By Mary Love

Jefferson County Chapter member

On August 13-15 a first-ever Community Leader Training Weekend took place at Camp Virgil Tate north of Charleston WV. The training was planned and conducted by the Alliance for Appalachia, of which KFTC is a member. Seventy-four folks participated from KY (15), TN (15), VA, (16) WV (17), PA (3), NC (2), DC (2), OH (1), and even one each from Colorado and California! 

Workshops included Community Organizing, Talkin’ SMCRA (led by Kevin Pentz), Facilitation, Economic Transition, Conflict Resolution, Youth Organizing, Pathway Away from Coal, and many more. The film Deep Down was also shown. There was plenty of time for conversation, campfires, great fellowship, and sharing, too.

This was a great opportunity to learn more about how to improve our organizations and develop our leaders. I hope that this is just the beginning of similar training events conducted by the Alliance!

A group of well-known local community activists, writers, academics and business leaders have contributed to the issue. including Wendell Berry, Vernon Haltom, Stephen George, John Todd, Adam Lewis, Sarah Forbes and many more. An article titled A Cooperative Approach to Renewing East Kentucky was written by KFTC member Randy Wilson and staff person Sara Pennington. Erik Reece contributed an interview with Joe Childers, a founding member of KFTC and current chair of the Kentucky Mine Safety Review Commission.

The premise for the special issue, according to Solutions editors, is a recognition of Appalachia as a special place and one of the most biologically diverse and culturally rich regions on the planet. Central Appalachia has the potential to become a national model of the positive transition to a clean energy future.

This July/August special Appalachia issue of Solutions is now available on newsstands and by subscribing. A year's subscription (6 issues) is $29.99 but if you identify yourself as a KFTC member by using Coupon Code APP2010 you will receive a $5 discount. If you want your subscription to start with the current special issue, please email julie.thorpe@thesolutionsjournal.com and make this request. Most of the content will also be available online, but KFTC encourages support of this nonprofit venture with a subscription or a donation.

Solutions is an online forum and print publication devoted exclusively to showcasing bold and innovative ideas for solving the world's integrated economic, social, and environmental problems.

The Alliance for Appalachia will be hosting a weekend-long training for community leaders in the southern coalfields, August 13-15, near Charleston, WV.

The training will focus on skills and information related to community organizing as well as issues such as developing economic alternatives. By providing a number of longer and shorter workshop options, our goal is to appeal to people who have been organizing in their communities for a long time, as well as those who are just getting their feet wet. Workshops include: Organizing 101, Conflict Resolution, Talking to Your Neighbors about Tough Issues, Economic Transition, Understanding SMCRA and more! Plus plenty of time for fellowship, music, movies and fun. You can see the draft schedule at here.

Registration deadline has been extended to July 31! Register here.

The ARC invites you to take part in the webinars and to share this information with others in your community. Participants will be able to provide input via electronic polling and online comments
on key issues facing the Region, such as jobs and business development; infrastructure
and capital; community and leadership development; education, training, and health;
the environment; and energy. Three webinars will be held:

• Southern Appalachia webinar (for residents of the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina): Tuesday, June 15 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
• Central Appalachia webinar (for residents of the states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina): Wednesday, June 16, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
• Northern Appalachia webinar (for residents of the states of New York,Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland): Thursday, June 17, at 10:00 a.m.Eastern Daylight Time.

Each webinar will last approximately one hour. There is no cost to participate, and no pre-registration is required.

To learn more, please visit the ARC webinars information page:http://www.arc.gov/appalachian_region/ARCStrategicPlanningWebinars.asp

Messages for the ARC

Five key strategies that could help create An Appalachian Transition:

1. Increase energy efficiency in homes, buildings and businesses

Central Appalachia has high energy usage related to a historic neglect of energy efficiency. Kentucky’s residential sector, for example, uses 24 percent more energy on average than the nation, and a recent ARC report projected that energy usage in Appalachia will grow at a rate 50 percent higher than the nation between now and 2030.High energy usage and inattention to energy efficiency have been fed by low electricity prices from coal-fired power. But those prices are rising dramatically (up 40% in Kentucky in the last five years alone) and will increase further in future years.

High energy usage has a lot to do with sub-standard housing and lack of investment in the existing building infrastructure. More than 100,000 families in Central Appalachia lack access to quality housing. Central Appalachian homes are three to four times more likely to be substandard in comparison to homes elsewhere in the nation. Approximately 25 percent of the housing stock consists of manufactured homes, most of which are highly inefficient, a share that rises to 40 percent in some counties.

