KFTC along with the Sierra Club, Public Justice and the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment asked the U.S. EPA today to rescind the state of Kentucky's authority to enforce the pollution discharge permitting program under the Clean Water Act.

The request was based on the state's widespread failure to protect the waters of the commonwealth, especially in coal mining areas.

“Citizens know when the companies violate the law here, but they’ve stopped reporting it because they know the agency won’t do anything to enforce the law,” said Rick Handshoe, a Floyd County resident and KFTC member. "It feels like the state has lost control of what happens here. It’s the coal companies that run the law of the land around here, not the Kentucky Division of Water (DOW)."

There is a growing preponderance of data that shows the poor quality of Kentucky's waterways:

• nearly 2,500 miles of streams already fail to meet water quality standards;
• coal mining is the identified or "suspected" pollution source for much of this;
• numerous additional miles of streams are being polluted as a result of DOW’s lax or sometimes non-existent water standards and pollution permit requirements;
• the DOW has regularly issued permits that fail to address key pollutants associated with coal mining and known to be harmful. such as toxic selenium and aluminum. In most cases DOW requires almost no water testing to actually determine whether or not the water is being contaminated.
• The cumulative pollution level in a stream is currently not considered when setting limits for specific mining operations. As a result the toxicity of downstream waters in recent testing was between 3 and 55 times higher than state standards.

“The problem is much more widespread and more serious than the state admits. We found high conductivity downstream from almost every mine site we tested," said Tim Guilfoile, deputy director of the Sierra Club's Water Sentinels program, which has done extensive water testing in Kentucky. High conductivity is an indicator of badly polluted water. Water with elevated conductivity may not support aquatic life.

The state also is giving inadequate emphasis to water quality programs, as evidenced by the chronic underfunding of the Division of Water. For example, only four permit writers develop and review more than 2,300 permits.

The petition asks the EPA to take over primary responsibility for enforcing the permitting program, known as the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The state currently has authority, granted to it by EPA, for enforcing this program – one of the key components of the federal Clean Water Act. But Kentucky’s water program has completely failed to prevent the widespread contamination of state waters by coal mining.

A copy of the petition is here.

More than 20 KFTC members and staff have traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington sponsored by Appalachian Voices and the Alliance For Appalachia.  In D.C. we are joined with more than 200 other community activists and coalfield residents representing 27 different states.

We traveled to Washington to lobby for H.R. 1310, the Clean Water Protection Act and S.696, the Appalachia Restoration Act. Starting today through Thursday, March 11 we will be meeting with Representatives and Senators to help educate them about both pieces of legislation, and to also gain as many more cosponsors as possible. 

Just partially through day one we have already gained two new cosponsors.

Members will continue to meet and lobby with legislators and different governmental agencies over the next few days.

Yesterday, KFTC members and allies filled the halls of Frankfort for our major lobby day to support HB 70, our proposed constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society.  

Three hundred of us were there, breaking most of us into small lobby teams to talk to senators about House Bill 70.  We met with more than twenty senators total (of only 38), including many key meetings with leaders and committee chairs.  We built more and more support among legislators, slightly moving many of them in the right direction. 

At this point, we have the votes we need to pass the bill both in the Senate committee and the 60% we need to pass the full Senate.  The primary obstacle to a victory is allowing the bill to be voted on in the Senate State and Local Government Committee, chaired by Senator Damon Thayer.  

We met with Thayer with 13 people including 9 from his district, 2 religious leaders, 2 law students, and others with powerful personal stories. 

They made strong arguments rooted in values like fairness, democracy, faith, and crime prevention - and rooted in real life experiences.  When Thayer dismissed HB 70 by claiming we have a process to restore rights already, Charlie House stepped in to let him know that he's tried to get his rights back four times and has never succeeded. 

Mostly, Thayer didn't make a reasoned argument at all, instead simply saying "no" without  rationale.  He explained to members that this is a Republic, not a Democracy, and he is elected to make decisions for the people using his own best judgment.   Furthermore, he told us that as committee chair, he has the ability to decide which bills are allowed to be voted on and he has never allowed anything to come to a vote that he didn't agree with. 

