knott County who knew a little bit about KFTC.

KFTC got me in contact with a lot of other people with similar problems; we weren’t alone here. We needed to work with others. There’s power in numbers.

KFTC has taught me a lot about working with others. They also taught me how to go to the permitting office and look up the permit. I’m still learning, every time I walk into that office.

In 2003, mining moved within 325 feet of my dad.

The coal company tore out gas lines on property adjoining my dad’s that the company had bought, even though we had the right of way for those lines. The blasting did some damage to his house. The dust put him in the hospital a couple of times, and he couldn’t raise a garden because of the dust.

He started experiencing water well problems. We lost six water wells on that property due to quantities of water being lost, and then methane in the water. The company destroyed a hand-dug well one of my ancestors had built; it’d been there 110 years.

I worked for a year to get city water up there, to my dad’s. But people are still experiencing methane problems above my dad.

A neighbor up here, he’s an older gentleman. I called in a complaint for him just recently. The state inspectors came out and checked his well and confirmed that it’s 54.9 parts per million (ppm) methane when 28 is the high end of the scale. Anything above 10 ppm is starting to cause problems – his was 54.9. He doesn’t have any other source of water.

In their report, the state told him, at the minimum, open all windows and doors when running the washing machine, taking a shower or washing dishes – that’s how bad it is. That’s wrong.

State officials agreed that the methane gas is getting into people’s wells from the deep mines. All these houses up here need to be checked for methane.

These are some of the things that got me started organizing and connected to KFTC, and that keep me busy almost every day. I live this story. We want a better future, but these bad things have to stop first.

On the cover: KFTC members Rick Handshoe (not pictured), Teri Blanton (left) and Sister Kathleen Weigand (center) took Governor Steve Beshear on a tour of Eastern Kentucky sites that are directly impacted by mountaintop removal and other forms of coal mining. The tour was an opportunity to talk about differing perspectives but more to come to a common vision that Eastern Kentucky needs to create a different economy that respects the land, water, and people while creating much needed jobs for future generations. The governor was accompanied by Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Len Peters.

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth is a statewide grassroots social justice orga­­ni­ zation working for a new balance of power and a just society. KFTC uses direct-action organizing to accomplish the following goals: • foster democratic values • change unjust institutions • empower individuals • overcome racism and other discrimination • communicate a message of what 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

Rosanne Fitts Klarer, Scott County Erika Skaggs, Central Kentucky Ted Withrow, Rowan County Scott Goebel, Northern Kentucky Mary Love, Jefferson County Meredith Wadlington, Bowling Green & Friends Carl Shoupe, Harlan County Truman Hurt, Perry County Megan Naseman, Madison County Patty Amburgey, Letcher County Beverly May, Floyd County Cari Moore, Knott County Vanessa Hall, Pike County Alternates: Matt Doolin, Matt Heil, Lisa Bryant, Antonio Mazzaro, Martha Flack, Sandi Joiner, Stanley Sturgill, McKinley Sumner, Steve Wilkins, Jeff Chapman-Crane, Bobby Hicks, and Erica Urias.

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth P.O. Box 1450 London, Kentucky 40743-1450 606-878-2161 Fax: 606-878-5714 info@kftc.org www.kftc.org 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, May 11, 2011

Page 3

Table of Contents

KFTC Offices and Staff

Executive Committee Corner Betty Morgan remembered New Power Leader Profile: Cindy Shepherd

page 2 page 3 page 5

Letter to the Editor LG&E can step up, do more

page 5

Local Updates Northern Kentucky chapter reflects on growth and plans for the future Madison County chapter to host friend-raiser on June 4 Stacy Branch community hopes for protection from EPA Growing Appalachia conference lends action to people’s vision Central Kentucky chapter continues strong work on diverse issues Lands Unsuitable for Mining petition at Teges in Clay County

page 6 page 6 page 7 page 10 page 11 page 11

Canary Project Update KFTC hosts Gov. Beshear on a tour of Eastern Kentucky Historic march on Blair Mountain Sixth Annual Week-in-Washington brings new faces to the fight

page 8 page 9 page 12

Renew East Kentucky Update Clean Energy Collaborative gets off to an encouraging start Members are encouraged to attend electric co-ops’ annual meetings KFTC’s Renew East Kentucky campaign goes to Washington Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance Update Collaboration at research conferences focuses on health of Appalachia

page 13 page 13 page 14 page 14 page 14

Economic Justice Update Fairness in Taxation Act and The People’s Budget: two good solutions Rep. Rogers and the federal budget

page 15 page 15

Betty Morgan remembered

By Chad Berry

great grandchildren. She was 78 years old, a native West Virginian, and was The residents of Eastern Kentucky the daughter of the late Robert Britton who are fi ghting to preserve water, and Bessie Elliott. community, biodiversity, and human

I fi rst met Daymon and Betty in health lost a great partner in Mrs. Betty 1991, twenty years ago this month.

L. Morgan, long-time wife and partner, Betty was much more active then, full in the truest sense of the word, to Mr. of life and vitality and eager to have Daymon Morgan a conversation. of Leslie County.

She was a warm Betty died on and welcoming March 12, 2011, host to Lower Bad after a long strugCreek, and she algle with congesways wanted to tive heart failure make sure that and other ailyou didn’t leave ments. She is surher home hungry. vived by her husShe and Dayband, Daymon, mon together along with chiloffered up local dren Lester Morproduce from gan, Daymon Ray their garden that Morgan, David was cooked in a Morgan, James most delicious Morgan, Dale way. Teri BlanMorgan, Cartha Betty Morgan and her husband Daymon ton agreed, sayMerrill, and Sally have hosted countless groups of visi- ing, “Betty was Morgan. She and tors at their home who are interested always warm and Daymon have 19 in learning about mountaintop removal welcoming and grandchildren, 30 coal mining, mountain herbs and care ready to make great-grandchil- for the land. Betty passed away on you something dren, and 2 great- March 1 . to eat. It was re-

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

FIELD OFFICES Louisville

Berea

Jessica George, Jerry Hardt, Colette Henderson and Nancy Reinhart 901 Franklin Street Louisville, Ky 40206 502­589­3188

Teri Blanton 118 Baugh Street Berea, Ky. 40403 859­986­1648

Whitesburg Willa Johnson, Tanya Turner, and Colleen Unroe P.O. Box 463 Whitesburg, Ky 41858 606­632­0051 Berea

Central Kentucky Tim Buckingham, Jessica Hays Lucas, Erik Hungerbuhler, Brittany Hunsaker, Heather Roe Mahoney, Dave Newton, John Malloy and Ondine Quinn 250 Plaza Drive Suite 4 Lexington, Ky 40503 859­276­0563

Lisa Abbott, Amy Hogg, Northern Kentucky Carissa Lenfert, ally a good meal when Sara Pennington Joe Gallenstein it was something they and Kevin Pentz 859­380­6103 had gathered from the 140 Mini Mall Drive mountains or from their Berea, KY 40403 Floyd County garden.”

859­986­1277 As her health deteBrittany Combs riorated, she could often 606­422­0100 be found sitting in her recliner. But she still had e-mail any staff member at firstname@kftc.org except for a twinkle in her eye, was Jessica Hays Lucas use jessicabreen@kftc.org and Brittany Hunsaker use brittanyh@kftc.org always glad to see you, and she still wanted to make sure that food was served up.

If she could have done so, she would have jumped up and made that food herself. She was a warm and kind mother and wife and friend to all those who cared about Eastern Kentucky.

Having had an amazing dinner at Daymon’s and Betty’s just a week before she died, I was marveling how Betty taught her daughters Sally and Cartha to carry on her culinary skills.

We enjoyed pork roast, carrots and potatoes, soup beans, cole slaw, Daymon’s “Bloody Butcher” cornbread, and strawberry pie. There was even some corn cob jelly.

To Daymon and his children, all of us in KFTC offer our sincere condolences in this sad time.

Happy Birthday KFTC 30 Years of Action For Justice!

Save-the-Date August , 011

Cathedral Domain Irvine, KY

KFTC 30 Anniversary th

KFTC turns 30 in August. We started with the last issue to recall some of the history of KFTC and the people involved. We’ll have an installment in each issue of balancing the scales in 2011.

