November 2013 - balancing the scales

November 26, 2013

NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID LEXINGTON, KY. PERMIT NO. 513

House party blitz helps build power for 2014 election year pg. 14

Change Service Requested

Volume 32 Number 7

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

balancing the scales

Legislative task force hears testimony on voting rights bills pg. 4

Powerbuilder program helps members recruit and raise money pg. 12

Beshear, Rogers join conversation about Appalachian transition pg. 19

Central Kentucky chapter hosts Hootenanny, Brewfest in October pg. 6

Mill Creek families finally get clean drinking water pg. 15

Clean energy solutions are gaining ground everywhere, but slowly in KY pg. 20

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balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Table of Contents

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

Member Commentary Seeing through the ‘War on Coal’ smokescreen

page 3

Voting Rights Update Legislative task force hears testimony on voting rights bills From Lynch to Lexington, democracy was singing

page 4 page 4

Local Updates Jefferson County chapter discusses local issues Central Kentucky chapter hosts Hootenanny, Brewfest in October Affordable housing tops concerns for Lexington residents Shelby chapter makes new friends at holiday event Eastern Kentucky women lead reproductive health project Rowan members turn out crowd for Fairness Arty Pie Party attendees elects best pies, raises $1,500 for KFTC Madison County members share legislative goals with Senator Carpenter Wilderness Trace chapter hosts sustainable energy workshops series Northern Kentucky loves democracy with “un-deadline party”

page 5 page 6 page 7 page 7 page 8 page 8 page 9 page 9 page 10 page 10

Grassroots Fundraising Update House party blitz helps build power for 2014 election year Jeanie’s ask: a gift to us and a gift to our communities Powerbuilder program helps members recruit and raise money

page 11 page 11 page 12

Economic Justice Update Starting a conversation about Local Option Sales Tax

page 14

Canary Project Update Mill Creek families finally get clean drinking water Gas drilling causes black water on Yellow Creek Federal judge agrees that EPA should regulate coal ash State cleans up road muck caused by nearby mine in Deane A true Power Shift: Youth perspective on environmental oppression

KFTC Steering Committee

page 15 page 15 page 16 page 16 page 17

Sue Tallichet, chair Dana Beasley Brown, vice chair Megan Naseman, secretary-treasurer Carl Shoupe, at-large member Steve Boyce, immediate past chair

Bluegrass Pipeline Campaign Update Bluegrass Pipeline opponents address EQC with concerns

page 18

Chapter Representatives

New Energy and Transition Update Beshear, Rogers join conversation about Appalachian transition Clean energy solutions are gaining ground everywhere, but slowly in Kentucky In times of transition, process really, really matters Clean Energy Collaborative wraps up, looks to the future PSC paves way for growth of How$martKY

page 19 page 20 page 21 page 22 page 22

Holiday Gift Guide page 23 Name: Address: City, State Zip: Phone: Email: I want to make my donation to the following organization (check one): ____ KFTC (not tax-deductible) ____ Kentucky Coalition (tax-deductible) 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.

Who asked you to join KFTC?

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

I will contribute $___ (check one):

__ Monthly __ Quarterly __ Annually Authorized Signature: ________________________ Date: _____________ Circle one: Mastercard Visa American Express Discover Card #: __ __ __ __ - __ __ __ __ - __ __ __ __ - __ __ __ __ Expiration date: ___ ___ / ___ ___ Cardholder’s name (as it appears on the card): _____________________________ 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.

is a statewide grassroots social justice orga­­ni­ zation working for a new balance of power and a just society. KFTC uses direct-action organizing to accomplish the following goals: • foster democratic values • change unjust institutions • empower individuals • overcome racism and other discrimination • communicate a message of what’s possible • build the organization • help people participate • win issues that affect the common welfare • have fun KFTC membership dues are $15 to $50 per year, based on ability to pay. No one is denied mem­ bership because of inability to pay. Membership is open to anyone who is committed to equality, democracy and nonviolent change.

Homer White, Scott County Christian Torp, Central Kentucky Lisa Bryant, Rowan County Ben Baker, Northern Kentucky Shekinah Lavalle, Jefferson County Alan Smith, Southern Kentucky Rutland Melton, Harlan County Katie Pirotina, Perry County Meta Mendel-Reyes, Madison County Elizabeth Sanders, Letcher County Nina McCoy, Big Sandy Lee Ann Paynter, Wilderness Trace Leslie McBride, Shelby County Alternates: Rosanne Fitts Klarer, Scott County; Greg Capillo, Central Kentucky; John Hennen, Rowan County; Rick Traud, Northern Kentucky; Nan Goheen, Jefferson County; Travis Lane and Jeanie Smith, Southern Kentucky; Clair Stines, Harlan County; Russell Oliver, Perry County; Steve Wilkins, Madison County; Josh May, Letcher Coun­ ty; Virginia Madison, Big Sandy; Leah Bayens, Wil­ derness Trace; Joanna Mackens, Shelby County. balancing the scales is published by Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and mailed third class from Lexington, Kentucky.

Reader contri­butions and letters to the editor should be sent to 250 Southland Drive Suite #4, Lexington, KY. 40503 or tim@kftc.org.

Subscriptions are $20 per year.

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balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Member Commentary

Seeing through the ‘War on Coal’ smokescreen

by Carl Shoupe

As a retired coal miner, the son of a coal miner, and the father of a coal miner, I’m curious about Congress’ recent attacks on the EPA and claims of a “war on coal.”

These claims are nothing but a distraction from the real needs of coalfield communities.

I live in Harlan County, Kentucky, in the very heart of the Appalachian coalfields, and with the exception of a couple years in Vietnam as a United States Marine, I have lived here all my life.

I’m working every day - along with thousands of other Kentuckians - to build a better future here in eastern Kentucky and across Appalachia so that my grandchildren and their children can make a life here.

We believe we can have a bright future here with more and better jobs, safe and affordable energy, healthy communities, and opportunities for our kids.

Of course, we know it won't be easy. It will take hard work, creativity, and investment in new ideas and real solutions. More than anything, it will require honest leadership with vision and courage.

That's why this Congress’ misguided attacks are such a disappointment. The war on coal is nothing more than a smokescreen designed to keep us from seeing the true challenges and real opportunities in communities like mine.

You see, the coal industry has been leaving Appalachia and eastern Kentucky for decades. In 1980 there were more than 34,000 coal miners working in eastern Kentucky. By 1990, that number was down to 25,000 despite a production peak. Fewer than 8,000 jobs remain today — the lowest since 1927 — and continue to fall.

For years, industry analysts, coal company executives, and energy agencies warned that our best and easiest coal has been mined, that transportation costs

have been rising, that cleaner and cheaper alternatives to coal were on the rise.

It has been clear that we needed to be building a new economy here in the coalfields for generations, yet our political leaders have done little or nothing to help us prepare for the inevitable transition.

If Congress really wants to help the coal miner, there are several ways to start. First, Congress should pass the mine safety reforms we’ve been waiting for since the Upper Big Branch explosion killed 29 fellow miners in 2010. Congress should help ensure coal miners don’t get black lung - a vicious and entirely preventable workplace disease that is increasing instead of disappearing. Congress should also make sure that a miner’s hard earned pension is secure, not stolen by some corporate shell game.

Congress should remember that every coal miner is more than just his job. He - or she - is also a son or daughter, a parent, a spouse. When he's not underground 60 or 70 hours a week, he is a member of his church, his local PTA or volunteer fire department; he might be a Little League coach.

If Congress really cares about coal miners and coal families, then it should work to give them a future.

For instance, Congress could generate thousands of new jobs in the coalfields by creating a revolving fund for energy efficiency upgrades to homes and businesses, and pass the Shaheen-Portman bill to create thousands of energy efficiency jobs.

We like to say that if you give a coal miner a coat hanger and some electrical tape, he can fix anything.

Congress could release the millions of dollars sitting in the Abandoned Mine Lands Fund and employ thousands of laid-off coal miners to restore our land, forests, and water. Congress could locate one of those fancy new manufacturing innovation centers the president talks about right here in the mountains.

Instead of raging about a made-up war on coal and how to protect coal corporations, Congress should take a closer look at how to really support coal communities.

Over the past century, Harlan County has shipped over one billion tons of coal to steel mills and power plants across this country. In a district represented by some of the most powerful politicians in Washington D.C., one-third of our children live in poverty and we rank 435th in combined quality of life indicators.

It's time to try something new. We can have a bright future here in the coalfields of Kentucky and Appalachia. Our people are hungry for honest and courageous leaders who will help us build it.

Reprinted from The Hill, October 30, 2013.

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, Alicia Hurle, Carissa Lenfert, and Colette Henderson 735 Lampton St. # 202 Louisville, Ky 40203 502-589-3188 Whitesburg Tanya Turner P.O. Box 463 Whitesburg, Ky 41858 606-632-0051

Save the date! 9th Annual I Love Mountains Day rally and lobby day has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 12, 2014. Details about the day are still being decided by our leaders.

Visit www.kftc.org/love for more details.

Central Kentucky Tim Buckingham, Jessica Hays Lucas, Beth Howard, Erik Hungerbuhler, and Heather Roe Mahoney, 250 Plaza Drive Suite 4 Lexington, Ky 40503 859-276-0563

Northern Kentucky Joe Gallenstein 859-380-6103 Floyd County Jessie Skaggs 154 North Lake Drive Prestonsburg, Ky 41653 606-226-4159 Bowling Green Denney Breeding 270-779-6483 Berea Lisa Abbott, Beth Biss­ meyer, Amy Hogg, Sara Pennington and Kevin Pentz 140 Mini Mall Drive Berea, Ky 40403 859-756-4027 Teri Blanton 118 Baugh Street Berea, Ky 40403 859-986-1648

e-mail any staff member at firstname@kftc.org except for Jessica Hays Lucas -- use jessicabreen@kftc.org, Beth Howard -- use BethHoward@kftc.org, and Beth Bissmeyer -- use BethBissmeyer@kftc.org

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Voting Rights Update

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Legislative task force hears testimony on voting rights bills

In October, some Kentucky senators had their first chance to hear testimony on the issue of restoring voting rights to former felons.

The Interim Task Force on Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs, with members from both the House and Senate, heard testimony on bills that would allow Kentucky voters to amend the state constitution to automatically restore voting rights to former felons once they’ve served their debt to society.

House Bill 70 has easily passed in the House each of the last several years before dying in the Senate without a vote or even a hearing. This year, Senator Gerald Neal has pre-filed a similar bill in the Senate. If either bill passes in the 2014 General Assembly, the issue will be put on the statewide ballot for Kentucky voters to decide.

“I can contribute to this community, and voting is very important to me,” Tayna Fogle, a KFTC member and former felon, told the task force. “Allow the Kentucky voters to decide whether we should have the right to vote.”

Rev. Dean Bucalos of Louisville works with former felons who are reentering society, looking for jobs and trying to rebuild their lives.

“In fairness and equity, we need to remove any obstacles that are unnecessary and unfair. … Restoring the right to vote benefits all of us,” Bucalos said.

Myrna Perez, an attorney from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, also testified in favor of the bills. The Brennan Center studies the issue of voter disenfranchisement across the country.

Perez explained that only Kentucky, Florida and Iowa permanently deny felons the right to vote. In Kentucky, a felon seeking to regain the right to vote must receive an individual pardon from the governor through a complicated application process. A plurality of states restore voting rights after discharge from prison, parole and probation. Some states allow voting upon release from prison, and a few states have no voting restrictions for felons, even those still in prison.

In Kentucky, some 243,000 people are unable to vote because of a felony conviction. The law affects one in five African-Americans.

Allowing former felons to vote has several benefits, according to Perez: • It reduces recidivism, or future crimes. Many law enforcement organizations, including the American

Probation and Parole Association, Association of Paroling Authorities International, National Black Police Association and American Law Institutes, support restoration of voting rights.

• Children who watch their parents vote are more likely to one day vote themselves and to see that their parents, even if they’ve committed a crime, can still contribute to their

communities and their democracy.

• It strengthens our democracy by allowing the people who are living and working in our communities to participate in elections.

No vote was taken. Legislators heard testimony, asked questions and made comments on the issue. The second hour was devoted to the issue of requiring voters to present a governmentissued photo ID before voting.

We didn’t go to the polls this year, but KFTC members are building a healthier Democracy and New Power every day.