Our campaign is now strongly focused on just that point - putting pressure on Senator Damon Thayer to allow the bill to come to a vote - and also to put pressure on Senate President David Williams.  We had a meeting in Thayer's hometown in Georgetown last night after the lobby day to focus on what we can do there.  More on this in another blog post soon. 

Our Voting Rights lobby day culminated in a powerful rally and included a lot of people who brought their personal stories about why we should restore voting rights:

Tayna Fogle – Former felon, Lexington
Charlie House – Former felon, Henderson
Jerry Moody – Brother of a former felon, Lexington
Rep Jesse Crenshaw – Kentucky Representative, Lexington
Gail Ray – Mother of a former felon, Georgetown
Maria Houghton – Former felon from Lexington – singing America the Beautiful
Carl Shoupe – Father of a former felon, Harlan County
Janssen Willhoit - Former felon, Lexington

We'll have some video from the event soon in the next few days.

Some local media pieces on the event:

Ashland Daily Independent Story

WTVQ Story

Wave 3 Story

 Look for another blog post soon about some next-steps.

Our big Voting Rights Rally and Lobby Day is Tomorrow (Thursday) in Frankfort!

We're working to help restore voting rights to 186,000 former felons in Kentucky once they've served their debt to society.

Several hundred of us will be in Frankfort from 9am to 2:30pm with a powerful rally in the rotunda from 1pm to 2pm.

For more details on the day, visit here

To learn more about the issue and find other ways to take action from home, including calling or writing legislators, click Here

KFTC members and allies came together in Louisville this past weekend to at Greater Friendship Baptist Church for Singing for Democracy, an event to raise awareness of our campaign to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society.
 
Down by the Wayside, a the gospel choir organized through Wayside Christian Mission, performed with help from other local singers and other acts (Anthony Hamilton, Sean Thomas, Brandi, Ray Hodges, Maria Houghton, and Bonnie Blair).  

Speakers highlighted stories of redemption and forgiveness through their journeys to recovery as well as civic engagement. Individuals like Venita Goodner, a former felon who now works for the Department of Corrections and volunteers for prison ministry and Sean Real Thomas another former felon and local spoken word artist will be included in the program.

Amidst the powerful performances and speakers, participants also took time to take action to support House Bill 70, our proposed legislation to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their time.  They filled out postcards to senators and pledged to call the legislative message line and come out to lobby in Frankfort on our major lobby day this Thursday.

Sponsoring groups included Making Connections Network, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, People Advocating Recovery, The Beacon House, Ladies of Promise, American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, Our Father’s House, Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Kentucky Jobs with Justice.

KFTC members and allies are already talking about our next Singing for Democracy event in Louisville and members are talking about other communities we might hold events in - like in Georgetown.

by Beth Bissmeyer

Louisville has always been home. I've lived in the South-end of town, in the same neighborhood, all my life, and I've always felt a sense of pride to be living in this city, but I didn't feel truly engaged in a local community until I left Louisville to attend college in Berea. During my time at Berea, I became involved with the local chapter of KFTC and learned how important it is to of in local government by going to City Council meetings and working on local energy and utilities issues. Now that I'm back in Louisville, back in my old neighborhood, I'm working on being an active contributing member of this big-city community, and attending events like the People's Forum is a big part of that.

Organized by ten social-justice groups, the People's Forum, held February 2^nd, provided a space for Louisville's mayoral candidates to speak to the issues community members care about. All mayoral candidates were invited, and nine of the eleven running--Tyler Allen, Burrel Charles Farnsley, Greg Fischer, Jackie Green, Jim King, Connie Marshall, Lisa Moxley, David Tandy and Shannon White--participated in front of a crowd of about 150 community members. The Jefferson County Chapter of KFTC, ACLU of Kentucky, Community Farm Alliance, Fairness Campaign, Hispanic/Latino Coalition, Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Kentucky Jobs With Justice, Making Connections, Metropolitan Housing Coalition, and Women in Transition organized the forum and asked questions of the candidates on topics that aren't often considered in such a public space including high energy costs for low-income families, police brutality, local foods, and domestic partner benefits.