In this issue we’re again looking at some KFTC pre-history, in this case those events that led to KFTC’s formation in 1981.

In April 1977, devastating floods struck Central Appalachia. Thousands of homes were lost or damaged, property loss was in the hundreds of million dollars and 44 people died. Fifteen counties in eastern Kentucky were declared federal disaster areas.

What was obvious to many Appalachia residents and later documented in several studies, areas with heavy strip mining suffered the worst damage. A study

by Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest, for example, found that mining added three feet to the flood level in the town of Harlan.

The floods and the aftermath added to many problems already prevalent in the region – abuse of the land, inadequate housing, lack of community services, land ownership patterns, and many others. Community-based activists representing more than 50 groups across Appalachia responded by forming the Appalachian Alliance, which remained active until the mid-1980s.

Alliance members worked on many issues such as housing, health care and flood recovery. However, the floods pointed to land ownership and use patterns as one of the primary causes for many of the region’s woes. Corporate ownership of large tracts of land often meant there was little available land left to meet housing and economic development needs. And the underassessment and under-taxing of this corporate wealth meant the local tax base was inadequate to provide even a basic level of services taken for granted in other parts of the state.

An Alliance task force decided to document this. In a major study involving community-based research, the Alliance documented who owned the land and who paid the taxes in 80 counties in six Appalachian states. The Kentucky portion of the study included 12 counties and was coordinated by Joe Childers, who later served as KFTC’s attorney for many years.

In Kentucky, 76 percent of the land surveyed in the 12 counties belonged to corporations or individuals outside the county, or in some cases to government agencies. Just 25 corporate and individual owners controlled more than a million

acres of land or mineral rights, or both.

The top 10 landowners, with 34% of the land and minerals, paid only 11% of the property taxes. Overall, the top 25 owners, with more than half of the land and minerals in the 12 counties, paid only a fourth of the property taxes.

Clearly, the people who lived in eastern Flooding in eastern Kentucky.

Kentucky owned or controlled (because of the broad form deed) little of the land in their communities.

But they did pay a disproportionate share of the taxes.

The injustice of land ownership and taxation patterns was most blatant in Martin County. Just one company, the Pocahontas Development Company, owned one-third of the total surface land in the county, and 55% of the minerals. The company’s 81,333 acres of coal reserves were assessed at just $7 million. And the company’s annual property tax bill on these 81,333 acres was only $76!

These injustices were deliberate. Coal company property was grossly underassessed across the board. The General Assembly had specifically exempted unmined coal from property taxation.

Challenging some of these corporate assessments was the Concerned Citizens of Martin County, a group that formed originally to protect the town of Beauty when it was slated for relocation, to make way for mining, under the guise of flood control.

They were led by Gladys Maynard, Lorraine Slone, Mary Jane Blevins and others.

In Harlan County, citizens had formed the Cloverfork Organization to Protect the Environment to address strip mining and similar land ownership patterns.

Hazel King, Dr. J.D. Miller, Hobart Grills and Rebecca Simpson were among COPE’s leaders.

Both groups had learned that while they could win some victories on the local level, it would take legislative change to remove the property tax exemption on unmined coal and other restrictions on local tax revenues. It would take strong enforcement, mandated by the state, to get corporate property assessed at its full value (or even listed on the tax rolls) in order to increase revenue for local services.

Similarly, it would take a commitment by state officials to fully enforce the new (1977) federal surface mining law so that water loss and the filling of streams with mining runoff could be prevented.

Looking Back …

25 Years Ago …

15 Years Ago …

• Martin County members successfully challenge a plan by American Electric Power to charge the cost of building a coal-burning power plant in Indiana to its customers in eastern Kentucky.

• KFTC’s annual Coal Production Study shows that just 10 companies control 40% of Kentucky’s coal production; only one of the 10 is based in Kentucky.

• Pike County residents get pledges from Gov. Paul Patton and county officials to extend water lines to 1,000 homes where wells have been destroyed by mining and gas drilling. More than 100 people attend a public meeting sponsored by the local KFTC chapter.

• A new KFTC committee called the “Watchdogs” begins working on Money in Politics issues.

• Louisville members work with Citizens Against Police Abuse on a number of community policing issues, with the goal to reduce violence, make drug rehab accessible, and end racial profiling.

20 Years Ago …

10 Years Ago …

• Lawrence County members win when the state revokes the permit for the controversial Roe Creek Landfill. Members of GROWL (Greenup Residents Opposing Waste Landfill) celebrate the delay of a permit for a 937-acre out-of-state waste landfill.

• KFTC re-establishes a legal defense fund to prepare for court battles defending the 1988 broad form deed constitutional amendment victory.

• Members support successful efforts to stop a new strip mine that threatened Pine Mountain Settlement School in Harlan County.

• At a press conference, KFTC members challenge proposed plans for 19 new, mostly coal-burning, power plants in Kentucky, insisting on more transparency, community input and pollution reduction in the permitting process.

5 Years Ago …

• Research compiled by a KFTC member shows that state officials routinely granted stream buffer zone waivers to coal operators – 321 waivers affecting 543 streams in 2005 alone.

• KFTC members join pro-immigrant efforts across the state, including a large Si Se Puede rally in Lexington. Activism on immigration issues was stirred up by anti-immigrant bills in Congress.

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Page

New Power Leader Program

Cindy Shepherd draws others into effort to protect land KFTC’s New Power Leader Program is continuing to grow, with members across the state engaging clusters of their friends and families with conversations about KFTC and building toward our shared vision for Kentucky. Cindy Shepherd is a member in Clay County who’s been a New Power Leader since February. Here, she shares a bit about hersel, and a bit about being a New Power Leader.

My husband and I have an organic farm and we raise chickens and bees and milk goats and sheep and a garden. We have a five-year-old son who’s in love with our place, our farm. He plays in the creeks and plays in the mountains, and he plans on being a farmer.

I want to better our community so that it’s healthy and strong. I’m doing this for my boy, so that he can stay here.

Now is the time for me to make a positive change and be a positive voice in my community. I’d been learning about the Renew East Kentucky work, and I saw that as something I could work on that would be a really positive step for my community, and for other communities like mine.

There are a couple of strip mines four or five miles from my house. When those became active, about nine miles of the state highway got devastated, and people in my community became angry.

We’re all just looking for answers, and I became a New Power Leader to

bring people together around good solutions.

I put together a cluster of five people I already knew, and who were some of those people looking for answers. Some of them are long time friends, and some of them are acquaintances I’m getting to know better.

One is a good friend of mine who was one of the original KFTC members thirty years ago, and is interested in joining again.

I introduced the New Power Leader Program to them, told them what we’re doing. In the New Power Leader Handbook there’s a suggestion about how to have that first conversation, along with a template that people can work from. I took out some parts and added others, and put it in my own words.

I kept it short and sweet and asked, “Would it be okay to include you in my cluster?” Then conversations just happened.

I was so nervous before I did it.

But it was so refreshing to call people and have a nice, relaxed conversation.

I could be myself. I told them I’d keep in touch, and I’m going to be getting in touch with them soon to talk with them about what I’m learning about the Clean Water Protection Act and the Rural Star Bill. From there, we’ll see. I feel like all of them can be powerful in this movement.

And from them, we can connect with others in the community who want to

New Power leader Cindy Shepherd and her son enjoy their farm in eastern Kentucky and fear nearby strip mines will be moving closer to their home. Shepherd has become a New Power Leader to help organize her local community. make change.

Five years from now, when I’m one of 1,000 New Power Leaders who are each inviting clusters of five or ten people into KFTC, that’s going to put more power in the hands of the people.

Let’s get the power to the people so we can have a better community with a future.

The New Power Leader Program helps me have regular, normal conversations with people that let them know that we do have power, and we do have a say. And it grows the numbers of people who will act on that. There’s power in numbers; we all feel much braver when there are people standing with us.

afford the up-front costs of a new major appliance.

Another option that would benefit many more people would be for LG&E to offer to replace inefficient refrigerators with Energy Star models. Because old refrigerators are often the biggest energy hog in homes, using a new one would significantly reduce a person’s usage, and the savings that come from using less electricity can then be used to re-pay LG&E for the refrigerator. This is just one example of what utilities have done successfully across the country to curb costs for ratepayers – it’s a win-win.