To keep Democracy alive in November, hundreds of KFTC members gathered in kitchens, living rooms, churches, and community centers to celebrate, envision, and build toward the Kentucky we all deserve.

“Singing for Democracy” events have become a tradition of the campaign to restore voting rights to former felons in Kentucky. So on the day that would have been election day, communities in Lexington and Lynch gathered to sing out in praise and celebration for voting rights and democracy!

In the coal camp town of Lynch in Harlan County, over 30 people gathered at the Eastern Kentucky Social Club for food, fellowship, and three musical performances by their neighbors and friends. Between music, KFTC members shared stories of local work to build up their home communities through energy

efficiency and generation, as well as plans for the road ahead to restore voting rights to nearly 250,000 former felons in 2014.

City Council members, mayors, clerks and neighbors spent the evening together, celebrating and building toward a healthier Democracy at home and across Kentucky.

The evening’s performers included Stanley Sturgill, Erica Eldridge, and the Mt. Sinai Spirituals, all of Lynch. Rutland Melton, of Lynch, presented Benham and Lynch City Councils with certificates of appreciation for their work with the Harlan County chapter to get energy upgrades on homes and city buildings in both towns.

Carl Shoupe, of Benham, shared his family’s story of decades of felon disenfranchisement, long after debts were paid and his son was back to work, paying taxes. He added, “I look out here and see many of my fellow UMWA miners. We learned to organize through the UMWA, but they’ve been gone from here

for a long time. We have to organize to be represented. I organize with KFTC because that’s how little towns like ours get a big voice in Frankfort.”

In Lexington, approximately 150 people gathered at Total Grace Baptist Church for a night of gospel music, praise dancing, and testimony. “I’d like to welcome you all to this event we call ‘Singing for Democracy.’ This is how we roll!” said Tayna Fogle, longtime voting rights activist and KFTC member. Fogle organized the event with the help of Central Kentucky chapter member Sarah Thomas.

Fogle opened the event by talking about the importance of a democracy that includes all voices and the importance of restoring voting rights to former felons. She stressed that voting is the most important right a person has and that we all need to recognize it. “The vote packs a whole lot of power,” Fogle said.

The program featured music from Total Grace Baptist Church choir, Mi-

chael Thomas, and Lydia Pendleton and praise dancing from Bapes (Charles Young Dancers) and Unspoken. Pastor Michael Robinson engaged the crowd about the importance of being treated as a whole person and how denying a person the right to vote can chip away at feelings of self-worth.

The Lexington Nighthawks motorcycle club was recognized for their work in the campaign to restore voting rights.

The evening also was a celebration of the life of Michael Thomas, a community member who passed away, but left a great legacy behind and took part in the campaign to restore voting rights.

“Our democracy is broken, as many have said tonight. Too many people are shut out of voting in Kentucky due to past felony convictions. That makes it even more important for those of us who are eligible to vote to exercise that right, while we also work to change Kentucky’s constitution and restore voting rights,” Fogle said.

KFTC member Tayna Fogle shared her story with the legislative task force.

From Lynch to Lexington, democracy was singing

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balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Local Updates

Jefferson County chapter discusses local issues

by Ryan Fenwick

The Jefferson County Chapter recently chose to identify local issues as a way to both improve the county and also reach out to a broader section of the urban population that is not yet connected to KFTC’s statewide work.

The process for local issue selection is not obvious. Assembled KFTC members have no shortage of issues, quickly identifying years’ worth of issues worthy of grassroots attention. There is no shortage of cooperative attitude, but there are many potential approaches to this important decision process.

Chapter members agreed the first step to selecting the chapter issue was to brainstorm issues to be discussed at the April chapter meeting. KFTC principles for issue selection were presented by Jefferson County organizer Alicia Hurle, and discussion led to additional criteria being added.

The group determined a local issue should be one that is winnable with opportunities for action in the short term, even if completely winning would ultimately take focus over a longer time horizon. The group also agreed the ideal local issue would be important to people in areas not currently connected to statewide work.

We want an issue that will energize the chapter and get members involved in our work. Outreach to chapter members encouraged them to contribute issues they would like to see considered and invited them to participate in discussion of issues and the process for selecting issues at the next chapter meeting.

The May meeting attracted a larger group than the typical monthly meeting.

After the standard icebreaker and some discussion of events in the area, pages of white pad were filled with ideas for local action. About a dozen issues were identified.

Members agreed to take three stickers and vote for their favorite three issues. As stickers accumulated it became clear some issues were higher on the collective priority list, but it was decided a decision should not be made based on this vote alone.

The group agreed involving as many chapter members as possible in the final decision was important, and Hurle’s suggestion to use a SurveyMonkey.com poll to cheaply reach out

to more members of the chapter was agreed to be the best approach.

The poll asked Jefferson County members to rank the issues they wanted to work on from 1 to 7, choosing from coal ash pollution, affordable housing, chemical plant pollution in Rubbertown, money in politics, immigrants’ rights, local resolution in support of the restoration of voting rights of former felons, and brownfield contamination.

To broaden the pool of issues, respondents were able to add issues not listed in the ranking. Other questions asked members what issues would actually mobilize people to participate in strategy teams, and interest in workshop topics.

The poll attracted responses from 90 members. Issues were chosen by averaging the voters’ preference for each issue, with the seven issues receiving an average ranking of between 3.08 and 4.96.

The group agreed to modify the original decision to pick two issues based on the top three results since the leading result, coal ash (3.08 average rating) is a longstanding priority of the chapter, is one that is currently stalled, and is related to the third highest ranking option, chemical plant pollution in Rubbertown (3.51 average rating).

Thus, we decided to combine our efforts around coal ash pollution in southwestern Jefferson County with a project in Rubbertown, forming an Air Quality Work Team. This team started meeting in August.

The three issues identified as top priorities were also the issues with the largest numbers of people ranking the issue one, two, or three. A majority of respondents said they would join a local team focused on economic justice or environmental justice, which was consistent with a majority of respondents ranking coal ash, Rubbertown pollution, and affordable housing in the top three.

Respondents also identified healthcare, education, living wage, public transportation, police brutality, gentrification, vacant properties, incarceration rates, budget cuts to child care, conserving undeveloped land, LGBTQ fairness, fracking waste transport on the Ohio River, and tree cover in Louisville.

These results were presented to members by email after the poll was completed, and a detailed explanation was given at the June chapter meeting where members were given the out-

comes in packets with colorful graphs and all off-the-list alternatives survey takers provided in blanks included on the survey. Work teams for developing strategies have begun work on these issues, with each preparing for their third meetings.

A system used to coordinate a large group of grassroots participants needs to allow deliberation and full participation.

It also needs to be a process that is not overly time consuming to avoid marathon chapter meetings that crush the spirits of busy participants. Outreach was an important consideration, allowing important concerns of people interested in participating to be considered even if they are not at a place in their lives when coming to meetings is

possible.

The procedure used by the Jefferson County chapter likely did not solve the classic voting paradox and create the ideal procedure, but opportunities to discuss results and procedures were available before every decision.

Results of the selection process are proving legitimate as members work quickly to turn their preferences into local action. Jefferson County members are invited to join our local efforts and can visit our chapter webpage on KFTC. org for information about upcoming work team and chapter meetings. You can also contact Jefferson County organizer Alicia Hurle for further details at (502) 589-3188 or alicia@kftc.org.

Jefferson County Chapter December Events December 9 Jefferson County Holiday Party, 6:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, 809 S. 4th Street, Louisville. Join us for our annual holiday party and potluck.

December 10 Citizen Lobbying Training, 6 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, 809 S. 4th Street, Louisville. Build your skills and knowledge to be an effective citizen lobbyist.

December 21 Freedom Mic Series, featuring Kentucky Poet Laureate Frank X. Walker, presented by New Legacy Reentry Corporation and Jefferson County KFTC Chapter.

5 - 6:30 p.m.: Voices of the Community Poetry Workshop with Kentucky’s Poet Laureate, Frank X. Walker. Participants will develop poetic pieces inspired by issues related to social justice, democracy, and social capital.

7 - 10 p.m.: Poetry Open Mic featuring Frank X Walker.

Hosted by Buttafly.

Location: New Legacy Reentry Corporation, 1115 Garvin Place, Louisville Admission: $10 includes poetry workshop and Open Mic. Seating is limited. $5 for Open Mic Only Register for the workshop at FreefomMicSeries.Eventbrite.com.

All proceeds benefit New Legacy Corporation, a faith-based community organization that is committed to breaking the cycle of chronic recidivism for ex-offenders (men and women) who were previously incarcerated for non violent, nonsexual crimes.

Questions? Contact Alicia at (502) 589-3188, alicia@kftc.org

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Local Updates

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Central Kentucky chapter hosts Hootenanny, Brewfest in October

October was full of bluegrass and beer in central Kentucky. With an annual goal of raising more than $1,500 and hundreds of new KFTC members, the chapter executed two large fundraisers only seven days apart.

On October 12, KFTC members and John Prine fans across central Kentucky gathered for “Paradise Waitin’: A John Prine Hootenanny benefitting Kentuckians For The Commonwealth” and had one big singalong in honor of Mr. Prine’s birthday.

The Kentucky Kicks Ass Brewfest was held the following Saturday in downtown Lexington and gave more than 700 people the opportunity to taste craft beer from 12 Kentucky breweries.

Combined, both events raised more than $17,000, recruited 245 new members, and offered great fun to folks who attended.

John Prine Hootenanny At most KFTC events, it’s not unusual that someone will pull out a guitar and sing “Paradise” by John Prine before the night is over.

The Hootenanny featured a variety of local musicians, all singing John Prine songs from 6 p.m. until the cows came home, and raised more than $1,700 and recruited 60 new KFTC members! More than 250 people came out to the event throughout the night.

The event was organized by longtime KFTC member and local musician Ray Smith.

“I’ve loved John Prine’s music since I was a kid. To me, John Prine and Kentucky go hand-in-hand as well,” Smith said. “So doing this hootenanny in tribute to Prine’s music will be the perfect way to spotlight the work that KFTC does. “ Award winning Kentucky poet Maurice Manning served as the emcee for the event.

“I count myself as a lifelong Kentuckian, born and raised here, and descended from the first settlers. Kentucky is in my blood and in my spirit. It is the home I love. And yet I feel the very place we call home is under serious threat from outside forces who clearly don’t blink at the prospect of destroying Kentucky land, Kentucky resources, Kentucky communities, and Kentucky’s varied culture.

“It is truly a David and Goliath situation and together we are poor little Da-

vid. Beyond the mountaintop removal operators, the pipeline companies, and the powerful agri-business lobby, unfortunately we have local and state elected officials who are ambivalent to our real plight or, worse, in the pockets of our destroyers. That leaves us standing alone in many cases.

“KFTC provides a chance for us to come together, to join forces and work for a better Kentucky. We have to believe in that future and do the hard work that will get us there. Any serious step forward in our nation has come not from industry, not from the government, not even from a political party, but from the people, from the grassroots, from us.

The right for women to vote, the Civil Rights Movement, fair labor practices, conservation and protection of the environment – these milestones in our national history have come from the people.

“This is our country; Kentucky is our commonwealth. That is why I am a member of KFTC and why I will always support the efforts of this brave organization.”

The hootenanny featured music by: Coralee Townie, Matt Duncan, The Kentucky Hoss Cats, Warren Byrom & Fabled Canelands, Egon Danielson, Maurice Manning, Mitch Barrett, Carla Gover, Arthur Hancock, Bluegrass Collective, The Local Honeys, DeBraun Thomas, Josh Nolan, Joplin Rice, Grace Rogers, Hot Chocolate and the Marshmellows, and more.

“This is the kind of stuff that makes me proud to be from Kentucky...being able to hang out with great people who really care about one another and the community, topped off with buckets of fabulous music. It was a simply wonderful night to be a part of!” KFTC member Katie Goldey said.

Brewfest The Kentucky Kicks Ass Brewfest was the largest event the Central Kentucky Chapter has hosted. Reaching out to other KFTC members to partner with, KFTC and Kentucky For Kentucky joined forces to plan the event.

Kentucky For Kentucky is the unofficial marketing agency for the state and is actively working to rebrand Kentucky as a Kick Ass State.

The goal of the event was to bring attention to the unique and growing brewing industry and to invoke civic

KFTC members Christian Torp and Olivia Spradlin volunteered at the merch table during the John Prine Hootenanny at Willie’s Locally Known on October 12. and state pride through KFTC’s work.