George Eklund, a Jefferson County KFTC member, said of the forum, “It was good to bring different social justice issues up in a campaign that will be dominated by economic issues, and it was a good way to show candidates that progressives do exist in the city.”

While some of the candidates' answers were good, I didn't hear everything I would've liked to, but that gives me further reason to stay connected and in the loop about what local candidates are saying and doing. With current Mayor Jerry Abramson not seeking re-election, this is the first time in years that there has been a real opportunity for new leadership in Louisville. Abramson, who many jokingly refer to as 'Mayor for Life' has been mayor of Louisville for all but four years that I've been alive, and this will be my first Louisville mayoral election in which I can vote. I'm excited to learn more about the candidates as the election draws nearer, and I hope that candidates will actively seek out and participate in more important events like this month's People's Forum.

To check out video clips of the People's Forum from Louisville History and Issues, go here: http://www.historyandissues.org/louisville/viewtopic.php?t=1868

This week the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA, pronounced: "en-REEK-uh") is holding its annual meeting in Atlanta. Active co-op members across the country took the opportunity to highlight some of the best and worst co-op practices with a national press conference. KFTC member Steve Wilkins participated by phone.

A bit of background on the nation's electric co-ops and the issue of co-op reform from the press release for the teleconference:

Today, 900 co-ops still provide power to 42 million Americans in 47 states, but often these associations look more like big private corporations than the democratically-managed cooperatives of earlier days. These days, co-op members are asking a host of questions about the governance and energy decisions of their co-ops, and what they are doing to move toward democratic transparency and encourage energy efficiency and clean alternative energy production.

Some of the cooperatives represented at the [NRECA] conference, such as Texas’ Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC), have had a change in direction and now aim to embrace 21st century energy planning by developing aggressive, cost-effective efficiency programs and integrating renewable energy into their generation portfolios. This mode of operation represents a seismic shift from Pedernales’ previous approach. Board member Dr. Patrick Cox is excited about the co-op’s transparency, democratic board elections and adherence to business planning. He addressed the NRECA conference to spotlight changes at PEC. “I believe advocacy for member rights, ethical leadership, environmental accountability and responsible investment has resulted in and will continue to provide positive changes in PEC’s effectiveness and its relationship to its membership.”

The press conference also highlighted best practices of other co-ops in the country:

The public electric association that stands out as a champion for democratic process and for successful implementation of cost effective renewable energy is Colorado’s San Miguel Power Association (SMPA).  Board leaders have worked to make SMPA a rural electric association that is a true American institution and a model of clearly articulated democratic principles that give members a voice at every board meeting.

In addition to lifting up some of the best practices of the most open and democratic co-ops, the press conference highlighted many of the most regressive policies and decisions of co-ops across the country. KFTC member Steve Wilkins spoke of some of the problems that co-op members in Kentucky face.

In Kentucky, Steve Wilkins, a ratepayer/member of Blue Grass Energy Cooperative, which is one of 16 co-ops that distribute power generated by East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC), says that from what he can see “democracy has been lacking in EKPC where directors are almost universally handpicked by the co-ops and elected without opposition due to a lack of encouragement for open elections.” Given that EKPC “is in a relatively weak financial position because of its large debt, members are baffled that financially safe energy investments such as energy efficiency and renewables are not being pursued instead of building a financially risky coal plant, which is what EKPC is currently committed to doing.”

However, Steve didn't just tell the nation what EKPC members are up against, but also spoke about the solutions that co-op members here in the commonwealth are seeking: the plans for new power that members are sharing with EKPC and the local distribution co-ops, a strategy that would create thousands of new jobs throughout the state in energy efficiency and renewable energy while helping EKPC avoid the further financial risk of a coal burning power plant.

The work that members, including Steve, are doing here in Kentucky would bring EKPC on par with co-ops in other parts of the nation, if EKPC would pay heed:

In Colorado, Texas and New Mexico, member-owners of electric cooperatives have implemented changes to ensure open meetings, voting and election safeguards, and to guarantee other fundamental rights.