Along with implementing more energy efficiency programs, LG&E can work now to generate more of its electricity from renewable energy sources.

Solar and hydro-electric are feasible in Kentucky, and there are companies already working to install these systems across the state. If LG&E were to make a larger investment in renewable electricity, this would not only cut costs for ratepayers over time, but it would also create many new jobs and reduce pollution in our communities.

We know we can’t rely on coal or natural gas forever. The responsible thing to do is to plan ahead and act now to develop a sustainable energy economy. This is an opportunity for LG&E to be a leader among utilities. I hope they rise to the occasion. We need them to.

Letter to the Editor

LG&E can step up, do more

Dear editor,

Taking a step in the right direction, LG&E (Louisville Gas & Electric) plans to retire several coal-burning units over the next five years, according to documents submitted to the Public Service Commission (PSC).

While switching power plants to natural gas may make for less air pollution, natural gas is still a fossil fuel and cannot be relied on to sustain healthy communities. And just as surface mining for coal destroys streams and land in mountain communities, fracking for natural gas pumps unknown chemicals into the ground and pollutes water

sources for communities.

Going from using one unhealthy, nonrenewable fuel source to another will not sustain us in the long-run, but LG&E can make investments now to develop a sustainable energy future.

Stepping up energy efficiency projects and increasing the amount of electricity generated by renewable energy is the next logical move for LG&E to keep costs steady over time and to protect the health of our communities.

LG&E recently proposed programs to the PSC that would give rebates to customers for purchasing Energy Star appliances, but most Louisvillians cannot

Beth Bissmeyer Louisville, Kentucky

Page 6

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Local Updates

Northern Kentucky chapter reflects on growth and plans for the future

This year the Northern Kentucky chapter, the newest of all KFTC chapters, will be spending the anniversary thinking of all of the great work members have done over their one year of existence, and refl ecting on the growth they have been able to achieve.

Beginning in late 2009 several members began meeting about what a KFTC presence in northern Kentucky would look like, and what it would take to create a chapter. By May they had decided to move forward with creating a chapter and began building a presence in their communities. At the time the chapter was a member or two short of 120 members; the chapter today has more than 240 members.

At the time, many of the members were unsure where they fi t in the organization, and largely had joined KFTC for a variety of reasons. Some members had joined to help inform their community about where candidates stood on the issues, and helping people register to vote. Others saw the unfair and inadequate tax structure Kentucky has and could not sit idly by. Still others wanted to stop the destruction of mountaintop removal.

Over time members became better familiar with all of KFTC’s issues, and the chapter has grown to represent both the diversity of the issues members

work on and the people in the community.

“We now have people attending our meetings who identify themselves as liberal Democrats, conservative Republicans, Tea Party members, and Libertarian Party members, that I would never have thought would make common cause on issues like restoring voting rights to former felons, and clean water issues,” said member Rick Traud.

This unique blend of perspectives has allowed the Northern Kentucky chapter to work over the past year in putting together two great concerts.

The fi rst was around voter registration, and was headlined by the Rumpke Mountain Boys. The other was Music for the Mountains, an all-house show at the Southgate House organized primarily by musicians of Magnolia Mountain to help put an end to mountaintop removal and plan for a new economy in the coalfi elds.

Member Jeff Hampton refl ected on the success of those concerts, and was amazed at the amount of money raised and members recruited. He also recalled the push from chapter members to have KFTC offi cially join a coalition to cap payday lending rates at 36 percent, and the instrumental role that the organization and chapter have had in

Madison County chapter to host friend-raiser on June 4 The Madison County chapter is throwing a Friend-Raiser celebration.

More than 150 people are expected to gather at Home Grown Hideaways on Saturday, June 4 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. for an evening of family-fun, food, open poetry and live music.

The bluegrass jam band The Blind Corn Liquor Pickers will be headlining the event.

“It is a good time to see old friends and meet new ones,” said KFTC member Tress Spencer.

This event is free and open to all.

The chapter is asking all attendees to bring a dish to share, your own dinnerware, and a donated item for the silent auction (baked goods, homemade items, and donated time or service are always popular). The potluck will start at 5 p.m. and live music will start at 5:30 p.m.

“I look forward to this event every year,” said Mark Henson, a member of the event planning committee.

For more information call Carey Henson at 859-985-5006.

Find KFTC on Facebook and look for local chapter pages, events and important information

meeting with legislators around that issue.

Several members of the Kentucky General Assembly received packets of information on payday lending put together by Hampton and other members featuring recent articles on payday lending, alternatives to the practice, and the increasing availability of unregulated payday loans being offered from banks like Fifth Third.

The chapter is not content with just

celebrating all of their recent events and successes. In fact, earlier this year, the chapter set a membership goal of reaching 350 members by the beginning of 2012.

The chapter may have doubled in membership in roughly one year, but for the driven members of the Northern Kentucky chapter that is not good enough. By the end of the year they will have tripled from where they started just a short year and a half before.

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Page

Local Updates

Stacy Branch community hopes for protection from EPA

The community of Stacy Branch in Sassafras is being threatened with a proposed mountaintop removal mine.

Leeco Coal Company is making good on a threat to mine the head of Stacy Branch and all along the right side of the holler all the way down to Sassafras for a few years. The only agency protecting the community is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Conductivity tests of Stacy Branch are above safe limits set by the EPA in its current conductivity guidance. The guidance sets the conductivity limit at 500 micro-Siemens and the current conductivity of Stacy Branch is at or above 600 micro-Siemens.

Local residents also are very concerned about the potential for flooding and damage from nearby blasting. With four valley fills in the narrow Stacy Branch holler, if something as simple as a culvert getting stopped up in a rainstorm dozens of homes could be damaged by flash floods.

“If this permit is approved then I’ll have a coal processing plant directly across from my home, a coal train directly across from my home, a coal haul road directly in front of my home and now a strip mine and valley fill directly behind my home,” Tiffany Skiles pointed out in a recent meeting with the EPA in Washington.

“All through high school I’ve been taking classes and learning to honor and respect the culture of the mountains. How am I supposed to stay here and make a home with all this around me?”

The EPA is currently evaluating the potential water pollution discharge impacts from the proposed valley fill permit associated with Leeco’s Stacy Branch mine.

To EPA Administrator Fleming: Re: The proposed 404 valley fill permit for Leeco Coal Company, permit 897-0480 “The students here at Cordia High School have created this photo project to represent their pride for the beautiful mountains in which we live. The photos show some of the few classic beauties of why we love it here so much. We feel that the destroying of these magnificent mountains is truly devastating. We were wondering if you would like to meet us here sometime to get to know us and our community?

Thank you for taking the time to read this and look at our project. We hope to see you soon!”

ACTION Needed EPA officials need to strengthen their resolve to protect the community by enforcing the Clean Water Act. Please send a message in support of local residents’ request asking EPA officials to come visit Stacy’s Branch and neighboring Lotts Creek before they make a decision on Leeco permit #897-0480.

Tiffany Skiles (center) and the senior art class at Cordia School in the Lott’s Creek community created an art project to send to EPA officials showing places they love in their community that are threatened by proposed mining. Below left is the letter the students sent along with the art.

Send your message to: Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming EPA Region 4 Administrator Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street, SW Atlanta, GA 30303-3104 404-562-8357 keyesfleming.gwendolyn@epa.gov

Announcing a beautiful new book …

Saving Kentucky is about preserving not only

land and historic property, but also a way of life. It tells the stories of an eclectic group of Kentuckians – including KFTC member Daymon Morgan – both in their own words and through the extraordinary photographs of Thomas Hart Shelby. From tenant farmers to urban revivalists, they have one thing in common: a deep connection to their heritage and a fierce determination to preserve it for future generations.

In these pages you will meet families who see,

with uncommon clarity, the human value of the land. You will meet leaders, innovators and visionaries—people who are thinking about forever, not just tomorrow.

Daymon Morgan

Sally Van Winkle Campbell has traveled Kentucky, driving the roads of the Bluegrass, seeing firsthand the majesty, as well as the heartbreak of the eastern Appalachian Mountains, and witnessing the renewal of the commonwealth’s urban centers.