Twelve Kentucky breweries were represented, totaling more than 36 individual types of beer. Ranging from IPA to Pumpkin to Bourbon Barrel Stout, participants were able to treat their palate to Kentucky’s finest craft brews.

Breweries present were Against the Grain, Apocalypse, BBC, Beer Engine, Blue Stallion, Country Boys, Cumberland, Fall City, Kentucky Ale, Lore, Sterling, and West Sixth.

KFTC used the brewfest as an opportunity to engage citizens in the democratic process, to tell them about the work KFTC does to register, educate, inform and mobilize voters regardless of political party.

“For BBC to be a part of this fest means so much to us because of what Kentuckians For The Commonwealth stands for,” said Phillip Dearner of Bluegrass Brewing Company. “Anything we can do to help their cause and further

the great things they do for the commonwealth is an awesome privilege.”

Additionally, a fleet of local food trucks including Fork in the Road, Grind Burger Truck, and Hardwood Pizza worked tirelessly to feed the 700-personplus crowd.

All the while, local music bellowed from The Jarflies, Warren Byrom & the Fabled Canelands, and Bear Medicine.

Many of the food trucks and musicians are long-time KFTC members.

Of course, the first Kentucky Kicks Ass Brewfest would not have been a success if not for the volunteers and the new and old partnerships with Kentucky breweries.

The chapter is already gearing up for 2014 with the Whiskers, Whiskey, & Women III Bearding Competition to be held on Saturday, February 1 at Buster’s BB in Lexington and the 7th Annual I Love Mountains Old Time Showcase at Al’s Bar on Friday, February 7.

Whiskers, Whiskey, & Women III Lexington’s finest, friskiest, totally egalitarian facial hair competition

February 1 • Buster’s BB • 7 pm • $10 Featuring: March Madness Marching Band, Prime Rose Productions Burlesque, and The Payback

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balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Local Updates

Affordable housing tops concerns for Lexington residents On September 30, residents of the First City Council District in Lexington met with First District Councilman Chris Ford in a town hall meeting at Embrace Church.

The First District is in north Lexington and is historically low-income and largely a community of color.

It was a broad and far-ranging discussion with a number of concerns raised. “I don’t ever forget that I represent you,” Ford told residents.

The discussion covered multiple issues, including affordable housing and revitalization of the community. While the revitalization has been good in a number of ways, with housing being repaired and new businesses coming in, residents said it has also forced some low-income residents out.

A woman from North Limestone Street explained that she and her neighbors came home recently to notices on their apartment doors saying they must move when their lease is up. She said the apartments are being renovated and the landlord is increasing the rent.

“We were not even given the option of staying and paying the rent increase,” she said. “We would have to apply like a new tenant.”

Travis Robinson, president of the Martin Luther King Neighborhood Association, said it is troubling that something like this is happening in the neighborhood. “I am glad those women came from those apartments and spoke up. The bottom line is really about how

the neighborhood can help with this situation.”

The issue of affordable housing and Lexington’s growing homeless population loomed large at the meeting. A city council committee has been meeting for a few years about an affordable housing trust fund, but is stalled on what the funding source might be. Residents expressed concern for the homeless and concern about drug and other undesirable activities that take place in those areas.

“It is not the homeless who are buying drugs,” said KFTC member Tayna Fogle. “They have no money to buy drugs. The drug activity does not come from the Catholic Action Center, and it doesn’t come from the homeless. They are there for services. Drug activity is something that goes on everywhere.”

After the event, First District resident Tina Terry praised Fogle for speaking out. “I admire what she said! Everything that she said was true!”

Terry said she herself was in temporary housing and waiting for lowincome housing. “There is a lot of discrimination in Lexington.”

Another participant said after the event that “Lexington needs a homeless coalition like they have in Cincinnati.

There they take over abandoned buildings and make homes for the homeless.”

He said he thinks it is unfair how the police target the homeless. “The police go after people walking with backpacks on” because they think they

There’s nothing like free sweets and warm drinks on a chilly day to d r a w t h e c ro w d t o y o u r t a b l e .

KFTC’s Shelby County chapter and Fairness Shelbyville offered cookies, brownies, cupcakes and hot cider at Light Up Shelbyville on November 9.

Serving refreshments gave the chapter a chance to invite people to its monthly meeting; offer brochures and flyers about Kynect (Kentucky’s website for the Affordable Care Act), reforming Shelby Energy, fighting the proposed Bluegrass Hazardous Liquids Pipeline and passing a Fairness Ordinance; and promote

its November 21 Chili Supper fundraiser.

The chapter introduced new people to KFTC, distributed dozens of Kynect tote bags with flyers on signing up for insurance, and gave membership and meeting information to a number of people who expressed interest in joining KFTC. It was the chapter’s most successful tabling event to date. Members Ann Ellerkamp, Jane Thomas, Leslie McBride and Lisa Aug provided refreshments, and Patrick King, Cynthia Dare and Chris Hartman provided materials and support.

Shelby chapter makes new friends at holiday event

CKY member Teddi Smith Robillard met with Council Member Chris Ford in early 2013 after the council passed a resolution to support restoration of voting rights. are homeless.

In a followup letter to Ford, KFTC member Janet Tucker wrote: “I am bothered by many of the concerns raised about housing issues and the homeless. I know this is an issue you are concerned about as well. In the immediate, I am bothered by the residents that are being forced to move from 468 N. Limestone St. In a city where there is already a lack of affordable housing and an increasing problem with homelessness, to force more low-income residents out of their homes is very troublesome to me. Even the cost of moving alone is unaffordable to many, even if housing was available.”

Raymond Sexton, executive director of the Lexington Human Rights Commission, reported on a recent study called State of Fair and Affordable Housing Report for Lexington-Fayette County. “We must do something about these problems, but they run deep,” Sexton said.

“We need to address the root problem but also need to address the symptoms.”

Teddi Smith Robillard spoke on restoration of voting rights for former felons. “One is oppressed and enslaved to the system when they can’t vote,” she said. She described KFTC’s work to pass a voting rights bill in the 2014 General Assembly.

The town hall meeting arose out of work done by the Central Kentucky KFTC Chapter. The chapter’s Economic Justice Team had been doing economic justice surveys in the community, talking with both community members

through door-to-door work and community leaders.

Chapter member Greg Capillo said, “A lot of folks have an agenda for the First District, but often they did not seem to be listening to the people that lived there.”

The town hall meeting was a way to bridge the communication gap. The chapter asked residents what they liked and didn’t like about their community and what they would like to see. Many said they felt disconnected from city government. Chapter and community members met with Chris Ford on a few occasions, and he was receptive to working together and hosting a town hall meeting.

“I have been fortunate enough to work with KFTC over the years and I am grateful to them for this opportunity to talk neighbor-to-neighbor and personto-person,” Ford said.

KFTC member Mantell Stevens said the meeting showed “the importance of being and working in the community – this is the best way to help someone else.”

The Central Kentucky chapter will continue this important work. E-mail KFTC Organizer Beth Howard at bethhoward@kftc.org if you have an interest in getting involved or come to Central Kentucky chapter meetings, every third Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Episcopal Mission House on the corner of 4th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (across from the Arts and Science Center).

Page 8

Local Updates

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Eastern Kentucky women lead reproductive health project

by Mimi Pickering

In the summer of 2009, a group of young women in Letcher County sat down with Gabriela Alcalde, then director of the Kentucky Health Justice Network, to talk about reproductive health experiences they had growing up and living in east Kentucky. Conversation ranged from the limited sex education offered in schools to lack of information and access to reproductive health options to concerns about confidentiality and privacy when visiting local health care providers.

From that discussion came the East Kentucky Reproductive Health Project, originally a collaboration between Appalshop’s Community Media Initiative and Appalachian Media Institute (AMI) and the Kentucky Health Justice Network. EKRHP uses peer-produced media and community outreach to give voice and visibility to the reproductive health experiences, concerns and needs of women, especially young women, in Appalachia Kentucky.

Short videos on a wide range of reproductive health topics created by AMI correspondents (young woman trained through EKRHP) are posted on www. ekrhp.org along with discussion guides, detailed information on our bodies, and an extensive listing of resources regionally and nationally. EKRHP also has an active Facebook page.

Many of the young women who participated in EKRHP are also members of the Letcher County KFTC Chapter. So it was no surprise that after creating all this media, the chapter suggested strengthening language in KFTC’s statewide platform to express, “We demand quality, affordable and preventative health care, including reproductive health, for all Kentuckians, and support a single payer health care system.” The Central Kentucky KFTC chapter suggested similar changes, and this addition was approved at KFTC’s 2012 Annual Membership Meeting.

In the past year, women in the Letcher County chapter have hosted potlucks around reproductive health issues, revised and updated the EKRHP brochure, and created DVDs featuring the short videos they created. They also hosted two one-hour “Mountain Talk” radio shows on WMMT-FM in October in observation of breast cancer awareness

month. Reproductive health was even the topic of a Letcher County democracy party earlier this month.

The chapter has learned that Kentucky has some of the most restrictive laws on sex education and reproductive rights in the nation. While known as the birthplace of midwifery, Kentucky does not currently license midwives to give in-home care. Kentucky also has high rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

An important goal of this project is to build consciousness and expand the constituency of support for better informed state policies and improved reproductive health services for women in eastern Kentucky and across the state. Chapter members hope to lobby in the spring with the Kentucky Home Birth Coalition for a bill to license direct-entry midwives using the Certified Professional Midwives (CPM) credential in Kentucky.

The project sponsored a Reproduc-

Members of the Rowan County KFTC chapter helped organize the record turnout for the first reading of a proposed fairness ordinance at the Morehead City Council meeting on November 11.

Morehead State University’s president, Dr. Wayne Andrews, who had been in contact with the Rowan chapter regarding the proposed ordinance, spoke for its need and thanked the council for its work in this matter.

Individual councilpersons voiced their commitment to fairness and thanked members of the community for coordinating such an impressive show of support, before unanimously voting to approve the first reading.

The ordinance will have its second reading at the council’s December meeting. If the second reading passes and the ordinance becomes law, Morehead will become the sixth city in Kentucky to have a fairness ordinance on the books.

KFTC members Sue Tallichet and John Hennen (center and right) discussed the fairness ordinance.

tive Health Fair in Hazard in 2012, where KFTC registered many new voters and hundreds of students from area high schools made reproductive health plans and shared their experiences and concerns. There is interest in organizing a follow up event in the coming year, as well as using EKRHP media productions for presentations and open discussions in classrooms, shelters, churches, health clinics, community centers, and anywhere people are interested.

Rowan members turn out crowd for Fairness

East Kentucky Chapters Holiday Party Tuesday, December 10th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

May Stone Building at Hindman Settlement School Celebrate the holidays with the eastern Kentucky chapters of KFTC! We’ll have food, music, fellowship, a handmade gift raffle, review our work from this year, and plan for next year!

Call Jessie (606-226-4159) or Tanya (606-632-0051) for more details!

Page 9

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Local Updates

Arty Pie Party attendees elects best pies, raises $1,500 for KFTC

Scott County KFTC members Tim and Rosanne Klarer hosted their third annual Arty Pie Party on November 16, with live music from Stirfry Musette, a pie tasting election, donated works from local artists, and the No Greater Task poster show. As always, it was a huge success and fundraiser for the chapter.

Members came from Frankfort, Lexington, Corinth and beyond to attend the Arty Pie Party and hear about the work KFTC members are doing across the state.

Participants bought tickets to vote in the pie tasting election, which featured two categories: sweet and savory pies.

Despite the mess some pies can make, and the clear vote buying by partisans, it may have been one of the cleanest elections Kentuckians have seen. Members Mary Lou and Homer White won the savory pie election in a landslide, and a new member won the sweet pie category with a vegan pumpkin pie in a much tighter race.

While the art and pies may have been the featured attraction, the real highlight of the event was the discussion of the issues.

Scott County member Amy Cloud

spoke about the potential dangers and pitfalls of the proposed Bluegrass Hazardous Liquids Pipeline, which is slated to come through Scott County, as well as the neighboring counties of Franklin, Grant, and Woodford, carrying natural gas liquids to the Gulf Coast. She told of land agents seeking to purchase an easement from her sister, who lives in the northern part of the county and told the land agents not to come back.

