On January 31^st, the Madison County chapter held a citizen lobby training as KFTC’s lobby season swings into high gear. Anyone interested in making his or her voice heard in Frankfort was invited to the training, and around a dozen people from Berea and Richmond showed up to learn about the issues and the legislation making their way through the Frankfort legislature. KFTC members leading the training opened with a discussion about the importance of citizen lobbying and strategies for effective lobbying before moving on to talk about the major bills KFTC is sponsoring this legislative session. Among these bills are the Clean Energy Opportunity Act (HB 167) and the Stream Saver Bill (HB 231). Members of the Madison County chapter hope that holding trainings like these will educate politically concerned Madison County residents and inspire them to go to Frankfort where they can personally fight for a fairer Kentucky.

As part of our work around clean energy and transition, KFTC participates in a Clean Energy Collaborative that held its first meeting of the new year on January 31 in Richmond.

The collaborative was formed in 2010 when KFTC and allies succeeded in convincing East Kentucky Power Cooperative to abandon plans for a new coal-burning power plant in Central Kentucky. In addition to KFTC and EKPC, the collaborative includes other public interest groups, the Attorney General’s office, and all 16 of EKPC’s distribution co-ops. The group has a two-year charge to study renewable energy and energy efficiency options and present proposals to EKPC.

In addition to being an important piece of the work to move Kentucky beyond coal and toward cleaner energy and new jobs, the collaborative plays a role in creating greater transparency and member involvement in the rural electric co-ops.

KFTC member Tona Barkley helped preside over the meeting as Vice Chair of the Collaborative, along with David Crews of EKPC (pictured left), the Collaborative's new Chair, who introduced himself to the group at the meeting. KFTC member Steve Wilkins participated as a co-chair of the Demand-Side Management Working Group. During the public comment period, EKPC Board Chair Paul Hawkins invited Barkley to present the collaborative’s annual report at the next EKPC board meeting.

Much of the discussion at the January 31 meeting focused on recommendations from the Demand-Side Management Working Group. Six of seven recommendations, which focus on increasing DSM programs in the co-ops, passed with consensus. The seventh recommendation will be brought back to the full collaborative for further discussion in April.

Mark your calendars: The next meeting of the Collaborative will be Tuesday, April 17 in the afternoon at the Perkins Building on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University. Stay tuned to this blog for more info as the date approaches. KFTC members are encouraged to attend and speak up during the public comment period.

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Here are the six recommendations that will be presented to EKPC for consideration by its management, board and member co-ops:

Measurement and Verification Recommendations

• Partner with distribution member cooperatives and allocate resources for measurement and verification (M&V) of the cooperatives' existing and future DSM efforts. This includes developing a standardized, on-going process to collect data, investigate, and report on dynamic energy and demand impacts.
• Offer generally accepted DSM quantitative and qualitative analytic services to member systems on an individual, group, and/or system average basis using each member cooperative’s unique market and cost structures.
  

Marketing and Implementation Recommendations

• Aggressively help member systems market those DSM programs with the optimal benefit-cost profiles.
• Develop strong educational, marketing and training programs for member systems to promote DSM efforts considering all potential markets and channels for messaging.
• Allocate resources toward becoming and serving as a consultant and expert for member systems in their DSM efforts. Identify best practices, provide research support, and explore partnerships to this end.

Overcoming Barriers/Challenges Recommendations

• Continually evaluate new and on-going DSM programs, refining efforts to ensure optimal penetration of target markets.

Yesterday, two Lynch city buildings got a thorough energy audit to kick-start an energy efficiency project to continue into summer. Conducting the energy audit on the Lynch City Hall and Water Treatment Plant were Josh Bills and Hope Broeker of MACED (Mountain Association for Community Economic Development) with assistance from Gregory Copley from UK's Center for Applied Energy Research.  There to learn and welcome them to the area, were Harlan County KFTC members Stanley Sturgill and Carl Shoupe.  

This week, Letcher County member, Carrie Wells, helped to build our I Love Mountains Day pinwheel collection with her art classes in Knott County.  Students from 1st grade to 12th grade made pinwheels throughout the day, ending with a total of over 200 pinwheels! 