More than a warning, it is an invitation – a call to each of us to embrace the future with hope and, most of all, imagination, even as we hold tight to the past.

Pick up a copy at a local independent bookstore or order online at: www.savingkentucky.com A portion of the proceeds from this book will support the work of KFTC to save the mountains and heritage of Eastern Kentucky from mountaintop removal and valley fills.

Page

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Canary Project Update

KFTC hosts Gov. Beshear on a tour of Eastern Kentucky

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, accompanied by Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Len Peters, met on April 7 with residents in Eastern Kentucky to see and hear firsthand about the importance of protecting their water, opportunities for community development, and problems associated with mountaintop removal coal mining and valley fills. The tour was hosted by members of KFTC.

The governor’s visit made good on an earlier commitment to visit the region and learn about the impact of surface mining on health and water. Floyd County residents Rick Handshoe and Sister Kathleen Weigand took him on a tour of several locations in Floyd County where pollution levels in streams below mine sites are more than three times the allowable standard set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The governor observed while water quality tests were taken in both a healthy stream and streams degraded by coal mining operations. Handshoe also showed the governor a sediment pond below a valley fill near his home that is contaminated by acid mine drainage.

Weigand pointed out to the governor

Governor Beshear examines Rick Handshoe’s “city water,” which was one of his counterpoints to Rick’s water problems. Upon closer examination it is easy to see how dirty even the “city water” is.

that the streams he visited were a few of thousands that have been impacted by mining throughout the region. “What you’re seeing here is just one example of a much larger problem. It’s happening all over,” she said.

Handshoe added, “Governor, this is a people issue; it’s a human rights issue.

Our groundwater around here was contaminated by deep mining a long time ago. You just can’t allow our surface waters to be destroyed too.”

Later that afternoon, Governor Beshear and Secretary Peters attended a meeting hosted by KFTC members in the Harlan County community of Lynch.

Residents shared ideas for economic development and a sound future for their area, and asked the governor to block two proposed surface mine permits that now threaten their drinking water and quality of life.

“I’ve lived here all my life,” shared Carl Shoupe, a retired third generation (continued on next page)

KFTC Member Rick Handshoe (right) shared results with the governor from a water conductivity test near his home in Floyd County.

A summary of actions members of KFTC are asking Governor Beshear to take to begin an economic transition in eastern Kentucky and protect our land, water and people Support an economic transition to create good, new jobs for our miners and mountain communities.

• Foster a sincere, public discussion about the opportunity we have to begin an economic transition for coal workers and communities.

• Support significant new investments in job creation in the mountains, especially in the areas of land and forest restoration, energy efficiency, and renewable energy development.

• Vigorously support the Clean Energy Opportunity Act (In 2011 this was HB 239) • Invest in plans proposed by the city of Lynch and other eastern Kentucky communities to retrofit public buildings,

help local residents and businesses save money by saving energy, and develop community-scale renewable energy projects.

Stop the destruction of our land, water and people by fully enforcing existing laws designed to protect our health and communities from destructive mining.

• Direct the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet to withdraw from the lawsuit it joined last October, in which your administration sided with the coal industry against the EPA’s efforts to protect our health and water quality.

• Direct the Kentucky Division of Water to stop using a rubber-stamp process

(known as the 402 general coal mining permit) which allows companies to pollute our water with minimal restrictions and without public input about site-specific health and environmental impacts.

• Publicly support efforts by city leaders and residents of Lynch to prevent proposed mining that threatens their water supply, cultural heritage, economic development investments, and ecological systems.

• Support proposed federal mine-safety rules that are aimed at eliminating black lung disease and allowing essential enforcement actions to be taken in deep mines that demonstrate a pattern of violations. (box continued on next page)

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Page

Canary Project Update

Historic march on Blair Mountain to build momentum for Appalachia Rising while honoring miners’ brave stance

After 14 individuals occupied the office of the Kentucky Governor in February, author Wendell Berry urged others to take up the cause and “make it your adventure.”

Now an upcoming event, Appalachia Rising: March on Blair Mountain, will give thousands of people from across the region an opportunity to do just that.

A five-day march and culminating day of action is being planned for June 4-11 in West Virginia. In the footsteps of Appalachia Rising, the march will demand investment in sustainable economies in Appalachia, the abolishment of mountaintop removal coal mining, the preservation of Blair Mountain, and the strengthening of labor rights.

KFTC is one of many groups that have endorsed the march and rally as an important opportunity for those working in the sustainability and labor movements to work together towards a sustainable and just Appalachia.

KFTC members are encouraged to participate in this event.

Anyone who plans to take part should visit the event webpage www. marchonblairmountaing.org to register online and learn the latest details.

In addition, KFTC will host a conference call at 8 p.m. on May 18 for Kentuckians to get their questions answered about this event. For information about how to join that call, contact Lisa Abbott at lisa@kftc.org or call 859-200-5159.

TAKE ACTION FOR Benham and Lynch Please tell Gov. Steve Beshear and Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Len Peters that you support the Lands Unsuitable for Mining Petition, LUM-10-1. Say you oppose A & G permit 848-0287 and Nally & Hamilton permit 867-0472.

Talking Points 1. Based on a vision for their future that included building an economic base not dependent on mining, millions of dollars were spent to create Portal 31, the Coal Mining Museum and other tourist attractions, and preserve local landmarks. By supporting the Lands Unsuitable petition, Gov. Beshear would help protect this investment and affirm local initiatives.

2. The A & G mine will damage the streams that provide water for the city of Lynch. The Kentucky Division of Water has a “Five Mile Rule.” It is supposed to prevent discharges from strip mines “within five miles upstream from any public water supply intake.” It should follow this rule.

3. The proposed Nally & Hamilton strip mine would destroy Looney Ridge directly above Portal 31.

4. The A & G and Nally & Hamilton strip mines would place scores of sediment ponds above Lynch. Blasting would be near homes and historic buildings.

5. A & G and Nally & Hamilton would strip mine through existing gas wells.

6. The A & G and Nally & Hamilton strip mines would destroy the views from the historic cities of Lynch and Benham.

Contact

Send a copy to

Governor Steve Beshear 700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 100 Frankfort, Ky. 40601 (502) 564-2611 Fax: (502) 564-2517 Online email: www.governor.ky.gov/ contact/contact.htm

Len Peters, Cabinet Secretary Energy and Environment Cabinet 5th Floor, Capital Plaza Tower Frankfort, Ky. 40601 502-564-5525, ext. 214 Fax: 502-564-3969 Len.Peters@ky.gov

For more information and additional actions to support Benham and Lynch, please visit www.kftc.org/benham

Here’s what you need to know to get started in your planning for the March on Blair Mountain.

• Choose your own adventure: Individuals who want to take part in the march should arrive in Charleston, West Virginia, on the evening of June 4. After a day of training on June 5, the group will walk about 10 miles a day to the final rally and day of action at Blair Mountain on June 11. If you don’t want to take part

in the march, you should plan to arrive in Logan, West Virginia, on June 10 for a day of training and preparation. Then you can join the rally and day of action at Blair Mountain on Saturday, June 11.

(continued from previous page) coal miner from nearby Benham. “This is a special place with an important history. We have good, pure water that flows out off Black Mountain. With a lot of work by a lot of people, we’ve built up some fine tourism sites, like the School House Inn and Portal 31 exhibition coal mine. But all of those things could be lost if the state allows these strip mines to go forward.”

Stanley Sturgill, a resident of Lynch and retired coal miner and federal mine inspector, thanked the governor for his time and asked him to take a stand.

“Will you declare your support for designating key areas around Benham and Lynch as ‘Lands Unsuitable for Mining,’ and will direct your Energy and Environment Cabinet to revisit and reverse their recent ruling on this matter?” Sturgill asked. The governor responded that his

administration would carefully review all permits and “take the concerns we’ve heard today under consideration.”

Governor Beshear later stated, “I’m convinced that if we are smart and enforce our regulations, we can mine coal and protect the environment. It’s something we have to balance.”

To which Sturgill countered, “Governor, what you saw up there in Floyd County today, would you consider that balanced just right?”