The event also included KFTC member Teddi Smith Robillard, who shared her story of struggle, alcoholism, the difficult road of recovery, and how hard it was to return home to a place where she was denied the right to vote. She spoke of the need for people to take action to support voting rights for former felons, and to join members in Frankfort on January 15 for a rally and lobby day.

Party goers stayed late into the night, enjoying a big bonfire following the close of the silent auction and poster sale.

The event has so far raised more than $1,500, including online donations. You can show your support for this unique

by Cory Lowery

selling heroin.”

Then the conversation turned to KFTC initiatives, beginning with the proposed Voting Rights Amendment (House Bill 70).

Chapter member Meta MendelReyes explained KFTC’s support for the bill, describing the difficulty convicted felons experience when attempting to regain the right to vote after serving their sentence. More than 243,000 Kentuckians are disenfranchised, including 180,000 who have fully completed their sentences, including parole.

“That’s a lot of Kentuckians de-

Scott County members enjoy pie and activism at the home of Tim and Rosanne Klarer. The Klarers have hosted the Arty Pie Party for several years. fundraiser, as well as for Scott County members and others throughout the state

working to build a stronger democracy, by visiting www.kftc.org/artypieparty.

prived of the right to vote,” MendelReyes said.

She asked Carpenter whether he would support the bill to the Senate leadership and whether he would support it without the addition of any changes or restrictions. After some further discussion, the senator agreed, saying, “I won’t have a problem with supporting the bill.”

KFTC members discussed several other legislative priorities with Carpenter and explicitly asked for his support on each piece of legislation, including the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, fair tax reform, and the Stream Saver Bill.

Carpenter was more hesitant to support these proposals than HB 70, but he did make a number of commitments.

He committed to holding a hearing on the Clean Energy Opportunity Act – if not during this session, then during the interim – but he expressed doubts that the Stream Saver Bill would receive a hearing in committee.

The meeting concluded with a broad ranging discussion about the future of eastern Kentucky. Chapter member Steve Wilkins asked what eastern Kentucky would do for jobs after the coal

industry could no longer provide them.

Carpenter acknowledged the problem, but said that a transition from coal at this point would be unrealistic, describing coal as the main “economic crutch” for eastern Kentucky.

Members pushed back against some of his comments and talked about the importance of diversification and not simply moving from one mono-economy to another.

Bethany Pratt talked specifically about agriculture and how Kentucky could use coal severance funds in a similar way that tobacco settlement money was used, to support people to stay on the land and farm, bringing agricultural goods that can only come from eastern Kentucky.

Although the discussion with Senator Carpenter involved as much disagreement as agreement, KFTC members were able to find common ground with him on a handful of issues, particularly the importance of passing HB 70. In addition to Mendel-Reyes and Wilkins, members Betty Hibler and Daniel Morgan helped keep the senator on topic and on his toes by directly asking for his support for their respective issues.

Madison County members share legislative goals with Senator Carpenter

The Madison County chapter invited state Senator Jared Carpenter to Berea on October 28 to discuss the upcoming legislative session, including the possibility of Carpenter’s support for KFTC legislative priorities.

The meeting began with a brief talk

by Carpenter about his own legislative priorities, which included encouraging the growth of industry and infrastructure in Madison County and stopping the heroin trade in Kentucky, which he believed could be done with “tougher punishments for the folks producing and

2014 Legislative Session Begins Tuesday, January 7.

KFTC members will lobby every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Page 10

Local Updates

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Wilderness Trace chapter hosts sustainable energy workshops

Since forming a chapter last year, Wilderness Trace members have shown great interest in KFTC’s work on clean energy, with a number serving on the New Energy and Transition Committee and others participating in clean energy lobby days in Frankfort. This summer and fall, members participated in a workshop series on sustainable energy.

In July, more than a dozen members came out from Wilderness Trace and neighboring counties to get an overview of what’s possible with clean energy in Kentucky and what other states are doing to support clean energy. At the workshop’s end, they discussed topics to explore further in upcoming workshops and settled on Local Strategies to Promote Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency for October and Changing Policies for Clean Energy for November.

At the October workshop, members focused on what could be done locally to promote clean energy. The workshop provided information on the different types of utilities in Kentucky and the role of the Public Service Commission, so that people would have a good understanding of where their own utility fits into the energy landscape.

Members then discussed actions they could take locally, including mak-

ing efficiency upgrades, signing up for demand conservation and green energy programs through their utilities, and pushing local government to adopt improved efficiency policies.

“One of the most important takeaways that I have gotten is that sustainable energy power generation is our future,” Danville resident and member Jim Porter said. “Costs are coming down rapidly, and sustainable energy power generation is close to being cost competitive with power generated from traditional sources. All that is lacking is the political will to transition from today’s policy and regulatory environment to one that is more friendly to sustainable clean energy power generation.”

The last workshop on November 16 addressed how to push for that needed political will by focusing not only on the nuts and bolts of the Clean Energy Opportunity Act but also on sharing personal stories as a way to talk about clean energy. Members learned about KFTC’s New Power Frame and broke into groups to practice telling their own stories.

Jane Brantley talked about growing up a coal miner’s daughter and witnessing environmental and economic devastation in Boone County, West Virginia. “I don’t want that for my adopted state.”

Northern Kentucky members held their second annual Northern Kentucky Loves Democracy events this fall.

While last year’s events were aimed at registering and informing voters leading up to the election, this year the chapter focused on helping people meet with their elected officials and learn more about the more than 243,000 Kentuckians who do not have the right to vote.

The work kicked off with an UnDeadline Party, set at what would have been the voter registration deadline if Kentucky had regular elections this year. Members used the event to kick off the chapter’s goal of registering 600 voters in northern Kentucky before the next election, and recruited several new members to join this work.

Strong ally work with the northern

Kentucky chapter of People Advocating Recovery, the Center for Great Neighborhoods of Covington, and Northern Kentucky Pride enabled KFTC members to host “Meet Your Elected Official” events in each of the three counties in the chapter area. These events featured 12 elected officials, including three state representatives, a state senator, two members of local school boards, two county commissioners, and four city commissioners, with more than 30 citizens attending.

On November 5, the chapter held an UnElection Party at Chez Nora in Covington that included performances

by Kyle Knapp, the Red Cedars, and Kristi Kruer. The chapter recruited four new members, raised more than $100, and had 20 voting rights cards returned to deliver to the General As-

Cara Cooper, Barbara Warner, and JP Brantley practiced using the New Power messaging framework to share their stories.

Others talked about growing up on farms and their connection to land as a reason to support reform, while others mentioned the impacts of asthma they’ve witnessed on young children in their neighborhoods.

Workshop attendees then learned about the ins and outs of KFTC’s clean energy legislation, the Clean Energy

Opportunity Act, and practiced talking about the bill in mock lobby meetings, using the New Power frame.

At the day’s end, members felt better informed about clean energy policy and were energized to start planning next steps, like meeting with their state representatives and senator, to keep the momentum going forward.

sembly.

The chapter wrapped up the work

by writing letters asking elected leaders to support voting rights.

Northern Kentucky loves democracy with “un-deadline party”

Member JoAnn Schwartz talked with State Representative Joe Fischer.

Page 11

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Grassroots Fundraising Update

House party blitz helps build power for 2014 election year

With the exception of a few special elections being held in December, 2013 has been a quiet year for elections in Kentucky – although the airwaves and newspapers have been all abuzz about the 2014 Senate race.

KFTC members took this opportunity to generate some buzz about creating a healthy democracy in Kentucky by hosting a Statewide House Party Blitz.

With more than 45 parties and events across the state, many on November 5 (which in others years would have been election day), members worked to highlight the good work KFTC is doing to register, educate and mobilize voters.

These parties ranged from large “Singing For Democracy” community events to smaller, more intimate house parties, a tool KFTC members have been using for more than 30 years.

From Bowling Green to Whitesburg and all the way up into northern Kentucky, members were talking, sharing, eating, recruiting and fundraising with a strong emphasis on fun.

Below are a few highlights from across the state.

Carl Shoupe talked about why he is more and more involved and invested in KFTC. He related his community organizing to UMWA organizing “that used to give small communities a big voice in Frankfort.” He also shared testimony about HB 70 and his family’s struggle after felonies. He got lots of “amens” from attendees.

Lynch Mayor John Adams shared gratitude for the energy efficiency upgrades to Lynch city buildings that hadn’t been upgraded in 80 years. The upgrades were supported by KFTC and MACED. KFTC member Roy Silver gave an overview of the energy ideas circulating for Benham and the range of possibilities, “now that we’re all in the same boat together, rowing in the right direction.”

Benham/Lynch

In Benham, almost the entire city council attended the Singing for Democracy event in Lynch. More than 30 people turned out, and KFTC gained eight new members and seven renewals.

Northern Kentucky

Northern Kentucky wrapped up a “Meet Your Elected Official” series of events, which was attended by many local leaders including a state senator, state representatives, city and county commissioners and school board members.

Most exciting were the conversations that were able to take place. An undocumented student in Boone County asked her state senator about his positions on immigration and then shared her story as an undocumented person.

The chapter then hosted an Un-

Southern Kentucky KFTC member Jeanie Smith co-hosted a Democracy Party in November with her husband, Alan, and members Dana and Jason Beasley Brown. Following is the talk Jeanie gave describing the “gift” of working with KFTC and inviting others to invest.

When I was in middle school my parents were just certain that I was going to be a lawyer. You see, every time we would argue it usually ended with me storming up to my room, saying, “I stand for justice!”

While at Western Kentucky University, I left my International Relations class every week protesting something new – one week Chiquita and Dole, the next the IMF. I guess you could say I have always been one to get behind a good cause. The problem was I didn’t have the staying power. But a few years ago that changed.

We had recently moved back to Bowl-

ing Green, and Alan immediately got involved with KFTC. Being pregnant, and then dealing with a newborn, I just couldn’t seem to motivate myself to get to the meetings. But during this transition to being a stay-at-home mom of two, I was struggling to feel fulfilled. Maybe because of that or because I was concerned about what I was feeding my children, my interest in local food started to grow. I soon came to find out that none of the farmers’ markets in Bowling Green accepted SNAP. I hated that an entire community of people were excluded from these local markets full of fresh, beautiful and healthy food.

That’s about the time I started getting phone calls from our new chapter organizer asking to meet with me. I had no idea why she was calling; I wasn’t that involved and I didn’t see why she would want my ideas and opinions! Finally, in

Election Party at Chez Nora where they raised $89, got three new members, and more than a dozen take action postcards.

Bowling Green Bowling Green members planned their largest event yet with more than 25 people in attendance. Participants ate local farm-to-table food and listened to an inspirational ask by KFTC member Jeanie Smith. Their goal was to raise $500, but so far they have raised $920 with more coming in. On top of that, they brought in 22 new members and five New Power Leaders!

Somerset Don’t forget at-large areas! In Somerset, members Ray and Jamie Tucker hosted 20 guests for a small gathering at the Pulaski County Public Library. They raised $60 brought in 3 new members!

Frankfort A KFTC delegation joined other allies at the capitol to deliver a petition with 36,000+ signatures to Governor Beshear. The petition was circulated nationally by Faithful America in opposition to the proposed Bluegrass Hazardous Liquids Pipeline. More information can be found here. (http://tinyurl.com/ pwtjgpz)

After that they gathered at the Kentucky Coffeetree Café for a very special

Jeanie Smith and Dana Beasley Brown hosted the Southern Kentucky Chapter’s largest fundraiser, raising more than $1,000 and 22 new members. treat as musician Daniel Martin Moore (who also joined everyone at the capitol) played a few tunes to eager ears. They raised $65 and four new members.

There were also parties in Perry County and Whitesburg, with more to come.

Keep watching our website and blog for more opportunities to help grow a healthy democracy.

Jeanie’s ask: a gift to us and a gift to our communities part to stop her calls, I met with her over coffee. As the conversation progressed and I shared my ideas about the changes we needed to make with the markets, I was met with total enthusiasm and support. I realized that my ideas were valuable and needed, so I started getting involved.

This is when KFTC encouraged me and empowered me to start doing something good. I was educated about SNAP, the Farm Bill, and even economics in Kentucky! I was asked to participate and given opportunities to act and help my community. Just last night I opened two emails, one asking me to do an interview for The Courier-Journal and the other confirming an interview I am doing with WBKO next week. I just laughed because I am shocked that they want my opinions. I am just a regular person! But this organization has equipped me to fully engage with oth-

ers in my community and respond to the problems we face.