2. Expand local renewable energy production

Central Appalachia’s historic reliance on coal has also meant little progress in diversifying into renewable energy sources. However, the region possesses real renewable energy potential. Wind power is possible at distributed and at utility scale, particularly on ridgetops in Central Appalachia. At the higher hub heights of modern wind turbines, West Virginia has at least 2,772 MW of wind potential, and the best wind potential in Kentucky is in the counties in the southeastern coalfields.

Federal investment could support existing efforts and create new models. USDA Rural Utility Service financing for renewable energy production and energy efficiency efforts could assist regional electric utilities in beginning to transition. A set-aside of funds for Central Appalachia through such sources as the USDA Rural Energy for America Program and the Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant could support local planning and establish needed demonstrations of community-scale renewable energy.

3. Increase sustainable management of forestland and build a sustainable forest economy

About 70 percent of the land in Central Appalachia is forested, and the region possesses a diverse hardwood forest mix. But the forests suffer from high-grading—the removal of only high quality trees to the degradation of forest quality—and the prevalence of predatory or irresponsible logging practices. Over 90 percent of the forestland is privately owned, most often by families in small tracts or by absentee landholding companies. There are few incentives or resources for private landowners to pursue sustainable forestland management, and few opportunities for local communities to have a say in the use of forestland owned by outside corporate interests.

Federal assistance could help establish a certification support center that would help small landowners and wood products businesses obtain certification. A wood products competitiveness corporation could help primary and secondary manufacturers grow, modernize and cooperate. Expanded support for management planning and cost-share programs could increase private forestland management and fill the gap of federal government budget cuts. To make woody biomass a sustainable opportunity would require more research to create harvesting guidelines, understand the relationship between biomass supply and potential demand, and identify which technologies are most beneficial economically and ecologically. And a land bank for community financing and purchase of pre- and post-mine land for sustainable forestry activities could expand local control of land currently owned by outside interests.

4. Support expansion of a sustainable local foods system

The growing demand for local, healthy and sustainably produced foods in the region’s urban fringe is juxtaposed with a fairly widespread lack of access to good foods (due to distance, income and market hurdles) within the region, especially for lower income people. Health problems linked to poor diets are major issues in the region, and efforts to increase access to good local food are a critical part of the solution. In addition, there is significant economic and job creation potential in the food and farming sector. Economist Ken Meter found in 2007 in Virginia that $2.2 billion in annual income could be created for farmers if all of the state’s residents bought local farm products just one day a week.

Federal investment could build upon these local efforts by, for example, creating a grants pool administered by ARC and USDA that would expand these initiatives and launch new ones. Other new USDA financing and assistance efforts supportive of local food enterprises and initiatives could include set-asides for Central Appalachia, such as new the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program.

5. Invest in environmental remediation and restoration of land

Communities in Central Appalachia face serious challenges in how to remediate surface mined land as well as how to deal with the impacts of acid mine drainage, slurry ponds and other issues.  While proper remediation methods can never restore land to its pre-mining condition, and should not be an excuse for allowing continued destructive practices, there is a need for strategies to address the damage that has already happened. While the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) sought to address the reclamation of land that was mined both before and after passage of the act, numerous problems with the design and implementation of the law have meant inadequate progress in remediating those sites.

The federal government should direct more resources to environmental remediation in Central Appalachia through changing the formulas in the AML and other programs. It should increase support for innovative and improved efforts at reclamation, including the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, the work of John Todd and Samir Doshi at the University of Vermont, and local efforts like those of East Kentucky Biodiesel that look to combine land restoration with bioenergy production. Decisions should be driven by citizen involvement and local planning to decide the best use of these lands.

Hello all,

I am writing today to inform you about an exciting opportunity for West Virginia youth this summer. On Brighterplanet.com, there is a grant that would bring $5,000 to the West Virginia Youth Action League to develop a summer program to work side by side with other grassroots groups to develop various sustainability projects. All of our sites are low income communities who are looking to build their economy.

The grant will allow for up to 15 West Virginians to work in these communities and work with the residents living there to develop jobs. Those who work will earn a fair-wage stipend to work with these communities.

The link to vote is http://brighterplanet.com/project_fund_projects/145

In addition, you can read more about the summer program at:http://www.seac.org/wvyal/summer

When you go to vote, all you need to do is go to the grant, register to vote and then vote three times for “Build It Up, West Virginia!” Votes are pouring in as I write this email, but as of 10:48 PM on May 3, we are in 2nd place at 557 votes. We can catch up to the first place grant which has 900 votes as of right now, but it takes mass organizing. Contact your friends, family, neighbors, and elected officials and ask them to vote three times and spread the grant proposal onward. We have less than 2 weeks to build up and back the summer program and win this grant. Only the proposal with the most votes wins the award.