Reflecting on the day, KFTC member Doug Doerrfeld noted, “I’m thankful that Governor Beshear and Secretary Peters came and listened. This is just a first step, and it’s good that he agreed to meet with us again soon. There are many issues left to be resolved. The whole conversation needs to go much deeper, and we need to see concrete action.”

• Camping for most. Cots for some.

Hotels if necessary. Organizers have secured free sites for camping along the march route. Evening programs will feature music, story telling, and planning (continued on page 12)

Governor visits with members...

(continued from previous page)

Speak honestly and publicly about the real challenges faced by our mountain communities, namely: • Call for an end to extreme and violent speech aimed at citizens who are working to protect Kentucky’s land, air and water.

• Acknowledge that surface mining causes unacceptable and widespread harm to our

land, water and people; • Acknowledge that coal jobs and reserves have entered a period of rapid decline in eastern Kentucky, in large part due to market forces, business trends, and finite resources; • Make it clear that it is going to take all of us working together to protect our land, water, and health and transition to a new economy and clean energy future.

Page 10

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Local Updates

Growing Appalachia conference lends action to people’s vision

Just two days after hosting Governor Beshear on a tour of communities affected by destructive mining, the Floyd County KFTC Chapter welcomed more than 100 people to a conference about how to build a healthier local economy in eastern Kentucky.

The second annual Growing Appalachia conference provided ideas and advice about ways people can save and earn money through small-scale agriculture, sustainable forestry and clean energy solutions.

“This day was designed for anyone who is trying to make ends meet or wants to help build a stronger, healthier local economy,” explained KFTC member Bev May, who helped to plan the event. “I was delighted with the turnout. Any time you do something twice and the number of people doubles, that’s a good sign.”

Many workshops focused on practical skills, like how to cultivate and market gourmet mushrooms, how to get community supported agriculture going, how to go through the process of getting your farm certified organic, and how to save money through home weatherization. Other presentations introduced people to opportunities to

David Wagoner of Nicholas County led a workshop on Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs). Wagoner owns Three Springs Farm with his wife and daughter. See: www.threespringsfarmky.com/

save and earn money through strategies as diverse as horse-drawn logging, the use of solar energy, and community gardens.

Letcher County KFTC member Vanessa Hall led a workshop about ways communities can come together to accomplish projects that help people be more resilient in the face of rising energy prices and a stagnant economy. Some of these projects can be fun and highly visible.

For example, she described how one community worked to turn their town “Black and Blue” by teaching people to grow blackberries and blueberries and purchasing plants in bulk at a low cost.

“I was excited about the diversity of the people in the room,” Hall remarked.

“It was wonderful to find other people that are interested in making eastern Kentucky a better place.”

During the afternoon, author, farmer and KFTC member Wendell Berry led a discussion about the need for economic diversification and local determination in eastern Kentucky and in rural communities across the commonwealth. He described what it means to live in an imposed, one-enterprise economy, “from one end of the river to the other.”

“The critical difference that I want to talk about is between an imposed economy, in which the land and people of an area are exploited by outside interests, and an economy genuinely local, which rises both from the local land and from the intelligence, skill and stewardship of the local people,” Berry explained.

Berry continued, “We are dealing here with what seems to be a law: You cannot divide the land from the people, or detach the people from the land, without the gravest injury to both. To be preserved in human use, the land must be inhabited by people who are attached to it culturally and economically, who know how to care properly for it while they use it, and who want and are willing to care for it because they understand their dependence on it.”

A workshop on solar energy solutions that can work in eastern Kentucky featured an informative presentation

by Andy McDonald of Kentucky Solar Energy Partnership, and the inspiring example of Elijah and Guylaine Collett, KFTC members who have installed their own solar array on a hillside above their

home in Leslie County.

The Colletts’ story was recently featured in an article in the Lexington Herald Leader. “Solar energy can work in eastern Kentucky,” declared Elijah Collett. “We are living proof of it.” (www.kentucky.com/2011/04/09/ 1701457/couple-thinks-solar-power-can.html).

In one of the final workshop sessions of the day, participants heard from Jason Rutledge, a woodsman from southwestern Virginia who teaches and promotes a restorative approach to forestry, including “worst-first” tree selection and animal powered extraction. Individuals interested in learning more about sustainable logging with draft animals are encouraged to attend a weekend training organized by Rutledge on September 1011 in Lexington, Virginia.

Jessica Heintzelman of Floyd County with her family (http://www.southernattended Growing Appalachia. draftanimaldays.com/) most of our people are at: making deci Reflecting on the day, long-time sions between paying the electric bill or KFTC member Randy Wilson noted, “I buying food. think it was a good idea to encourage

“On an encouraging note, they said folks to eat lunch with someone they that the flea market in Prestonsburg didn’t know. I sat down with a couple sells solar panels like hot cakes! I want of guys from Floyd County, and they to talk more with them. The right questalked about energy saving strategies for tions and answers lie within us right people living in mobile homes. It was here where we live.” fascinating and really addressed where

Things to do this summer: 1. Support the communities of Benham, Lynch, Teges, and Stacy Branch.

2. Attend local chapter meetings, Mountain Justice Summer Camp, and the March on Blair Mountain.

3. Celebrate with KFTC 30 years of Action For Justice on August 27 at the KFTC Birthday Party.

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Page 11

Local Updates

Central Kentucky chapter continues strong work on diverse issues

March and April have been very exciting for the chapter. Here is a brief snapshot of some of their work:

UK Rising

Inspired by the work of the Kentucky Rising group that occupied the governor’s office for four days in February, students in KFTC’s University of Kentucky student group held an event on campus to raise awareness of mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR) and its impacts on Kentuckians.

The goal was to illustrate the connections between UK students in Lexington and the people living in eastern Kentucky.

More than 40 people participated, ate chili and listened to the speakers and musicians. The event began with live funk music by One Way Out and a vegan chili dinner prepared by the students.

After the meal, Martin Mudd of Louisville spoke about his experience at the sit-in in Governor Beshear’s office with Kentucky Rising.

Ada Smith of Whitesburg shared her experience as a young person from eastern Kentucky. Smith organizes and empowers Appalachian youth through her work in the STAY Project and the Appalachian Media Institute. She urged listeners to raise their voices against the injustices caused by destructive mining that are happening to communities such as hers.

She spoke of health hazards posed to the people of her community and as a result, how many youth want to leave.

Finally, KFTC member Stanley Stur-

gill of Lynch (Harlan County) told the group his story as a retired coal miner and mine inspector and how the rise of surface mining, especially MTR, is destroying Kentucky.

Week in Washington

Four members from the Central Kentucky chapter, Abigail Dority, Erika Skaggs, Christian Torp and Jerry Moody, joined 150 people from 23 states to travel to Washington, D.C. to lobby legislators in support of the Appalachian Restoration Act and the Clean Water Protection Act.

Participants met with staff from 200 House and Senate offices. This included meetings with 20 members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 11 members of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and with House and committee leadership.

The number of cosponsors for the Clean Water Protection Act has already climbed to 66 members and is growing rapidly because of this lobbying effort.

Folks met with roughly half of all Senate offices, including five members of the Environment and Public Works Committee and 15 members of the Senate leadership.

Fundraising and Membership recruitment

On March 28 the chapter held a pie bake-off fundraiser. More than 20 people came out to member Jack Cofer’s house to talk about KFTC’s work to end mountaintop removal coal mining and to

Orion magazine hosted webinar focused on what activists need to create change

KFTC members Teri Blanton and Wendell Berry, as well as Tim DeChristopher, on March 12 led an online conversation about the changes needed to stop mountaintop removal. The event was hosted by Orion magazine. You can listen to a recording at www.orionmagazine. org/community.

Wendell Berry Receives National Humanities Medal From President Obama

On April 2, KFTC member Wendell Berry was one of ten individuals from across the country who received a National Humanities Medal from President Obama in Washington D.C. He was cited as being chosen for his achievements as a poet, novelist, farmer, and conservationist.

UK KFTC members Jared Flanery and Elaine Alvey speak at UK Rising to students about the need for a transitional economy in Eastern Kentucky. sample pies.