But I can’t stop now, I’m in too deep!

The more I learn and the more I do, the more I see that needs to be done. And that is why we have invited you here tonight. KFTC is a gift to us and to our communities, and we want you to be a part of it. There is no floor or ceiling to your involvement. Dana is handing out a donation form, and we ask you to give to this great organization and help our work.

You can also see other opportunities for your involvement. We would love to work alongside of you and help make Kentucky truly great.

With that, I’ll leave you to fill out your donation forms. Please drop them in the Kentucky pumpkin. Then grab your dessert and ballot and enjoy the Democratic Dessert Showdown!

Page 12

Grassroots Fundraising Update

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Powerbuilder program helps members recruit and raise money

by Elizabeth Adami

As the Development Intern, I had the opportunity to spend some time working behind the scenes on launching the Powerbuilders website. However, I only recently decided to get the full experience by creating and promoting my own page.

The process of setting up a Powerbuilder site was super easy, and there was no shortage of resources available for adding information, pictures, and videos to my page.

What was more challenging, as someone who has only been involved with KFTC for a few months, was creating a message that I wanted to share with my friends and family about why the organization means so much to me

-- and why it should matter to them, too.

I looked through each of the amazing pages already up and running for inspiration, and found it in spades.

A boost of confidence about reaching my goal was delivered through members like Carrie Sublett and Megan Naseman, who have already exceeded theirs.

Others, like Carl Shoupe, are raising funds and building lots of New Power as they continue to work toward their goals.

I was also inspired by folks so dedicated to building New Power that they are offering incentives to potential donors.

Lee Ann Paynter is sending her beautiful artwork to people giving through her Powerbuilder site at certain

levels. If you’re a photography lover, or have one on your holiday shopping list, you should take a look at her page.

Stories shared through Powerbuilder, like that of the Lavalle Sisters, reaffirm the reasons why I became involved with KFTC. Ordinary Kentuckians, working together, have the power to make extraordinary progress in our state.

KFTC members are passionate, hardworking, and leading this push for change.

Visit these individual pages for inspiration and to help members meet their goals. I promise you’ll be motivated to do more than donate. http://www.kftc.org/shoupe http://www.kftc.org/paynter http://www.kftc.org/lavalle

Powerbuilders by the #s TOTAL NEW MEMBERS:

129

TOTAL RENEWALS:

39

TOTAL SPECIAL GIFTS:

83

TOTAL RAISED:

$8,056.00

KFTC Gift Membership How about giving them a gift that really makes a difference? Make a donation to an organization that is helping to make Kentucky a better place for them and everyone else.

Simply send KFTC a donation in the name of a

Gift Package 1

friend, family member or co-worker. We will send them a lovely card and gift and put them on our mailing list to receive our regular newsletter. Next year, we’ll ask them if they want to renew their involvement by making their own gift.

Gift Package 2

Gift Package 3

Name Address City, State, Zip Phone Email Check or money order enclosed Charge to my credit card MC

Any amount

$30+

Front: “Kentuckian”

$60+

Back: “We are our best hope for change”

American Apparel (Union Made and Sweatshop Free)

T-Shirt Unisex Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL Women’s Sizes: S, M, L, XL

Asphalt Zip Hoodie Available in Adult Sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL

Gift Membership #1

Gift Membership #2

Name (s) _______________________________

Name (s) _______________________________

Address _______________________________

Address _______________________________

City ________________ State ____ Zip ______

City ________________ State ____ Zip ______

Package #________ Shirt style and size ______

Package #________ Shirt style and size ______

Visa

AmEx

Discover

Card # _ _ _ _-_ _ _ _-_ _ _ _-_ _ _ _ Exp. Date _ _ /_ _ Signature: Package # Price

Total

Shipping ($2 per)

All Gift Package orders must be placed

by Dec. 16.

All orders will be mailed by Dec. 18.

Please make checks payable to KFTC P.O. Box 1450 London, KY 40743

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Page 13

Growing a healthy democracy house party blitz

Above: Members Nina Bosken, Nate Kinsman, and Tom Frank playing euchre at the UnDeadline Party.

Left: Sylvia Ryerson shares all the action cards she and others filled out at the Democracy party in Whitesburg.

New KFTC members from the WKU Hill House at the Southern Kentucky Democracy Party.

Above: Wanda Humphrey, Mayor of Benham displays a certificate that the Harlan County KFTC chapter awarded to the City of Benham.

Owners and staff of Velocity Bike and Bean, which offered free drinks to anyone who gave to Kentuckians For The Commonwealth for the UnDeadline Party! Members Mark and Lisa Ball in the back.

Page 14

Economic Justice Update

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Starting a conversation about Local Option Sales Tax

by Linda Stettenbenz

In the absence of statewide revenue reform that would free up funds for local investments, some cities are pursuing the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST, or LIFT for Local Investments for Transformation).

LOST has received a lot of press in Louisville, and Gov. Steve Beshear has indicated his willingness to support this option.

If the tax is approved by the state legislature in 2014, it would require a state constitutional amendment on the ballot in November. If that is approved, it would allow the legislature to give local governments in Kentucky the power to collect a local sales tax.

Local sales taxes would be limited in amount and duration, and designated for specific uses. Local governments would have to get local voter approval before the tax is applied.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer is a proponent and is advocating for a 1 percent LOST/LIFT to raise a specific amount of money for specific capital projects. He promotes the “local” and “democratic” nature of the idea.

I’ve served on KFTC’s Economic Justice Committee for several years, working for statewide tax reform to make our tax structure more fair and adequate. We haven’t taken a position on the local option sales tax, but we do think it should be viewed in the context of comprehensive reform.

I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion about LOST this month in Louisville. Here is my take on it.

We all benefit when everyone is invested in making our communities healthier and when everyone has good opportunities to succeed, and we need revenue for that – for affordable housing, public transportation, libraries and programs that benefit struggling people in our community like weatherizing homes for low-income people.

But LOST/LIFT is not a silver bullet to get that revenue. According to Mayor Fischer’s plan, it would not provide revenue for programmatic expenses of those types of programs.

We need tax reform. But we need statewide tax reform, and this tax must be looked at in that context.

Besides, adding to the sales tax is not a good option for reforming our tax

structure. Here’s why: As you can see from the Sales and Excise Tax chart, the sales tax is regressive, meaning it takes a bigger bite out of the budget of low- and middle-income people than those with higher incomes. In Kentucky, poor people already pay 2-5 times more as a percent of income than higher-income people in sales tax. Even though we exempt food and medicine, it is still that regressive. Adding 1 percent to that would make it even more unfair.

It’s part of the reason Kentucky has one of the fastest growing wealth gaps in the country. According to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, “over the last 4 decades, the poorest 20% of Kentuckians saw real household income fall nearly 12%, while the richest 20% saw incomes rise over 60%. That affects people’s ability to pay.”

It’s being called “only a penny.” But I know I’m not the only one who has had to decide between buying food and avoiding a late fee on a bill. Those sales tax dollars add up and could have made a big difference in my budget.

1. Kentucky’s sales tax needs to be modernized to reflect our current service economy. Until then, sales tax revenues will continue to decrease.

2. Louisville’s revenue problems are not separate from the state’s. In 2010, I was one of tens of thousands of Kentuckians who qualified for state financial aid for college, but was denied it because the state ran out of money.

3. While it doesn’t make a lot of sense to take local taxes out of context of the state tax structure, if “local control” is really wanted, there are better ways to do that which would be more fair and adequate. Here are three ways: • Expand the occupational tax (sometimes thought of as a local income tax). Currently cities in Kentucky are allowed to tax only wages – not other

forms of income such as rental income and dividends from stocks and bonds – which adds regressivity. Taxing all income, like Ohio and Indiana do, would make the occupational tax more fair and would increase revenue. It’s a better solution.

• Expand the property tax. According to KCEP, “since 1978, Louisville’s real property tax rate has declined 35% and the county-wide rate has declined 42%. If Louisville/Jefferson County had simply maintained its real property tax rates over the years … it would be generating in the vicinity of $60-$70 million more dollars a year for its General Fund – a good portion of what a 1 percent local option sales tax would generate.”

• Better scrutiny and disclosure about “business incentives.” The Kentucky Business Incentive Program diverts 1 percent of occupational taxes to the company receiving the incentives.

Through “tax increment financing,” property, occupational and other local taxes are diverted for 20 years or so to pay back private investors. Fourth Street Live is one example in Louisville. There is no way to know if, or how, the community gets any good from this.

• Though it is a linguistic nod to democracy and transparency, it’s not necessarily a positive thing that

funds from a proposed LOST/LIFT would only be for specific projects and only for a limited term. The LOST/LIFT favors capital projects, like shopping centers, over programmatic ones like GED completion programs – which means outside developers rather than programs that benefit local people would see revenue from it. Just voting on one tax does not make sense to me. Our elected leaders need to gather the courage to procure revenue in a way that is fair and adequate to build the communities that we want.

• Finally, how will this impact structurally disenfranchised people in our community? How will they benefit?

KFTC has been working for 32 years for transparency, democracy and fairness in our state tax structure. We helped move people below the poverty line off the state tax rolls, and kept a lot of bad legislation from happening that is crippling other states. But there is obviously a lot of work left to do.

Learn more about our tax work at: www.kftc.org/campaigns/tax-reform.

KFTC, with some good help from the Kentucky Center For Economic Policy, is also offering a webinar about LOST on December 11. Look for it, and join us!

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balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Canary Project Update

Mill Creek families finally get clean drinking water

After a long wait, 70 of the 94 families along Mill Creek in Letcher County now have access to clean and safe water in their homes.

“They can cook, they can wash their clothes and bathe their children with a limited amount of fear of contamination from what just two years ago was a death sentence,” said Elaine Tanner, one of the leaders in the years-long effort to replace wells that are damaged by mining.

“The other 24 families are still waiting on additional funding and for someone to step up and get safe drinking water in these remaining homes [so] families can rest assured their children are safe and the water they drink is at least acceptable for human consumption,” Tanner added.

Having drinking water that is safe – even to touch – is something that had been taken away from Mill Creek families.

After the state tested some of the wells in the area, ”We were told not to drink, clean, bathe or use the water supply in our wells,” Tanner reported.

“Our water supply was toxic and could cause immediate and future harm to the people in our community.”

A valley fill has destroyed the watershed’s headwaters. Five additional streams in the immediate area have been destroyed without proper permitting.

Two seams of coal underneath the community also have been mined.

“We have been left with the illegal valley fills and unacceptable reclamation practices that still linger behind from the lack of enforcement. Mill Creek, like many other mining communities, has been left with a water supply that is not suitable for use, which after obtaining the proper testing was determined to be laden with toxic chemicals and heavy metals,” Tanner explained.

As residents worked toward a solu-

tion, it was uncovered that eight years ago $2 million was issued to provide a safe water supply to the Mill Creek community. However, though apparently illegal, the funds were spent putting water lines in another area of the county.

Through persistence and showing up for many meetings with local, state and federal officials, new funding was provided to bring public water lines to most families in the community.

“For 10 years we struggled through state regulations and inspectors trying to get the state to look into the ground and surface water issues that were up above us on the old mine site. We have stood side by side with the Appalachian resistance to end mountaintop removal; we have lobbied in D.C. to help make the Clean Water Act work in our Appalachian region,” Tanner recalled. “Our case is not isolated. This happens every day in mining communities across Appalachia.”

Twice in September, in the span of about two weeks, Yellow Creek was flooded with “black water” that spewed from an abandoned deep mine near the head of the creek.

The first time it happened Sara Estep, who lives on Yellow Creek, wasn’t sure what had happened or who she was to call.

Several days after the first black water spill, with some help from a professor at the Hazard Community and Technical College and a KFTC staff person, Estep tracked down the correct state agency and reported the black water flooding incident.

Then it happened a second time, on September 29. For about five hours, Yellow Creek ran black. The creek was about two feet higher than normal, even though it had not rained in several days, and the water flooding the creek was grayish black.

This second time, Estep called the state Department for Natural Resources “Black Water Hotline” (1-800-928-2380) to report the flooding. She was also able to collect a sample of the black water from the creek in a plastic container so it could be sent off to be tested by a lab in North Carolina.

Estep was also able to drive up the creek to try and find the source of

the black water. It was coming from a culvert that ran from an old deep mine, then under the railroad tracks and into Yellow Creek.