And the reforms that other co-op members are working toward, mirror similar options for reform proposed by co-op members here in Kentucky:

Former Georgia Congressman Fletcher Thompson, a Cobb EMC member, believes that adopting a “bill of rights” for the co-op will help..."We want our electric co-op to welcome input from members. We believe that sound business practices go hand-in-hand with sound energy investments.”

We had a powerful Voting Rights Strategy meeting on this past Saturday in Lexington, bringing out a total of 35 people from all over the state, including former felons, long-time voting rights activists, and people who are new to the campaign.  The focus was on building our legislative strategy to pass HB 70 - our bill to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society.   

Allies represented included The Beacon House, KY Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression, KY Jobs with Justice, ACLU, People Advocating Recovery, The KY Quakers, and the Central KY Council for Peace and Justice, as well as many KFTC Chapters.

Much of the beginning of the agenda focused on finding common ground and learning from each other - what we've accomplished as individual organizations and rooting ourselves in the reasons this campaign matters to us. 

Senate legislative strategy was also key - identifying key legislators and thinking about who we know in their districts and what it would take to move them to strongly support HB 70, our bill to restore voting rights to former felons.

Another big part was about making commitments - to generate letters to the editor, bring people to Frankfort, conduct education activities and door-to-door work, and enhance our ability to tell stories of former felons through videos and interviews.  We spent a lot of time making plant to bring as many people as we can to our March 4th Voting Rights Lobby Day in Frankfort.

Another result of the meeting was that we've set a statewide voting rights call-in day for Tuesday, February 23rd.  On that day, all of our allies will encourage members to call-in via the legislative message line, focusing on Senators, asking them to support HB 70. 

 We hope that you can plan to join us for our major voting Rights Lobby Day on March 4th and can also join us in calling and writing your KY Senator about this important issue.

KFTC has teamed up with several dozen ally groups and businesses to launch the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance (KySEA) and promote clean energy solutions for Kentucky.

KySEA's website features an informative new blog found at www.kysea.org/blog. The site has timely stories about proposed energy policies and their impact on Kentucky, examples of clean energy solutions that are already working in our state, and opportunities to take action. Recent stories include:

* Messaging that works for climate and energy issues

* Kentucky Power proposes to raise rates by 35%

* Council appointed to develop a climate action plan for Kentucky

* Indiana legislator introduces a "feed-in tariff" bill to ramp up renewable energy production statewide

Take a moment to bookmark the KySEA site. And please let us know if you have an important story or idea we should be covering. We'll cross-post many important stories here on the KFTC blog as well.

Also, be on the lookout for an upcoming announcement about energy legislation that is expected to be introduced soon in the Kentucky General Assembly.

All across the Commonwealth, KFTC members participated in events today celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr.

We also took some time to raise awareness of our Voting Rights campaign to challenge archaic laws in Kentucky that still disenfranchise 1 in 4 African Americans.

In Lexington, ten KFTC Members marched in the powerful MLK Freedom March with our banner starting at 10am, passing out voting rights handbills throughout the route. 

This is an important event for us to be at every year,” said Jerry Moody, A dedicated Central Kentucky KFTC leader who made the long march despite suffering a stroke just over a month ago.  “Building solidarity with community groups, particularly people of color groups, is key – and this is a good way to do that.”

 In Louisville, KFTC member Tayna Fogle was part of a motorcade with Wayside Christian Mission, inviting people to sign postcards to legislators about voting rights. 
In Perry County, members participated in a breakfast with a keynote speaker, followed by a march from Consolidated Baptist Church.  They took the opportunity to re-connect with the local NAACP chapter about our big voting rights lobby day in Frankfort on March 4th. 

Harlan County KFTC members participated in similar community events several days ago. 

In Scott County, KFTC members participated in a march and community event at Gano Baptist Church for the first time, with ten members participating over all.  At the community tabling event late in the evening, we connected with lots of new people in the community, including Scott County NAACP allies and three dozen people signed postcards about voting rights. 

Homer White remarked that it was one of the best community tabling events we’ve had in Scott County and many other members agreed that we should be involved every year.