There were many delicious submissions including, but not limited to, derby pie, cheesecake, pie on a stick, apple-bacon-cheddar pie, chocolate pie, shaker lemon pie and pumpkin pie. The winning prize was a beautiful print generously donated by Kentucky artist and KFTC member Jeff Chapman-Crane. The bake-off resulted in one new member, $117, and a ton of fun.

Also, in an effort to connect better with folks who join KFTC, the chapter

drafted a welcome letter and sent it out to all 50 new members who’ve joined the Central Kentucky chapter since the beginning of the year. The letter shared KFTC’s mission and goals, spoke about what it means to be a member of KFTC, and highlighted opportunities to get involved.

Last month, Len Peters, secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet, denied a Lands Unsuitable for Mining Petition from residents in the community of Teges in Clay County. They had asked the cabinet to declare the watersheds of Upper and Lower Teges Creeks and Crane Creek off-limits to surface mining. The total area would have covered 8,241 acres.

Peters did not agree with any of the allegations in the petition, including that the mining in the area would threaten the water quality of the South

Fork of the Kentucky River, one of the few rivers in eastern Kentucky that still has several species of fresh water mussels, some of which are on the state’s endangered and threatened species list.

The residents of Teges who filed the petition would like to thank the hundreds of people who signed on in support of their Lands Unsuitable for Mining Petition. They are currently weighing their options before deciding what their next steps will be to protect their homes and community.

If you would like to be involved in the central Kentucky chapter, please contact the local organizer Ondine Quinn at 859-276-0563 or ondine@kftc.org.

Lands Unsuitable for Mining petition at Teges in Clay County

Page 12

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Canary Project Update

Sixth Annual Week-in-Washington brings new faces to the fight

Working with the Alliance for Appalachia, KFTC members had a very successful Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington in early April: • 21 KFTC members along with more than 130 people from 23 different states spent three days on Capitol Hill educating members of Congress on the polluting effects of mountaintop removal coal mining.

• Participants had more than 200 meetings with representative and senate offices.

• Citizen lobbyists ended the week with a total of 72 cosponsors for the Clean Water Protection Act, HR 1375.

• Participants met with every agency that has a hand in regulating mountaintop removal and valley fills.

Although seasoned participants made the annual trek to Washington D.C., KFTC sent numerous members who attended their first Week-in-Washi-

ington and their first time to lobby elected leaders.

Member Profile: Tiffany Skiles

After watching an Appalshop film Mountain Majesty in one of her classes at Cordia School in Perry County, Tiffany Skiles began to verbally work through with peers and teachers her understanding of the relationship between mining companies and communities.

Based on her interest, she was asked to get on a call with Cordia’s director and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about a proposed mountaintop removal mine in their watershed of Lott’s Creek. She also went with other KFTC members to the Week in Washington recently to lobby Congress for legislation that would protect water in her community.

“I was just really interested to see what it was about. I had never lobbied before. I wanted to learn new things

Appalachia Rising march... (continued from page 9)

for the day of action. Marchers should bring their own tents and sleeping bags.

It is possible to reserve a cot to sleep on if you sign up early. If staying in a hotel is necessary, those arrangements are possible, but you’ll need to pay for your own room, and transportation to and from the campsite will be challenging.

• There will be lots of logistical support. Each morning, bags and camping equipment will be loaded onto buses and vans and driven to the next campsite. All meals will be provided throughout the march and on the day of the rally. At the end of the rally, marchers will be able to catch a ride back to their cars in Charleston. Organizers are also planning to provide activities for children during the evening programs and day of action.

• Keeping costs low. The suggested cost to participate is $30 for youth, $50 for a standard donation, and $100 or more for people who are financially comfortable.

These fees cover the costs of all food, bus/van transportation, and trainings, along with other planning expenses.

Participants are expected to pay for their

own parking in Charleston, which will cost $3/day/car. Everyone is expected to provide their own transportation to the march or the rally, plus bring their own tent and sleeping bag. (Cots and other camping equipment may be available to borrow if you contact organizers early.)

• Scholarships are available. The Alliance For Appalachia has set aside some funds to cover the registration costs for individuals who belong to KFTC or any of the other Alliance groups. To request a scholarship, please register as soon as possible at www.marchonblairmountain.org Check the box that says you are a member of an organization that belongs to the Alliance for Appalachia.

• Non-violence training and safety precautions. Nonviolence trainings will be offered on Saturday, May 28 in Hazard, Kentucky; Sunday, June 5 in Charleston, WV, and Friday, June 10 in Logan, WV. All participants are expected to attend one of these sessions. More information about guidelines for participation and important safety precautions can be found at the following site: www.marchonblairmountain.org

and meet new people,” Skiles shared.

“I really enjoyed meeting other states’ representatives, telling them about my community, and hearing their views on what’s going on here.”

Skiles is an 18-year-old senior at Cordia School and works as a peer tutor after school, so she spends the majority of her time in Lott’s Creek.

If the EPA approves the valley fill permits for this Leeco Coal mine (Kentucky officials have already approved the mining permit), Skiles will have a processing plant and coal train across the street from her house. Her road will be the primary coal haul road, and the strip mine and valley fill will be right behind her house, all within several hundred feet. It will be one of the largest new mines in Kentucky and involve six valley fills.

Rather than discourage her, this has motivated Skiles.

“I want to see everyone more organized and productive. We’ve got to be more dependent on renewable energies and moving toward bigger and better things. Young people have to be a huge part of this work because we are the future. We totally affect how the future plays out.”

Skiles plans to continue her education through Hazard Community and

Technical College. She wants to go into the medical field of radiology and stay close to home.

“I don’t want to move away. We need to share and take part in our heritage here. We’ve got to make our home better.”

Here’s how organizers of this event describe the significance of Blair Mountain in the history of the labor movement and the movement to end mountaintop removal mining:

Blair Mountain in Logan County, West Virginia, was the site of the largest open class war in U.S. history. In 1921, after a generation of violent suppression and exploitation of the people in the southern coalfields of West Virginia, 15,000 coal miners rebelled in an attempt to overthrow the control of coal barons.

They met the anti-union forces of the coal-operator army on Blair Mountain and the surrounding ridges. The battlefront was roughly 15 miles long, and more than one million rounds were estimated to have been fired over the course of the five-day battle. Both sides were heavily armed with machine guns, high-powered rifles, and explosives. The anti-union forces even employed airplanes for reconnaissance as well as for dropping homemade bombs on the miners.

With the battle raging in the hills and hollows around Blair Mountain, federal troops were called in and were able to peacefully stop the conflict without a shot fired. The miners dispersed and went back to their homes, and the news reporters returned to their editors. The battle received above-the-fold coverage in major newspapers of the day, including the New York Times. But soon, the battle faded into obscurity, and over time has been largely forgotten.

So today, although this battle was the largest insurrection after the Civil War, it is not taught in our schools and most Americans and even West Virginians have never heard about it. Even worse, the battlefield is severely threatened by encroaching surface mining operations, and the fate of this remarkable place is uncertain.

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Page 13

Renew East Kentucky Update

Clean Energy Collaborative gets off to an encouraging start

As part of the settlement agreement that KFTC and allies entered into with East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) to cancel the proposed coalburning Smith plant, a collaborative working group was established. The agreement calls this the Demand-Side Management (DSM) / Renewable Energy Collaborative, or the Clean Energy Collaborative, for short.

The Collaborative consists of a voting representative from EKPC, KFTC, Kentucky Environmental Foundation, Sierra Club, each of EKPC’s 16 distribution cooperatives, the Attorney General’s office, Gallatin Steel (also a party to the Smith settlement agreement), Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED), Kentucky Solar Partnership, and Frontier Housing.

The Collaborative is chaired by David Mitchell of EKPC, with KFTC member Tona Barkley serving as vicechair. KFTC’s representative to the Collaborative is Steve Wilkins, a member from Madison County.

At the first meeting on March 29,

members of the Collaborative approved the group’s charter and prepared to delve into energy issues that affect Kentucky. Wilkins presented the perspective of the public interest groups to the full group and was well-received.

Members of the Collaborative divided up into committees to consider issues related to renewable and demand-side management (DSM) programs. Using a consensus decision-making process, the Collaborative will evaluate and recommend ways to expand deployment of renewable and DSM options, and promote collaboration in implementing those ideas.