After she called in the complaint to the state’s Black Water Hotline, two inspectors came out to investigate the spill, one from the Division for Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (DMRE) and one from the Division of Water (DoW).

Immediate field tests of the water by the DMRE inspector did not indicate that the water was out of compliance for mine-related pollution that can be tested for in the field, but so far the analysis of the state’s sample has not been released to the public.

More than 30 families live along Yellow Creek in the community of Sassafras on the Knott and Perry County line. Yellow Creek feeds into Carr Creek, which flows into the North Fork of the Kentucky River near the community of Happy on its way to the public drinking water reservoir for the town of Hazard.

After a few weeks, the lab in North Carolina sent the report on the water sample that Estep collected on September 29.

Several metals and salts were found at high levels, including iron, aluminum, calcium, and sodium, but it was

the manganese level that was concerning.

The test sample showed manganese at 455 micrograms per liter. Though the permitted discharge limit for manganese for this mine is unknown, this reading is several hundred times the normal manganese discharge reported from other mine sites’ Discharge Monitoring Reports.

Estep and other KFTC members met with the Commissioner for the Department for Natural Resources, Steve Hohmann, and the DMRE director, Billy Ratliff, on November 19, and were given their analysis of what caused the flooding on Yellow Creek.

According to Commissioner Hohmann, a company was drilling for either oil or gas on the hill above Yellow Creek.

As they drilled down they encountered two old deep mine works that were filled with water.

The higher mined out seam was the Hindman seam, and the lower mined out seam was the Fire Clay seam.

The Fire Clay seam has a punch-out above Yellow Creek with a sediment pond to collect and treat the water discharge from the Fire Clay mine. The pond discharges into the culvert that runs under the railroad tracks where Estep saw the black water entering Yellow

Gas drilling causes black water on Yellow Creek

As attention was given to the Letcher Fiscal Court to reallocate funds for promised water lines, Jimmy Hall and other Mill Creek families provided a visible presence of their needs and demands.

Creek.

Commissioner Hohmann said their investigation showed that when the oil and gas company drilled down through the upper seam, the water from the Hindman seam drained down into the Fire Clay seam and out over the sediment pond and into Yellow Creek.

This happened with two different wells that were drilled on the same days as the black water floods on Yellow Creek.

At the end of the meeting with Commissioner Hohmann, he agreed to send the water testing results from the state’s water sample to Estep, and the commissioner also said he would look into any future oil and gas drilling that could cause additional flooding on Yellow Creek.

Black Water Hotline

1-800-928-2380

Page 16

Canary Project Update

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Federal judge agrees that EPA should regulate coal ash In a positive step for communities throughout Kentucky, in early October a federal judge agreed with a broad coalition of local, state and national groups that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency needs to set federal regulations for the safe and proper disposal of toxic coal ash.

The groups, including KFTC, filed the lawsuit in April 2012 challenging the EPA’s lack of federal standards for the nation’s second largest industrial waste stream.

“In Kentucky, toxic coal ash landfills and ponds are not even regulated as well as municipal garbage dumps,” said KFTC member Mary Love. “When LG&E [Louisville Gas & Electric] built the Cane Run power plant in Louisville – right across the road from an existing neighborhood – they simply dug a hole 100 feet from the river and began filling it with coal ash. Today, that landfill is over 10 stories tall and continues to operate on a permit that expired in 2007 and has yet to be renewed. We need EPA regulations on coal ash.”

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia followed up its

original order with a second order a few weeks later giving EPA 60 days to finalize its rulemaking.

However, EPA is balking, seeking to delay for another year.

“The court has so far been reluctant to set a firm date for when that rule must be published and set for public comment,” Love explained. “The court has been lenient with that because EPA stated they are also working to publish some new water rules. They don’t want the water rule and the coal ash rule to contradict each other, so they have requested permission to publish the coal ash rule in December 2014.”

The coalition of groups are weighing their legal options in response to EPA pushback.

For now, the decision marks the first step toward federally enforceable safeguards, monitoring and protections against the exposure of the public to coal ash.

Coal ash has already contaminated more than 200 rivers, lakes, streams and aquifers – including six in Kentucky – with toxic pollutants like arsenic, boron, selenium and nickel.

In 2008, a spill at the TVA Kingston

A state highway got cleaned, at least temporarily, in late October after a KFTC member got tired of waiting for the coal company to clean up its messes and for any state mining official to force it to do so.

A portion of Route 7 in the Deane community in Letcher County was covered with muck, tracked onto the highway by coal trucks running from a strip mine to a nearby tipple.

The muck – a combination of mud from the mining operation and coal dust turned to sludge – was so bad in spots that the yellow center line could not been seen.

“I hit my brakes and it was like black ice,” said KFTC member Chris Yonts, who lives in the area. “There was a good inch and a half packed on the road. I’d never seen mud that slick. I’m afraid someone is going to get hurt. I don’t see how they get away with it.”

Even after the cleanup had started, Route 7 was still covered with mud from the strip mine.

Yonts had called the Kentucky De-

partment of Transportation and was told that the agency could make sure coal trucks had tarps, but could do nothing about the mud.

Next he called the state police. They responded, and the next day Yonts noticed that vehicle enforcement officers had trucks pulled over on the side of the road. Some had been “red tagged” for not being safe for highway travel.

But that still did not address the condition of the highway.

Yonts also had been calling the district office of the Kentucky Department for Mine Reclamation and Enforcement (DMRE), without results.

KFTC followed up with a call to the Frankfort DMRE office. They said they would refer it to the district office.

The following work day, state road equipment was out cleaning up the road. That has helped but not eliminated the problem since the coal trucks are still running.

Yonts said the problem had been getting worse for a year.

“I was giving the coal companies a

Cane Run coal ash pile in southwestern Jefferson County Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tennessee, dumped one billion gallons of coal ash over 300 acres, destroying homes and poisoning rivers. That spill led to the

EPA proposing in May 2010 the first federal regulations for coal ash disposal.

But the agency has never finalized that rulemaking.

State cleans up road muck caused by nearby mine in Deane

Mud and muck tracked onto Route 7 in Deane by coal trucks chance to get it cleaned.” But the company, which has scrubbers that do a poor job cleaning the road, stopped answering his calls. So he took other action.

Still, he is bothered that the company apparently is not being held responsible.

“Why is the state cleaning up the coal company’s mess? I don’t think it’s the taxpayers’ job to clean up what the coal company left,” Yonts said.

The company involved, Deane Mining LLC, operates as a subsidiary of Rhino Energy, based in Lexington.

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balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Canary Project Update

A true Power Shift: Youth perspective on environmental oppression

by Cara Cooper Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition (KSEC) Organizer

Last month, 150 young Kentuckians converged with thousands of young people from across the country for the fourth Power Shift conference. The weekend was full of amazing panels, workshops and keynote speakers with a focus on the intersectionality of the environmental movement and other human rights movements.

It was an important step in the quest to stop climate change, as we learned from each other and came up with plans for how to take it back to our own communities. But more important than what we learned were the conversations that we started, conversations that must continue if we are to have hope of actually stopping the systems of oppression that allow pollution and greed to exist.

For far too long the national environmental movement has oversimplified the path towards a sustainable future, as if shutting down coal-fired power plants or regulating carbon emissions could end our problems. And the urgency in taking these actions has left out the most important voices: those who struggle on a daily basis to survive the impacts of pollution because the system and those who perpetuate it rank their lives as less important to justify dumping toxic waste on their communities.

I will be honest and say that I have played a role in pushing the agenda of the mainstream environmental movement in the past, and I was that much more pleased to see this topic take center stage at Power Shift as a result. It finally feels like the mainstream environmental movement is starting to wake up to how intrinsically linked environmental problems and systemic oppression really are.

Take the experiences of keynote speaker Kandi Mossett from a first nations community in North Dakota and an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network. In her community, fossil-fuel extraction has poisoned the water, land and air, like it has in other extraction communities. But the part of her story that really wrenched the hearts of

ronmental organizations, who, while however good-intentioned, are rushing towards their goals, while leaving a lot of folks behind to fight against the system that keeps many people sick, silenced, and money-poor. A just environmental movement must be equitable, and it must put the voices, experiences, and needs of the most vulnerable first.

This challenge is not just for the environmental movement. It is for me and for you. What we are facing is much larger than a rapidly destabilizing climate, or a corrupt, corporate government, or a war full of drone strikes. We are facing a broken system. While I don’t have the answers, I would like to share some of the steps that I am taking to work towards collective liberation.

Cara Cooper (pictured bottom left) organized a Kentucky youth delegation to attend Power Shift earlier this fall. the audience was about the side effects of extraction that happen in low-income, non-white communities around the world – the stories you rarely hear from mainstream environmentalists.

Mossett told stories of radioactive waste being thrown on the ground rather than properly disposed of, and stories of friends who had been run off the road by drivers in too much of a hurry to slow down or care about the safety of others on the road. Maybe the most troubling were the stories of the men who work in the extraction camps, about the name-calling, the alcohol abuse, the rape, and how no one outside the reservation seemed to hold offenders accountable.

Even here in Kentucky are stories that the mainstream environmental movement does not hear. The fact that many waterways have conductivity levels hundreds of times over the limit while the EPA turns a blind eye. Or the rampant prescription drug abuse that is fueled by both the poor safety standards at mines and the lack of economic options for coal-impacted communities.

The backlash that can be inflicted on

those who speak out, like Junior Walk, an organizer in his West Virginia community of Rock Creek, who recently had his brake lines cut on his truck. For many of the Power Shift attendees from the eastern part of our state, even being at this type of conference put their families and scholarships at risk.

These aren’t examples of environmental degradation. These are examples of human degradation, of profits being put before people, of a system that allows certain groups to benefit while other groups are forced to live with the reality of the odds being stacked against them. It is time for the national environmental movement to put anti-oppression at the forefront of the movement, to take a real look at ways we have been propagating this injustice and to change our ways.

Now the real challenge. If there are no more excuses, no more ignorance, how do you start really being antioppressive? How do you step back from the system that you are participating in and turn yourself around to walk in the right direction? This is the challenge facing the “Big Green” national envi-

• Listen more.

• When discussing campaign strategies or goals, think about who is at the table and about who is not.

• Make space.

• Let the work be about lifting up stories and needs of frontline communities and not about what you think the solution should be.

• Think more about impact. Intent is important but impact is more important. Impact of our actions (or inactions), our words, our thoughts.

• Recognize privilege (whether it is white-, male-, heterosexual-, middle class-, cis-gendered-) • Challenge your assumptions and your fears.

• Hold yourself and others accountable.

When I went to Power Shift this year, I was excited for the burst of energy that comes from being in a space of learning with like-minded people. I was hoping for 150 empowered Kentuckians to work beside when we got home. And I got those things, but I also got much more. I saw the recognition in the youth climate movement of the scale and severity of the problems we must tackle together, and the commitment of my peers to rise to the occasion to work towards a truly sustainable and just future that we can all be proud of.

February 12, 2014. Visit www.kftc.org/love for more details.

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balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Bluegrass Pipeline Campaign Update

Bluegrass Pipeline opponents address EQC with concerns

Members of the Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission got a detailed lesson about the dangers and shortcomings of the proposed Bluegrass Hazardous Liquids Pipeline at their meeting on November 21.

Landowners and neighbors in the possible path of the pipeline, as well as other concerned community members, provided ample information about the unnecessary and unacceptable risks associated with having high volumes of hazardous liquids running through their communities.

Those dangers are compounded by the proposed use of hundreds of miles of “repurposed” pipeline that is 50 years old along some parts of the route, operated by a company with a poor safety record, commissioners were told.

Bob Pekny of Woodford County shattered company claims that the pipeline would be safe because it would be subject to 24-hour monitoring from 1,000 miles away.

“Pipeline monitoring only detects about one in 20 leaks,” he reported on his research. “Most are found by boots on the ground.”

In part, that’s because even the

best detection equipment will miss small leaks where there are only minute drops in pressure.

“The absolute best they can detect is a leak of about 0.5 percent,” Pekny explained. At the high volumes planned for the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline, that could represent up to 4,000 gallons a day going undetected.

Such inevitable leaks present great risks to nearby residents, Dick Watkins explained. When natural gas liquids escape, a majority of the product turns to a gas that is heavier than air, is highly explosive and is an asphyxiant.

The remaining liquid portion can “enter the groundwater and can be toxic because of the presence of benzene,” Watkins added.