During the day of pinwheel making, a dozen Cordia high school students signed up to travel with "Ms. Wells" and other east Kentucky KFTC members to I Love Mountains Day in Frankfort on February 14th!  The theme of this year's rally is the community health impacts of living near mountaintop removal in Central Appalachia, which has been highlighted dozens of times in the past 2 years in regional, peer-reviewed studies.   Everyone is being asked to bring one pinwheel to the rally to represent 50 people living with cancer that has been linked to the pollution from mountaintop removal mining. A study that came out in July that found that 60,000 people living in Central Appalachia have cancer because of mountaintop removal.  So, 1,200 people expected to attend with pinwheels x 50 = 60,000. You can learn more about this data on our 'Health Impacts Fact Sheet' or by registering for our upcoming Webinar on the health impacts of MTR in preparation for I Love Mountains Day! 

This year at I Love Mountains day we are using homemade pinwheels to share our message of calling for an end to mountaintop removal and transitioning to a clean energy economy.  We are asking everyone coming to I Love Mountains day to bring one pinwheel. 

Then we will deliver each of our pinwheels to Governor Beshear at I Love Mountains.  With 1,2000 of us estimated to attend, each pinwheel will represent 50 people living with cancer that has been linked to the pollution from mountaintop removal mining.   Click here to learn about the study that came out in July that found that 60,000 people living in Central Appalachia have cancer because of mountaintop removal.  So, 1,200 pinwheels x 50 = 60,000. 

But the pinwheels are also a beautiful way to visually demonstrate the hope that we all have for transitioning to a new, clean energy economy that can bring good jobs and cleaner air and water to our state!  What better way to share our message and help the Governor understand what is at stake! 

Will you join us by making and bringing a homemade pinwheel with you at I Love Mountains day?  We hope you will!  Here is a link to some super simple instructions!  And if you do, leave us a comment here to let us know how it goes!  But also don't worry if you can't make a pinwheel, we will have a few extras to share that day!

An editorial in today’s Lexington Herald-Leader urges Governor Steve Beshear to consider the homes and health of people in Benham and Lynch before allowing destructive surface mining there.

According to the article, two coal operators and their associates spent more than $500,000 to get Beshear re-elected last fall – the largest private-sector donors to Beshear’s campaign.

One donor, James C. Justice II of A&G Coal, plans to mine near Benham and Lynch, threatening the community’s water supply and quality of life. The Beshear administration has given preliminary approval. From the editorial:

With coal money talking so loudly and directly into his ear, the governor should try extra hard to hear average Kentuckians whose homes, health and future are imperiled by the coal industry’s most destructive practices.

The ridges that cradle Lynch — and are at risk of being destroyed — are part of Black Mountain, Kentucky's highest point, which school children fought to save from strip-mining in the late 1990s.

You can’t put a price tag on the history and possibilities that will be lost if Beshear sacrifices this little corner of Kentucky.

The other donor, James Booth of Cambrian Coal, has a permit to mine in Pike County that a judge attempted to block before Beshear’s Energy and Environment Secretary Len Peters overruled him and allowed the permit to go through.

Cambrian’s plan to chop 400 feet off a mountain near Elkhorn City in Pike County will pollute tributaries of the Russell Fork that were already seriously degraded by earlier mining.

The editorial follows an analysis of campaign contributions in The Courier-Journal by Tom Loftus. To read that article, click here.

To read the full Lexington Herald-Leader editorial, click here.

To learn more about Benham and Lynch residents’ efforts to protect their community, click here.

There has been some movement on the redistricting issue in Kentucky these past few days.  Here's a quick update to fill in some of the broad details. 

Republican Minority Leader Jeff Hoover filed an injunction in Franklin Circuit Court to push back the filing deadline in light of the possibly illegal and partisan redistricting.  Senator Kathy Stein joined the lawsuit, then Judge Phillip Shepherd heard the case earlier today and said that he will make a decision before the end of the day tomorrow... which is also the (tentative) deadline to file for office.

In other news, Kentucky House an Senate members have still been unable to agree on a plan for Congressional redistricting which will move back the filing deadline, at least for those offices.  In any event, this casts substantial doubt on Governor Steve Beshear's claim that he was only signing the state house and senate redistricting into law because the impending and at the time apparently immovable deadline was hanging over his head. 

In other news, several legislators have filed separate legislation to make the redistricting process less partisan, more transparent, and more reasonable than it has been this year. 

And finally, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Council has stepped forward with a resolution expressing concern with the redistricting and the loss of Lexington senator Kathy Stein.  A resolution has no legal weight, but it matters.  During our first rally in Lexington on this issue, our primary action was to ask people to contact the mayor and city council to do just this, so they deserve our kudos. 

Here are some good quotes from the Herald-Leader article. 

Councilman Jay McChord said he was "sick and tired of Lexington looking weak, acting weak" at the state level. "If they don't like it up there, so be it. Maybe it is time to send somebody else up there," he said.