The group will meet at least quarterly for the next two years.

“I believe we’re off to an excellent start,” said Barkley. “It was exciting to see this smart group of people – knowledgeable and experienced in a wide variety of areas, and coming from different points of view – begin our work together on how to better save energy and add renewable energy generation.”

Each Collaborative meeting will

Steve Wilkins, KFTC’s representative to the clean energy collaborative, delivers a statement on behalf of the public interest groups. have time set aside for public comment.

At this introductory meeting, several members of the public spoke, encouraging the Collaborative and suggesting topics to consider for study.

Ted Withrow, a KFTC member from Rowan County, thanked Collaborative members. “We, as cooperative mem-

bers, look forward to working together in solving our energy issues. We can solve our energy needs through cooperation. I have high expectations of this Collaborative in that it can lead us into a new power future.”

The next Collaborative meeting is scheduled for July 19.

Members are encouraged to attend electric co-ops’ annual meetings

It’s that time of year again: From late spring to summer, the rural electric coops hold their member annual meetings.

The purpose of these meetings – some as festive as county fairs, others more business-like – is to inform rural electric co-op members about the state of their co-op and to attend to any business that needs a vote from the membership.

Anyone who is a customer of a rural electric co-op (sometimes called an RECC) is a member-owner of the co-op, and is supposed to have a say in some of the decisions that are made by the cooperative.

Each year, KFTC encourages members to attend their co-ops’ annual meetings in order to learn more about how the co-op is run, to engage with the staff and board of the co-op, and to increase democratic participation in the co-op.

In years past, KFTC has encouraged members to talk with their board members about the proposed coal-burning Smith plant. But now that project has been cancelled, it’s time to start having good conversations about increased

investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Each co-op listed on this page is part of the Clean Energy Collaborative, and the annual meetings provide an opportunity for members to thank their co-op representatives for participating and encourage them to work to make the outcome of the collaborative a great one that will help Kentucky.

If you attend your co-op annual meeting, here are some topics and questions you might bring up with co-op management or board members.

• Let them know you are excited or encouraged by the Clean Energy Collaborative with EKPC (called the DSM/ Renewable Energy Collaborative) and thank them for their participation in that group.

• Ask what the co-op is doing to increase participation in energy efficiency, or demand-side management, programs. Let them know that it is important for the coop to seriously invest time and resources

into these programs to offset the need for any expensive future power plants.

Big Sandy

May 19

• If you’re a Jackson Energy, Big Sandy RECC, Grayson Rural Electric, or Fleming-Mason RECC member, you can ask how the How$mart program is going.

How$mart is an on-bill financing program in which the co-ops receive funds from MACED in order to help co-op members perform energy efficiency upgrades. The upgrades help members save energy and save money on their bills, and the members pay back the cost of the upgrades on their utility bill with those savings. How$mart is a two-year pilot project that will serve 200 - 300 homes in these four co-ops. Ask what the response has been to the program so far, or how members can participate in the program.

Clark Energy

May 10

• If your co-op is not a How$mart participant, you can still have a conversation about on-bill financing. Let them know that you’d love to see your co-op participate in the program at the end of the two-year pilot phase.

Bluegrass Energy Cumberland Valley Farmers

Fleming Mason

Grayson Rural Electric

Inter-County

Jackson Energy Licking Valley Nolin

Owen Electric

Salt River Electric Shelby Energy

South Kentucky

Taylor County RECC

June 2 June 3 TBA

May 26 May 12 May 13 June 30

May 20 June 10 June 24 June 6

June 21 June 23 TBA

For exact meeting times and locations, contact your co-op’s main office. Or, find their phone number on your utility bill or contact Sara Pennington at (606) 276-9933 or sara@kftc.org for more information.

Page 14

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Renew East Kentucky Update

KFTC’s Renew East Kentucky campaign goes to Washington

Since the coal-burning Smith plant proposed by the East Kentucky Power Cooperative was cancelled last fall, KFTC members are focusing their work in the rural electric cooperatives on a campaign called Renew East Kentucky.

A full description of the campaign and KFTC’s strategy will be published in the next issue of balancing the scales.

In brief, it is a body of work with primary strategies of grassroots organizing, communications and political pressure to bring about an aggressive investment in energy efficiency and local renewable energy in the rural electric co-ops served by EKPC as a means to create good local jobs, to help those most vulnerable to rising utility rates, and to kick-start the transition in Appalachia to a healthy and sustainable economy.

Renew East Kentucky will need leadership from the local cooperatives, political support from the local to the state levels, coordination among many entities from community colleges to affordable housing groups, and an infusion of resources from a variety of places including funding from the federal government.

On April 26 - 29, KFTC took the Renew campaign to Washington, D.C. to speak with federal agencies and legislators about what they need to do to help Renew East Kentucky.

KFTC member Cindy Shepherd of Clay County and KFTC organizer Sara Pennington attended an Environmental Justice Conference hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and other federal agencies. As part of that conference, they were able to meet faceto-face with key administrators in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Service and the Appalachian Regional Commission.

“As I introduced myself and told the agencies about my home and the love and connection my son has to it and the joy he finds in playing in the creeks and hiking the mountains, it was impossible for me to hold back the tears,” said Shepherd, whose community of Oneida is rapidly being devastated by mountaintop removal coal mining. “The thought that my son’s home place, a place that we all hold so dear, could one day be destroyed, was too much for a mother to fathom. And so we told the agencies how important

it is for them to invest in coal-impacted communities and about our overall plan to Renew East Kentucky.

“We also told them how we need a concentrated effort in job training so local folks will be the ones getting the jobs created by this plan. We developed good initial relationships and will have the opportunity to carry on this conversation with the agencies in the coming months.”

Shepherd also was able to meet with staff of her U.S. Representative, Hal Rogers, as well as with staff from the offices of Representatives Ben Chandler and Ed Whitfield. She asked for the support of federal legislation that would make on-bill financing for energy efficiency upgrades – a mechanism that would help co-op members avoid the hurdle of the up-front costs or loans for the upgrades.

A bill, titled Rural Star, passed the House but not the Senate last year and must be re-introduced in this Congress.

All the congressional staff members said they thought such a bill sounds like a great idea and would be willing to work on it later this year.

For more on how KFTC took the mountains to The Hill and how the

KFTC member Cindy Shepherd lobbied in Washington D.C. on behalf of the Renew East Kentucky campaign.

Renew East Kentucky campaign was received in Washington, D.C., read Shepherd’s full reflection on the trip on KFTC’s blog at: www.kftc.org/shepherd.

Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance Update

Collaboration at research conferences focuses on health of Appalachia

KFTC members from eastern Kentucky contributed towards building a region-wide research agenda at the Appalachian Community & Ecosystems Health Summit.

Approximately 100 researchers, scientists and community members, mostly from the Central Appalachian region, gathered at the summit sponsored by the Eastern Kentucky University Environmental Research Institute and Wheeling Jesuit University.

Participants collaboratively created research and data priorities in several topic areas, including community health impacts of fossil fuel extraction, water, the true cost of coal and creating economies that sustain communities.

The negative impacts that coal mining is having on the region’s community health and the environment and the resulting lack of economic diversification was a constant focus of group discussion.

During the summit, West Virginia

“All of the combined problems found in coal mining areas including poverty, pollution, unemployment, stress, etc. result in about 11,000 extra deaths a year.” - Dr. Michael Hendryx University’s Dr. Michael Hendryx said that his studies show that all of the combined problems found in coal mining areas including poverty, pollution, unemployment, stress, etc. result in about 11,000 extra deaths a year.

Relying on the extensive academic and scientific knowledge in the room, the group also began compiling a list of studies already in existence on community and ecosystems health in Central Appalachia.

KFTC participants will continue developing this regional study compilation and identifying research gaps going forward. One member expressed a desire to take this information to Governor Beshear.

Did you know?

Studies show that people who live near heavy mountaintop removal coal mining and thus near streams heavily polluted by mining activities are more likely to die from the following types of cancer: • Respiratory • Digestive • Urinary • Breast

KySEA Meeting Announcement KFTC members are welcome at the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance meeting on Tuesday, May 24 from 10 to 4 p.m. at the Northside Library in Lexington to: • Review KySEA activities over the last year, • Discuss what we learned from the 2011 General Assembly, • Make important decisions about this year’s strategy and activities.