He also explained that repurposing old pipelines to carry natural gas liquids presents more immediate safety concerns than new pipelines.

These pipelines – the Texas Gas Line in western Kentucky and the Tennessee Gas Pipeline that enters northeastern Kentucky near Greenup and runs diagonally across much of the state – were built using outdated welding techniques and pipeline coatings no

KFTC member Sara Pitney told members of the Environmental Quality Commission how the proposed Bluegrass Hazardous Liquids Pipeline threatens a spring and a stream designated as “exceptional water” on her farm in Hardin County.

Dominican Sister of Peace Clair McGowan hands more than 36,000 signatures on a Faithful America petition to Debbie Gall in the governor’s office on November 15. longer considered adequate.

Speakers also talked about the risks to Kentucky’s surface and ground water from pipeline construction and leaks.

Hydrogeologist and karst expert Dr. Ralph Ewers explained the proposed pipeline would cross many areas with numerous caves, groundwater conduits, sinkholes and springs.

“The difficulty with karst conduits is that we don’t know where most of them are. We don’t know where the karst conduits lead,” he said. “We need to do tracing so we know in advance where this stuff will wind up and who’s going to get it.”

He added that he doubted the company would be willing to take such precautions.

Amy Boone showed how the company seems unconcerned by even obvious sensitive water areas. She showed a photograph of a survey stake within a few feet of a spring and a video (see http://bit.ly/18i7lT6) where a land agent, when shown the proximity of survey stakes to a cave that feeds a pond, retracts a previous statement that the pipeline would avoid such areas.

Commissioners also were told how company agents have disrespect-

ed landowners, are trying to undermine the environmental impact study process, and have used the perceived threat of eminent domain to pressure landowners into signing easement contracts.

“This company has lost its integrity; it has lost its humanity,” said Deb Pekny. “We are no more than a blue line on a map.”

Commissioners were reminded that natural gas liquids pipelines, despite their hazardous products, are not subject to the same siting and necessity requirements that most other pipelines are.

Sister Maria Visse of the Loretto Community and Lane Boldman of the Sierra Club reminded everyone that what’s at stake is more than just the possible siting of one pipeline.

Eight recommendations for commission action were presented by the landowners. They were mostly directed at getting state and federal officials to show some concern and proactive action to protect people and the land, air and water from the risks of these hazardous liquids pipelines.

Commissioners agreed to take several steps to learn more and to invite company representatives to their January meeting.

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

New Energy and Transition Update

Page 19

Beshear, Rogers join conversation about Appalachian transition with Dec. 9 summit

KFTC members have been fostering a conversation about a just transition in the mountains for the past few years. The Appalachia’s Bright Future conference, hosted by KFTC in Harlan in April, significantly furthered that conversation by bringing together a wide range of stakeholders in the region, as well as representatives of communities outside Appalachia that have faced similar transitions.

In October, Governor Steve Beshear and Congressman Hal Rogers decided to join the conversation, announcing they would host a regional planning process called Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) to share ideas for building a healthy, diverse economy in eastern Kentucky. The SOAR process begins with a summit in Pikeville on December 9.

“I’m really excited,” said Letcher County KFTC member Elizabeth Sanders. “These elected leaders now appear to be whole-heartedly joining the conversation that is already alive in this region. That’s a

welcome step that we haven’t seen in recent years.

I’m glad they are calling for genuine involvement and collaboration with people living in southeastern Kentucky, and anyone with an interest in moving this part of the state forward.”

KFTC members believe that a just transition is possible, even in the midst of rapid changes in the coal industry, and that such a transition must: • Improve the quality of life for people and communities affected by economic disruption, environmental damage, and inequality • Foster inclusion, participation and collaboration • Generate good, stable jobs and broad access to opportunities and benefits • Promote innovation, self-reliance, and broadly held local wealth • Protect and restore public health and our environment • Respect the past while also strengthening commu-

Important Lobby & Rally Dates for 2014 Legislative Session o

Every Monday at 8 pm, 1/6 – 2/24: webinar on General Assembly issues

o January 7: Training: An Introduction to citizen lobbying & key issues in the 2014 Gen. Assembly o Jan. 15: Restoration of Voting Rights Rally and Lobby Day o Jan. 23: Economic Justice Lobby Day o Appalachian Transition lobby day (TBA) o Feb 5: Clean Energy Lobby Day o Feb 12: 9th Annual I Love Mountains Day o Feb 19: Fairness Lobby Day o March 5th: Civil Rights Rally in Honor of 50th Anniversary of MLK’s March on Frankfort

nities and culture • Consider the effects of decisions on future generations

“I hope this summit is another opportunity to continue to learn from the experiences of other communities that have faced similar challenges,” Sanders said.

“Here in eastern Kentucky we have the vision and leadership we need to define our own path to prosperity, but it helps to learn from other rural communities that have been through their own process of economic upheaval and renewal.”

Members agree that a just transition will take a commitment to planning together and working together, inclusive of many voices. A bright future depends on strong community and political involvement: grassroots leaders, local residents, workers, public officials, and enterprises willing to envision another way forward.

KFTC chairperson Sue Tallichet described a just transition this way at the Appalachia’s Bright Future conference in April: “A just transition in eastern Kentucky is an intentional effort to improve our quality of life, create jobs, strengthen communities, and protect our health and environment. A just transition means that many people must be involved, and many perspectives must be taken into account as decisions get made. It means taking steps to build skills, wealth and opportunities that stay here in the mountains. It means creating the conditions for our communities to thrive, not just survive. And it means protecting the natural resources on which our health and economy depend.”

The December 9 summit will be held at the Eastern Kentucky Exposition Center in Pikeville. More than 1,000 people have registered, and the format promises to be interactive and cover a range of topics including: job creation and retention, entrepreneurship and innovation, infrastructure, public and private investment, tourism, regional collaboration and identity, leadership development and youth engagement, lifelong learning, and health/biotechnology/human services.

As this issue of balancing the scales went to press, many KFTC members had registered for the December 9 summit. The registration deadline has passed, but other interested members can submit ideas to the governor and Rogers at kydlgweb.ky.gov For more information about SOAR and Appalachian transition, visit www.kftc.org/abf/soar.

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balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

New Energy and Transition Update

Clean energy solutions are gaining ground everywhere, but slowly in Kentucky Have you heard the news? Renewable energy generation across the U.S. is booming.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “production from all renewable energy sources, including conventional hydropower, is about 60% higher in 2013 than it was in 2003, while production from non-hydro renewable energy sources has more than doubled.”

In fact, 99.3% of all new electric generation that came online in October 2013 was renewable energy, and solar accounted for the largest share.

Solar and wind are among the fastest growing renewable energy sectors.

Wind accounted for 42 percent of all new electrical generation capacity built in the U.S. in 2012, making it the top source of new generation.

Installed wind capacity has increased by an average of 30 percent a year in the past five years, and the wind industry now employs more than 80,700 people.

Meanwhile, the U.S. solar industry

employs about 120,000 people and is among the fastest growing industries in the nation.

years running, but it has not yet won support from a majority of her colleagues or even been allowed a vote.

What’s driving this growth?

A lot of the growth in renewable energy has been driven by laws in 30 states that require utilities to get an increasing share of their electricity from renewable sources. More recently, the growth of clean energy in those states is also being driven by the fact that renewables are fast becoming cost competitive with conventional sources.

According to a new market analysis by the Solar Energy Industries Association, the average total installed cost of solar photovoltaic systems has dropped by 50 percent since 2010.

Kentucky, however, remains among a reluctant set of states, mostly located in the Southeast, that do not require utilities to diversify their energy sources or help their customers save energy.

Rep. Mary Lou Marzian has introduced legislation known as the Clean Energy Opportunity Act for several

What is Kentucky missing out on?

Without good policies like this in place, most of Kentucky’s potential to generate clean energy – and clean energy jobs – remains untapped. The commonwealth has no utility-scale wind developments, while we are surrounded by states that do.

And we recently fell three spots, to number 39, in national rankings published by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) for our energy efficiency efforts compared to other states.

The Clean Energy Opportunity Act would ask major utilities in our state to ramp up their use of renewable energy and energy efficiency over the next 10 years. By the end of a decade, they would be expected to generate 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewables and to help their customers save an amount of energy equivalent to 10.25 percent of all retail electric sales.

An analysis of the legislation calculated that it would generate 28,000 net new jobs over the decade and save customers 8-10 percent, on average, on their utility bills, compared to a business-as-usual scenario.

What other states are doing

Examples of other states that already are benefiting from similar policies are numerous.

The goals in the Clean Energy Opportunity Act are based on laws passed

by North Carolina and Ohio in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Ohio now has 181 solar businesses, including 61 in solar manufacturing, and 2,900 solar jobs.

Wind generation in Ohio has risen from 7.4 MW in 2008 to 428 MW in 2012, and wind investment in Ohio reached $775 million in 2012.

Meanwhile North Carolina has jumped to fifth in solar installations and has created about 2,000 solar industry jobs. Clean energy jobs in North Carolina have grown by 30 percent each year since the bill became law.

Fortunately, Kentuckians are not content to simply wait for legislative action. Across the state, innovative public

leaders, businesses, homeowners, nonprofits and utilities are making smart investments in clean energy solutions.

Good examples in Kentucky The city of Louisville recently announced a $27 million energy retrofit of public buildings, a project that expects to generate 500 good jobs.

The city of Berea, responding to citizen initiatives, launched a solar farm last year that allows residents to lease solar panels and get credit on their bills for the electricity their panels generate each month. The first set of panels were leased in four days, so the city doubled the size of the original project. Now the utility is considering bids to once again more than double the current installed capacity!

And residents in the community of Benham are working with local leaders to explore development of a community-wide residential efficiency program.

What KFTC members can do These efforts are admirable, but they are simply not enough to propel Kentucky’s economy forward or to protect the vast majority of ratepayers from the steeply rising costs of fossil-fuel based electricity. So KFTC and allies in the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance will continue to inform and work with our legislators to build support for the Clean Energy Opportunity Act.

And members will keep an eye on a pair of bills introduced last month in the U.S. Senate that would both establish a national renewable energy standard of 25 percent by the year 2025.

One of these bills, the American Renewable Energy and Efficiency Act, sponsored by Senator Ed Markey, would also require utilities to significantly ramp up energy efficiency programs. In all, it could create more than 400,000 new U.S. jobs.

Any KFTC members interested in supporting the Clean Energy Opportunity Act during the 2014 Kentucky General Assembly should mark their calendars and join KFTC in Frankfort on February 5 for a Clean Energy Lobby Day. A webinar will be held on Monday night, February 3, to help members prepare for good conversations with lawmakers.

More information about both events can be found at www.kftc.org/ calendar.

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

New Energy and Transition Update

Page 21

In times of transition, process really, really matters

KFTC’s Appalachia’s Bright Future conference in April featured many inspirational and insightful speakers, including several who shared transition stories from other areas and economies. In this issue we feature Brendan Smith, a commercial fisherman from the Northeast.

I grew up in Newfoundland, in a village of 11 houses. I dropped out of school when I was 14 and I headed out to sea.

I worked in Glouster. I worked in the Grand Banks, headed up to the Bering Sea. I worked in cod boats, crab boats.

If it swam, I fished it. I loved the job. It was great money. I loved being at sea for three months at a time, being in the belly of a boat with 13 guys for 30-hour shifts.

There was nothing like it.

And I was so proud of my job. I liked hunting and chasing things as a fisherman. I loved feeding the country; [that] was a big part of the identity. I loved being grounded in this long history of generations, this fabric of maritime history. I loved the stories. I loved the songs.

It gave me a sense of meaning.

Then the bad news. It all started to unravel. The cod stocks collapsed back in my home off the coast of Newfoundland. I’m sure the scientists knew it was happening for 30 years, but it was a huge shock to us. And they shut down the commercial fishing grounds completely.

You couldn’t even throw a fishing line off the dock.

That was the beginning of a longterm fishing crisis. It just left carnage, thousands of boats left beached, we were all thrown out of work, mass migration of young people out of our villages, drug use, the whole thing.

And we’re still kind of there. There’s a lot of talk of transition, but none of it’s happened.

So the question for me and a lot of people in my generation … is to not make these same mistakes The failure of the transition was not even on the economics. It was a political war, a class war. A cultural war and it was ugly. So how do we avoid that?