Thank you so much for your dedication to building a sustainable future to West Virginia. We need all the support we can get

Most Sincerely,
Billy Astrove
WVWC ’10 (December)
SEAC
astrove_wg@wvwc.edu

This spring a series of “listening sessions” were held in various locations around the region as part of the Appalachian Regional Development Initiative. The purpose of the sessions was to gather opinions from local stakeholders on the challenges facing communities across Appalachia and potential opportunities for economic and community development.  Over 100 people attended the The final session was held in Morehead, Kentucky on April 15^th.

Attendees formed into 12 groups, each working separately on what they thought were challenges facing their communities and then on what were possible opportunities.  These were then reported to the entire group and recorded.

KFTC member Doug Doerrfeld and staff person Martin Richards attended the session and took the opportunity to talk about The Appalachian Transition Initiative principles and goals.  These included developing measures to geographically target resources to counties most in need of support, promote initiatives that build community, leadership and entrepreneurial capacity, and design ways to ensure the investments reach low-income people and communities.  To achieve these goals, several ideas were suggested including improving low-income housing, a green jobs program, expansion of renewable energy options, expansion of a sustainable local food system and investment in environmental remediation and restoration lands.  The work being done in Benham and Lynch on community energy was highlighted under "hope for the future".

  Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency were also in attendance and representatives of the coal industry took the opportunity to criticize EPA’s recent increased scrutiny of the industry’s water pollution and new Comprehensive Mountaintop Mining Guidance Document.  Doug Doerrfeld spoke thanking EPA for “its long overdue yet very welcome recent actions to protect the people and environment of central Appalachia.”  Doerrfeld went on to say that a clean and healthy environment is essential to Kentucky’s future economic development in its mountains.”

 Also in attendance were a number of KFTC allies offering important information about their respective work. They were Tom Carew from Federation of Appalachian housing Enterprises, Rick Clewett with the Cumberland Chapter of The Sierra Club, Jason Bailey from Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, Stacey Epperson of Frontier Housing and Dave Kreher of Peoples’ Self Help Housing.

People who are not able to participate in the sessions are encouraged to share ideas on what the Federal Government can do to help support economic and community development in your community and across Appalachia. Comments will be incorporated into the feedback generated from the listening sessions and will be accepted through April 30, 2010.

To submit comments go to the I Love Mountains website http://www.ilovemountains.org/appalachian-regional-commission/.

The Charleston Gazette ran an AP story today about a bill in the Kentucky General Assembly to "encourage" coal companies to plant nectar and pollen-producing trees and plants on strip-mined mountains.

The hope, according to bee-researcher Tammy Horn, is to reduce the harmful impact of mining on state's honey bees. While KFTC has not taken a formal position on the bill, several individual KFTC members have been vocal about the issue.

Clay County KFTC member (and bee-keeper) Randy Wilson told the House committee yesterday:

"You don't have to blow up mountains to have bees. This bill is just window-dressing for the industry."

The story explained the issue this way:

"In mountaintop removal mining, forests are cleared and rock is blasted apart to get to coal buried underneath. The leftover dirt, rock and rubble is dumped into nearby valleys, sometimes covering streams. The practice has for years been a source of contention between coal operators, who say it is the most effective way to get at the coal, and environmentalists, who say it has irreversibly harmed the mountains and streams. Coal companies usually plant grasses on mined land -- not the native sourwoods, tulip poplars, goldenrods, asters and other blooming trees and plants that bees need."

The bill passed unanimously through the committee after its sponsor, Rep. Fitz Steele (D-Hazard) told members that coal companies would not be required to comply with any new rules.

Harlan County KFTC member Carl Shoupe, was also quoted in the AP story. He told the reporter that coal mining hurts creatures large and small and that the mountains would have ample blooming plants for bees if coal companies didn't destroy them. Shoupe said:

"That's what we've been trying to tell everybody. This mountaintop removal is just devastating the whole ecosystem, and no one wants to listen.''

The whole article, written by AP reporter Roger Alford, is a good read. It's too bad that Kentuckians have to go to West Virginia to find a paper willing to cover the story!

The Decline of Appalachian Coal Data compiled by Downstream Strategies in Morgantown, West Virginia, found that coal employment in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia has dropped by about half since 1983.

The Daily Yonder writers looked at actual employment data for Wise County, VA, which was the focus of the Washington Post article. Although Wise County is located in the heart of Virginia's coal fields, mining jobs provided just 11.5% of county employment there in 2004, fewer than the jobs in retail (14.1%) or government (21.7%).