All KFTC members are welcome. Contact Nancy Reinhart at 502-589-3188 or nancy@kftc.org for more details.

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Economic Justice Update

Page 15

Fairness in Taxation Act and The People’s Budget: two good solutions

While U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers and others in the Congressional House leadership pursue cuts to important functions of our federal government, others are offering solutions. One such solution is the Fairness in Taxation Act, a federal tax bill that KFTC supports.

In a letter outlining KFTC support of the legislation to Kentucky’s Congressional delegation, KFTC Chairperson Steve Boyce wrote:

“Before we became Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, KFTC was the Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition. We’ve long supported budget and revenue policies that would move us forward toward the Kentucky we all want, and that we can create for ourselves – a Kentucky whose communities are safe and healthy and can provide ordinary Kentuckians in all parts of the state opportunity for excellent education and secure jobs.

“We can create this Kentucky. But this Kentucky doesn’t happen without the adequate investment of public dollars in quality education, healthcare, safe neighborhoods, and sound infrastructure – a responsibility that should be shared equitably among all of us.

“Passing the Fairness in Taxation Act is an important step toward rebuilding our economy and stabilizing Kentuckians’ lives.”

Bowling Green member Dana Beasley Brown shares in the frustration that many people feel about the disconnect between elected leaders’ voiced concern over the deficit and national debt, and their commitment to tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest residents.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. Rep. Rogers and the House don’t have to limit the debate to debt and draconian cuts,” Beasley Brown pointed out. “Congress can choose revenue reform as a long-term solution.”

Currently, federal income tax rates increase with income, but only up to $373,000. The top tax bracket begins with incomes of $373,000 or more. So, taxable household income of $400,000 is taxed at the same rate as taxable household income of $400,000,000.

The Fairness in Taxation Act would add new tax brackets for income starting at $1 million and end with a $1 billion bracket, with stair-stepped rate increases as income levels rise.

The act would also treat capital

The People’s Budget

House’s (Ryan’s) Budget

In short

Strengthens the role of government in closing the income gap and providing a social safety net. Reduces the deficit by raising revenue and targeted spending cuts.

Relies on private sector to spur economic growth and employment using a trickle down approach. Reduces deficit solely through spending cuts that also have to offset significant tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.

Revenues and Taxes

Shifts tax burden towards higher income earners and corporations

Decreases taxes for wealthy and corporations

Investment

Emphasizes public investment as the engine for job creation and economic growth, with $1.7 trillion in new investments by 2021

Limits public investments with $1.8 trillion in cuts to nonmilitary discretionary investments by 2021.

Health Care and Social Safety Net

Maintains our federal government’s role in creating a strong social infrastructure.

Limits the ability of our federal government to maintain its established functions

Military and Security

Makes significant cuts ($2.3 trillion by 2021) in annual military spending and ends the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in FY 2012.

Limits the ability of our federal government to maintain its established functions

Government

Maintains the role and functions of our federal government

$800 billion in cuts to security spending by 2021

Reduces the deficit by…

$4.7 trillion by 2021

$1.6 trillion by 2021

gains and dividend income as ordinary income, but only for households earning more than $1 million.

If enacted in 2011, the Fairness in Taxation Act would raise more than $78 billion. The handful of households that would be impacted are the same households that have disproportionately benefited from the Bush-era tax cuts that were recently extended.

The Fairness in Taxation Act (H.R.1124) was introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois on March 16.

Since then, it’s been supported by several of KFTC’s national allies, including Citizens for Tax Justice and United for a Fair Economy, and cosponsored by 11 representatives, including Kentucky’s Rep. John Yarmuth.

The People’s Budgeet

The Fairness in Taxation Act is part of a proposal that stands in stark contrast to Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget. The Congressional Progressive Caucus recently introduced The People’s Budget, a plan

Rep. Rogers and the federal budget

As Congress continues its tax and budget discussions, KFTC members have noted that some in Congress seem unwilling to take up revenue reforms.

Rep. Hal Rogers, as chair of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, has a key leadership role in the House’s budget proposals.

This chart to the right, from the Center for American Progress, lists (left column) 10 safeguards from the federal government to ensure that every family has access to safe housing, good health, job training, and educational opportunities for our children. Additional valuable safeguards that aren’t on this list include the EPA and its ability to protect Kentucky’s water.

The right-hand column is a list of some of the more egregious federal tax breaks, and their cost to the federal budget. Among them is the federal estate tax, the phase-out of which has siphoned millions of dollars from Kentucky’s General Fund, as well, over the last five years. These are tax cuts that were supported – fought for, even – by the House Republicans with Rep. Rogers’ leadership.

that KFTC’s Economic Justice Committee is excited to learn more about.

Below is a chart that compares The People’s Budget with the budget that the U.S. House recently passed. This chart is an abbreviated version of a chart from the National Priorities Project, with additional data from the Congressional Budget Office. You can find the full chart in “Defining the FY2012 Budget Debate” on the National Priorities Project’s website, www.nationalpriorities.org.

The People’s Budget would reduce the deficit nearly three times more than the House GOP budget between 2012 and 2021, while reducing income inequality in the U.S., which is at its highest level since the 1920s.

These two proposals represent solutions that move the nation toward a federal tax and budget system that is responsible, allows everyone to contribute according to their means, and moves the U.S. toward positive national goals and priorities.

Page 16

balancing the scales, May 11, 2011

Calendar of Events May 17 Northern Kentucky chapter meeting,7 pm, 25 W 7th Street Covington, KY. Email Joe@KFTC.org or call 859-380-6103.

May 17 Perry County chapter meeting, 6 pm in Hazard; contact Colleen Unroe for more information, Colleen@kftc.org or 606-632-0051.

May 19 Central Kentucky chapter meeting, 7 p.m. at the Episcopal Diocese Mission House (on the corner of Martin Luther King Blvd. and 4th Street) in Lexington.

May 19 Rowan County chapter meeting, 6 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church on 5th Street in Morehead.

May 20 Louisville Loves Mountains, see ad at left for details.

May 22 Central Kentucky Chapter safe restroom survey, 2-4 p.m. Contact Ondine@KFTC.org for more details.

May 23 Madison County chapter meeting, 7 p.m. at Berea College Appalachian Center (205 N. Main St., Berea) May 24 Western Kentucky chapter meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm Universal Unitarian Church, 2033 Nashville Rd.

Happy 30th Birthday KFTC! Save-The-Date, We are throwing a party!

Saturday August 27, 2011 Cathedral Domain, near Irvine

Family Reunion, Games, Dinner, Stories, and 500 of your closest KFTC Family Members. Coming Soon: Registration and Details

June 2

Harlan County chapter meeting, 6 p.m. in Room 219 of Southeast Community College’s Appalachian Center in Cumberland.

June 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.

June 4

Madison County chapter Friend-Raiser, see the ad on page 6 for more details or contact Carissa@KFTC.org.

June 5

Central Kentucky chapter safe restroom survey, 2-4 p.m. Contact Ondine@KFTC.org for more details.

June 7

Letcher County chapter meeting. 6-7 p.m., Jenkins City Lake Picnic Shed, contact Willa at 606-632-0051 for more information.

June 11 Voter Empowerment Strategy Meeting, Noon-4 pm. Location TBD

Email Dave@KFTC.org or 859-420-8919 for more information.

June 13 Jefferson County chapter meeting, 6:30 p.m. at the Main Public Library in the Board Room. (301 York Street).

June 13 Floyd County chapter meeting, 7 p.m. at St. Martha Catholic Church near Prestonsburg.

June 21 Northern Kentucky chapter meeting,7 pm, 25 W 7th Street Covington, KY. Email Joe@KFTC.org or call 859-380-6103.

Aug. 27 Happy 30th Birthday KFTC! All day family reunion/birthday celebrating 30 years of Action for Justice. Cathedral Domain, Irvine KY. Stay tuned for more information and details about this fun event.

KFTC and SOCM Staff Exchange: What current staff members do you see?

Can you find the KFTC member who was recently in an award winning documentary about her community?