Councilman Chris Ford said when an action by Frankfort legislators "harms the citizens of Fayette County, we should stand up and speak."

"This is classic gerrymandering," said council member Julian Beard. "I don't think we should duck our head and go quietly into the night."

Council Members K.C. Crosby, Bill Farmer, and  Ed Lane voted against the resolution and Council Member Diane Lawless was not present for the vote.  All 11 other council members voted yes in favor of the resolution. 

If you're a Lexington resident, please contact your city council member and thank them for voting yes if they did, or express concern if they voted no.  Remember that Vice Mayor Linda Gorton, and Council At-Large members Steve Kay and Chuck Ellinger all represent everyone in Lexington.  So they're your council members too.

Members and allies at a voting rights rally in Lexington this past December

Our restoration of voting rights amendment is on the move. Just last week House Bill 70 was voted out of committee with bipartisan support by a wide margin of 7-1. We expect the bill to come up for a full vote before the Kentucky House of Representatives any day now. In order to ensure we get the supermajority needed to pass this bill, we need your help.

Kentucky is one of only four states that permanently takes away voting rights from all former felons, even after they've served their debt to society. This directly impacts over 186,000 Kentuckians, including 1 in 4 voting age African-Americans. KFTC believes in restoring the right to vote to these citizens because is is the fair, democratic, and reasonable thing to do.

Take Action!

Do you have three minutes to make a call to help pass HB70?

Call the Legislative Message Line (1-800-372-7181) as soon as you can, and ask to leave a message for some legislators. The line is open 7am to 11pm on weekdays and until 6pm on Fridays. The operator will ask for your name and address.

Ask to leave the message for "House Leadership, Senate Leadership, Senate State and Local Government Committee,” and your own Representative and Senator (if you don’t know who that is, the operator can tell you).

Message: "Please vote yes on House Bill 70."

Thank you for taking action!

According to an article by reporter John Cheeves in the 1/29/2012 edition of the Lexington Herald Leader, Senate President David Williams recently suggested that a 78-year old man protesting mountaintop removal mining in Governor Beshear's office should kill himself.

Richard Beliles is a long-time advocate for honest and transparent government in Kentucky and chairman of the Kentucky chapter of Common Cause, a national organization that advocates for fair elections and limits on the role of money in politics. Since early January, he has taken a weekly shift as part of persistent, peaceful vigil against mountaintop removal mining in the state Capitol. In today's article, Beliles described a chilling interaction he had with Senator David Williams while protesting.

"He said, 'Are you occupying the office?' I said yes. He said, 'Well, why don't you set yourself on fire? Why don't you immolate yourself?' And then he left," said Beliles, who is recovering from cancer treatment. "It was a strange thing for David to say. It sort of shook me up."

Williams's spokesperson said the Senator was "clearly joking." But there is nothing humorous about statements like this, especially from a person in public office who holds a position of significant power.

When activists  occupied the Kentucky Capitol for four days last February, they called on  Governor Beshear to "call for an end to extreme and violent speech aimed at citizens who are working to protect Kentucky's land, air and water." To date the governor has made no such declaration. Kentuckians are still waiting. Richard Beliles, and all of us, deserve far better.

Yesterday, members of the Berea community, the Madison County KFTC and the City Council gathered to celebrate the creation of a Human Rights Commission in Berea. The Human Rights Commission was established to investigate claims of illegal discrimination, and the Berea Fairness Coalition is hoping that the HRC will be a bridge to broader anti-discrimination laws that will protect Berea’s citizens from discrimination in employment and housing based on their sexual orientation. In order to open up a dialogue between community members and the human rights commissioners on the issue of fairness, Berea’s Fairness Coalition invited the commissioners to a reception where they would be able to meet and mingle with the public. 

Berea Mayor Steve Connelly addresses the community members gathered at BC&T

The reception, which was held at Berea Coffee and Tea, attracted over 80 people from the community, who packed into the small coffee shop for a chance to meet the new commissioners. Chris Hartman, a representative of the Kentucky-wide Fairness Coalition, complimented the work of the Berea City Council, expressing his hope that Berea would be the first city in this part of Kentucky to pass a fairness ordinance.

Student activist Ethan Hamblin also commented on what he saw as a successful event: “The reception was a stunning success. We appreciate all of the community and youth that attended the event.” Even with the inauguration of the Human Rights Commission, Bereans For Fairness and the Madison County chapter will continue to fight for the right of all people to live without fear of discrimination.