As Bishop and Marema write,

"Coal has been a declining part of the Appalachian employment picture for more than half a century. As the industry mechanized, it needed fewer miners. When more coal was mined from the surface, beginning in the early 1960s, the industry needed fewer miners still...In the last generation, the total coal employment has fallen by half. In the 30 years before that, the decline was steeper."

Their piece ends with a challenge to the popular notion that the coal jobs are falling due to environmental regulations.

"Coal is losing employees in the eastern mountains, but not because of any war. Coal is a shrinking part of the economy in Appalachia, both because the industry is efficient and because reserves are falling. Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that the (Washington) Post’s story portraying coal’s economic importance in Appalachia fits neatly with the coal industry’s desire to fight regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and mountaintop removal mining."

Rick Handshoe

The movement to end mountaintop removal mining is featured this week in a cover story of the LEO, a free weekly newspaper in Louisville. The article, written by Jonathan Meador, can be found here.

The story features Floyd County KFTC member Rick Handshoe.

“I go down in (that valley) to hunt, and there’s nothing there,” says Handshoe, adding that because of the contaminated runoff generated by local mountaintop removal mining operations, the water line had to be dismantled, and water is now piped in from elsewhere at a greater overall cost. “Some of the people here, they call people from Louisville and Lexington ‘outsiders,’” he says. “But you’ve got a stake in this too. You guys are drinking the water that’s coming from here."

Citizens marching to the Capitol in support of the Stream Saver Bill

It also focuses on the close relationship that Rep. Jim Gooch, chairperson of the House Natural Resources Committee, has to the coal industry, and places responsibility for inaction on the Stream Saver Bill at the feet of Governor Beshear.

"If you wonder why someone in Gooch’s position is allowed to repeatedly kill the routinely unsuccessful Stream Saver Bill — which would significantly reduce the toxic pollution created by surface mining — every time the bill lands in his committee, you don’t have to look much farther than the governor’s mansion."

State Senator Kathy Stein, a key sponsor of the Stream Saver Bill (SB 139), is also quoted:

“They (coalfield legislators) continue to support the coal industry and everything that they say — that coal’s so good for the economy — but if you look at the poverty rates in some of these counties with coal producers, you find it’s not the case. If you’re so damn good for eastern Kentucky, then why does eastern Kentucky end up perpetually one of the poorest regions in the nation?”

Rep. Yarmuth meeting with coalfield resident and member McKinley Sumner

And the story gives a nod to U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, a primary co-sponsor of the Clean Water Protection Act. He refers to a recent study by Downstream Strategies which notes that coal production in central Appalachia is expected to "decrease by as much as 50% over the next decade while becoming increasingly expensive to mine."

“The report kind of validates what a lot of us have already known,” says U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-3. “What peripheral evidence has shown is that coal is something any economy cannot depend on. A third of the number of people in coal mining are employed now (compared to) the peak of production.”

By Roy Silver, Harlan County chapter member

"The biggest thing is our water resource.  Our water is really good now. What’s more important the water or the coal?  This is the best place in the world to live. You're not just taking out the coal, you're destroying generations of people who could live here and raise their families here.”  Bennie Massey, Lynch City Council

Harlan Development/A & G wants to strip mine Black Mountain above Lynch.  It would drain into Looney Creek, which feeds the Lynch Reservoir.

The discharge is a violation of the Kentucky Five-Mile Policy.  It “prohibits discharges into a stream within five miles upstream from any public water supply intake. Looney Creek feeds the head waters of the Cumberland River.  The strip mine could also impact downstream communities. 

This strip mine would place 18 new sediment ponds above the community, set off blasts near homes and historic buildings.

It will encroach on the upper elevations of Black Mountain.  Harlan Counties. The Kentucky Resources Council, KFTC and many others protected in 1999.

  To strip mine this area, the company must get a permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers US EPA.  It will mine through and create a sediment pond at the headwaters of Long Rock Branch, (Magazine Hollow).  This feeds the Lynch Reservoir.  This strip mine could damage four other headwater streams.  

A&G’s Ison Rock Ridge strip mine in Wise County, Va. has been suspended.   It had history of federal violations.  Owners of Harlan Development Corporation owed over $1.5 million in mine safety violations.  Lynch residents are asking that this permit be denied.  They are also asking for a public hearing from the US Army Corps of Engineers. 

Send an email to the US Army Corps of Engineers and EPA asking officials to respect the concerns of Lynch residents, protect their water and community resources.

Submit comments by 4pm on Monday, February 1st.
Click here to go to the KFTC Action Page to send your letter.

Comments will be accepted after the deadline. For more information, contact colleen@kftc.org.

You can also send a letter by fax to:
Nashville District Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
(Attention: Marty Tyree)
3701 Bell Road, Nashville, TN 37214
Fax 615-369-7501