I have four things:

First [mistake is that it] was the fisherman’s fault. When the cod collapsed, we thought – and we were all small boat owners, medium-size boat owners – that the industry had a single interest, that we wanted the same thing as the big companies. But we were actually dig-

ging ourselves a grave. Because what the huge factory trawlers wanted was to go out with huge ships, fish as many fish as possible, go out with as few workers as possible, fish out a region and then keep moving on.

They did not care about job creation and they certainly did not care about sustainable communities and letting me and my brothers and sisters out there be on the ocean for generations.

It sounds like Peabody Coal. How they are treating their retirees now sure has a similar ring to how as fishermen the companies are treating us and the coal companies are treating you all. We need to find some new friends.

The second mistake: environmentalists have this long history of saving things. The problem is I’m driving down the road and I see a bumper sticker that says Stop Overfishing. I feel like I don’t have a choice. I’ve got to pick one. You force me to pick between saving the oceans and saving my job, I’ve got to pick my job. You even make me choose between protecting my health … I will keep

… you talk to them now, they are bitter. They felt like they weren’t consulted. They felt like there was generations of expertise on the ocean that were completely ignored.

Last mistake: at least in fishing … folks misunderstand the nature of the work. When the cod grounds shut down, what they did was they offered us money. They’d send us a check if we’d beach our boat. We took all the money, but we lost our sense of purpose.

When they talked about jobs, it was like call center jobs. The famous example in my town is a fish plant shut down, and this woman from New York came and said we are going to create some jobs. And it was to make seat belts for pets. And this is now the iconic story of job transition in New-

“Work has to be about so much more than making a paycheck. … Just transition plans have to help feed our families but also feed our souls.” picking that job. Not only for the money, but that’s my history, that’s my culture.

The goal isn’t to turn fishermen into environmentalists. Instead, it’s to show that this jobs versus the environment discussion, debate and frame is completely a false choice. We don’t have to do it that way.

The campaign is going to be framed in terms of responding to workers’ immediate needs. If we are going to hurt their jobs or take away opportunity we have a moral responsibility to replace those jobs and have a program.

Third mistake: we didn’t set up a good community process. It had huge ramifications.

In times of transition, process really, really matters. So many of the vicious breakdowns in my community had to do with the fact that so many decisions were made elsewhere and really felt like, whether they were or not, just shoved down our throat.

There’s a whole sector of fishermen

foundland. And you talk about meaninglessness …

Work has to be about so much more than making a paycheck. Jobs are culture, identity. Just transition plans have to help feed our families but also feed our souls.

I’ll close by talking a little about what we’re trying to do in Long Island Sound, and how we’re trying to shape a just transition that doesn’t make the same mistakes.

The program is to turn fishermen into ocean farmers. The idea is to grow shellfish and seaweed and use it for food, bio-fuel and fertilizer, and use that to spur other innovation in the community.

The first rule is to know who your friends are. We went to the fishing co-ops because we thought co-ops were a way to assure community benefits. They are structured to level the playing field and spread the wealth. So we see co-ops as our friends and corporations not our friends.

Second, show that jobs versus the environment was a false choice. So we deliberately designed our farms and our messaging … that we can farm things and fish in a way that restores rather than depletes as we grow.

On the jobs side, purposely we split up the farms into 25-acre plots so many fishermen could own many small businesses and have their own boats instead of a few owners having three or four hundred acres.

Fourth is jobs with meaning. What do fishermen love? Why are they fishermen? What we figured out was fishermen want to be on the water, live a selfdirected life. I want to be on my own boat and I want to help feed people.

We don’t know how this is going to end up. Certainly it doesn’t have all the answers. But I think we have avoided the four failures.

There is general view in the area that this is all a little bit crazy. My answer to that is that this is a time of transition and maybe we need to be a little bit crazy.

To see a video of this presentation, go here: http://vimeo. com/65645561

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balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

New Energy and Transition Update

Clean Energy Collaborative wraps up, looks to the future

On October 23, the Clean Energy Collaborative held the final official meeting as set out in the group’s twoyear charter. KFTC participated in the Collaborative along with East Kentucky Power Cooperative, 16 rural electric cooperatives, Kentucky Environmental Foundation, the Sierra Club, MACED and other allies throughout the two years. The Collaborative was established by a legal settlement agreement that called for halting EKPCs proposal of the coal-burning Smith plant in 2010.

The meeting included an update on marketing research that the group commissioned on ways to help increase member participation in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Findings indicate that many customers are unaware of programs such as EnviroWatts that are already being offered and that more marketing and outreach are needed.

The group also heard a report on EKPC’s progress toward recommendations previously passed by the Collaborative. These recommendations include adding wind, solar and hydroelectric to EKPC’s EnviroWatts program, building a small solar farm and leasing panels to co-op members, developing an energy ambassadors program, and further researching the potential for wind and hydro in Kentucky, among others. “ Through the work of this Collaborative and beyond, EKPC and its member co-ops have taken significant steps toward increasing their memberowners’ access to energy efficiency and renewable energy programs,” said Collaborative vice-chairwoman and KFTC member Tona Barkley, who is a member of Owen Electric Cooperative.

The final meeting also included a closing statement by the public interest groups of the Collaborative. The statement applauded EKPC and the cooperatives for the progress made toward energy efficiency/demand-side management and renewable energy so far; encouraged EKPC to set percentage goals for savings through EE/DSM and RE generation; and offered to continue the conversation and collaborate in the future to assist with implementation of the recommendations of the collaborative to increase participation in existing and future EE/DSM and RE programs.

The public interest groups’ closing statement is available at www.kftc.org/ resources.

In addition to the progress made on the recommendations of the Collaborative, one of the greatest outcomes from the process has been the relationships that have been built between KFTC members and other public interest groups and East Kentucky Power and the local electric cooperatives. Together the group hosted a public forum on renewable energy in September, and many folks leaving that meeting commented on how important the process

was to be able to speak with the CEOs and other staff of the co-ops about the energy issues that concern them.

According to Collaborative Chairperson David Crews, who is EKPC vice president for power supply, “All of us have benefitted from this process. Everyone involved has gained a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the viewpoints of the other stakeholders at the table.”

T hough members of the Collab-

KFTC member Steve Wilkins, KFTC’s representative to the Collaborative, shared a word with Mike Williams, CEO of Blue Grass Energy. Wilkins became active in KFTC’s Renew East Kentucky campaign in 2009 as a Blue Grass Energy Cooperative member.

orative may not have seen themselves as partners in the beginning of the process, members are now planning to continue meeting beyond the mandated time frame of the Collaborative, to advance the recommendations and develop ways to increase participation in existing clean energy programs offered by the co-ops.

As this new phase develops, watch balancing the scales for updates.

Tona Barkley, KFTC member and vice chair of the Collaborative, talked with Mark Stallons, CEO of Owen Electric, at the closing of the final Collaborative meeting. Barkley became involved in rural electric co-op work through KFTC when she ran for the board of Owen Electric, her co-op, in 2010.

PSC paves way for growth of How$martKY

Courtesy of MACED A recent decision by the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) has paved the way for growth in a new form of home energy efficiency.

How$martKY, a home energy efficiency partnership between the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED) and participating rural electric cooperatives, has been made permanent through a PSC tariff.

The permanent tariff paves the way for rural electric cooperatives across the state to join the How$martKY program, which the PSC said has “encouraged energy conservation, lowered consumer bills and will result in reduced future demand.”

The program had previously been restricted to three eastern Kentucky co-ops:

Big Sandy Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation (RECC), Fleming-Mason RECC and Grayson RECC.

How$martKY allows rural electric coop customers to pay for energy efficiency upgrades in their homes with the electricbill savings those upgrades create. This on-bill financing allows customers to make upgrades at little to no out-of-pocket cost, making the program available to low- and middle-income homeowners.

“We could not have made this program so successful without the strong partnerships we built with our RECC partners,” said How$martKY program coordinator Bill Blair. “Their help in implementing How$martKY has been invaluable, and we look forward to working with them, and many other utilities, in the future.”

In addition to energy and money saved, How$martKY improves quality of life by making homes more comfortable as a result of energy efficiency upgrades. On a recent How$martKY customer survey, almost 88 percent of respondents said their homes were more comfortable than before the retrofit.

How$martKY has completed energy efficiency upgrades at 127 homes in eastern Kentucky, which has produced an average of $76,000 in annual electric-bill savings. The program saves an average of 4,800 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, which equals an average of $500 in yearly savings per How$martKY customer. Customers are charged an average of $40 a month on their electric bills to pay for the energy efficient upgrades in their homes.

Page 23

balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

Lost Mountain

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Songs for the Mountaintop A collection of songs by Kentucky Artists Against Mountaintop Removal, including: Jean Ritchie, The Betweeners, George Ella Lyon, Clack Mountain String Band, Kate Larken, Anne Shelby, Reel World String Band, The Doolittles, Randy Wilson, Ford MacNeil, Fred Brown & Tom Gilliam, and Brett Ratliff.

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Page 24

Tis

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balancing the scales, November 26, 2013

the

Season!

3 ways to help us reach our $500,000 Grassroots Fundraising Goal

Answer your phone: These committed members and more have been burning up the phone lines to talk to you! Give us a call back, chat about the work, and renew over the phone!

Calendar of Events Dec. 2

Wilderness Trace chapter meeting, 7 - 8:30 p.m. at Inter-County Energy Community Room, 1009 Hustonville Road, Danville, KY 40422. Contact Bethbissmeyer@kftc.org or call (859) 314-2044.

Dec. 9

Jefferson County chapter meeting, 6:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, 809 South 4th Street in Louisville. Contact Alicia@kftc.org or call 502-589-3188.

Dec. 10 East Kentucky Chapters Holiday Party, Hindman Kentucky. Contact Tanya@kftc.org or call 606-632-0051 for more information.

Dec. 13 Wilderness Trace holiday event, 7 to 9 p.m. at V The Market located at 130 S. Fourth Street in Danville. There will be live music, free food, merch and gifts for purchase, and info on how to plug in to KFTC. Dec. 19 Central Kentucky chapter meeting, 7 p.m. at the Episcopal Diocese Mission House (corner of Martin Luther King Blvd. and 4th Street) in Lexington. Contact BethHoward@kftc.org or call 859-276-0563.

2

Give to a Powerbuilder or become one yourself! These inspirational leaders have been sharing their stories to grow the KFTC we need to build a better Kentucky. Check out one of these POWERBUILDERS and be inspired. Help share their story or give to their page. Or join 100 other KFTC members and create one of your own Powerbuilder page! http://www.kftc.org/shoupe, http://www.kftc.org/paynter http://www.kftc.org/lavalle

3

Do your holiday shopping with KFTC! Get your favorite KFTC gear online at our website store! The perfect feel gift for this holiday season. www.kftc.org/store

Dec. 19 Rowan County chapter meeting, 6:30 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church on 5th Street in Morehead.

Dec. 19 Shelby County chapter meeting, 6 p.m. at The Stratton Center, 215 W Washington Street. Contact Carissa@kftc.org or call 859-893-1147 Jan. 6

Wilderness Trace chapter meeting, 7 - 8:30 p.m. at Inter-County Energy Community Room, 1009 Hustonville Road, Danville, KY 40422. Contact Bethbissmeyer@kftc.org or call (859) 314-2044.

Jan. 7

2014 Legislative Session begins.

Jan. 7

Training: An Introduction to citizen lobbying & key issues in the 2014 Gen. Assembly. Contact Lisa@kftc.org for more details.

Jan. 13

Jefferson County chapter meeting, 6:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, 809 South 4th Street in Louisville. Contact Alicia@kftc.org or call 502-589-3188.

Jan. 15

Restoration of Voting Rights Lobby Day and Rally. Contact Joe@kftc.org or call 859-380-6103 for more information.

Jan. 23

Economic Justice Lobby Day. Contact Jessicebreen@kftc.org or call 859276-0563 for more information.

Jan. 27

Madison County chapter meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Berea College Appalachian Center, 205 N. Main St., Berea. Contact BethBissmeyer@kftc.org or call 859314-2044.

Feb. 5

Clean Energy Opportunity Act Lobby Day. Contact Lisa@kftc.org for more information.

Feb. 12

9th Annual I Love Mountains Day Rally. Visit www.kftc.org/love for more information.

Feb. 19

Fairness Lobby Day.

Mar. 5

Civil Rights Rally in Honor of 50th Anniversary of MLK’s March on Frankfort. Contact Lisa@kftc.org for more information.