Join KFTC's delegation to a conference and day of action focused on transition and the future of Appalachia. The events aim to advance the dialogue about current energy extraction practices, with a specific focus on ending mountaintop removal coal mining, and advocate for a renewable energy future for Appalachia on a national stage

"We envision a vibrant weekend during which thousands will learn about the challenges Appalachia faces and ways to build a movement to end the destruction and plant the seeds of a sustainable and prosperous Appalachia," said the organizers of the events.

The conference, entitled Voices from the Mountains, will be held on September 25-26, 2010. Organizers of the Voices from the Mountain conference are planning a space for regional participants to grow and connect through strategy sessions, workshops, learning, and cultural events. Topics will include both exploration of the issues facing the region and ways to move forward.

The day following the conference, September 27th, many people from the Appalachian region will gather with conference attendees for a day of mobilization and rallying on Capitol Hill. 2000 people, including movement leaders from the region, celebrities such as Ashley Judd and Silas House, and many Appalachian residents are expected to gather.

Click here to sign up or learn more.

(adapted from Rainforest Action Network news story)

Last month, Wells Fargo became the fourth top U.S. bank to adopt a position limiting financing of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. This shift is consistent with a national move away from support for the mining practice, which recently both scientists and the federal government have confirmed causes irrevocable harm to landscape, water quality and public health.

Within the last two years, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo along with Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley have passed policies limiting their financial relationships with coal operators that practice mountaintop removal. These banks were the lead financiers of the practice prior to their policy shifts.

The move comes as a response to more than three years of national pressure from several regional and national groups, spearheaded by Rainforest Action Network (RAN). KFTC members have attended and spoken out at bank shareholder and board of director meetings during these years.

One of the major impacts of these mountaintop mining policies is that the banks are no longer financing Massey Energy, the leading MTR coal company in the country that also was involved in the April 5 Upper Big Branch underground mine explosion where 29 miners were killed. In particular, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, all of which have had substantial financing relationships (underwriting bonds or providing loans) with Massey Energy since January 2005, no longer finance the controversial company.

With the nation’s leading banks moving away from MTR, coal operators are looking toward new banks for financing. Currently, PNC and UBS are the lead financiers of the practice. PNC finances mining companies responsible for almost half of all mountaintop removal coal mined in the U.S. PNC has numerous locations in Kentucky, including in counties that produce coal. UBS has operations in Louisville, Lexington and Paducah.

Read the anti-MTR policies of various banks:
·      Bank of America 
·      Citi Bank
·      Credit Suisse
·      Morgan Stanley
·      JPMorgan Chase (page 31)
·      Wells Fargo

Comment from Teri Blanton:

Most of the work that we do around mining and clean energy issues is with government agencies or elected officials in the case of mountaintop removal, KFTC has been supporting Rainforest Action Networks (RAN) efforts to convince banks to stop financing mountaintop removal.  This effort has gained enough traction that 4 major national banks have adopted policies that explicitly denies funding for mtr.

We want to thank the KFTC members who have attended shareholders meetings to educate corporate officers and other share holders of the effects that their decisions have on the lives of the Appalachian people.  Supported by the proxy votes of other shareholders we’ve told the stories of the people who, until then, were just numbers on a balance sheet. We especially thank RAN for dedication to this project.  This is a major victory and we should savor it.

In 2009, FrankfortCAN – a community group in the Frankfort area that works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a more sustainable community – launched Lighten Up, Frankfort!  Participating households work together in small teams and over the course of four meetings analyze their carbon footprints and create an action plan to lower their carbon emissions. 

In the last 12 months, 45 households reported annual cuts of nearly 700,000 pounds or 350 tons of carbon dioxide.  The project goal for the next 12 months is to cut an additional 650 tons to reach cumulative cuts of 1,000 tons (2 million pounds) of carbon emissions.

Local organizations that formed one or more teams in the past year included several churches, the local chapter of the United Nations Association, the Cooperative Extension Service, the local utility board, Kentucky State University, neighborhood groups, and others.  Teams have also been formed by individuals not connected with any organization.

“FrankfortCAN’s approach of working with local organizations to form Lighten Up teams may have been key to our selection by the EPA,” said Fonda McWilliams, a Lighten Up, Frankfort! organizer and team leader.  “We hope more and more people will join this effort to make changes in our lives that save money, save energy and achieve a lifestyle that is sustainable.”

The EPA grant will be used to hire a part-time project coordinator for Lighten Up, Frankfort!, to promote participation in the project, and to organize a series of community workshops about energy efficiency and climate change.

The grant comes from the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice.  The purpose of its small grants program is to support and empower communities working on local solutions to local environmental and/or public health problems, and to create self-sustaining community-based partnerships that will continue to improve local environments in the future.

Appalachia - Science in the Public Interest will share in the grant. For more than 30 years ASPI has worked as an advocate for environmental protection, sustainability and social justice, using appropriate technologies that empower people to improve their lives and communities. Their Sustainable Energy Program advocates for effective solutions to the climate change crisis and works to advance renewable energy, energy efficiency, and conservation in Kentucky.

More information about FrankfortCAN and Lighten Up, Frankfort! is available at www.frankfortclimateaction.net, via email at lightenupfrankfort@gmail.com or by calling 520-320-3275.

Former KFTC chairperson and Jessamine County farmer Henry Riekert has a strong piece in today's Lexington Herald Leader. You can find his full commentary here. (The following summary is also cross-posted on website of the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance.) 

Riekert writes:

"Every 45 minutes enough sunlight strikes the Earth to power every home and building in the world for a full year. The U.S. Department of Energy has determined that enough energy could be produced by offshore wind farms alone to power the entire country. Incredible, isn't it? All that clean, renewable energy readily available and we're still burning oil and coal...."

And he wonders:

"Why can't the USA do what other countries are doing? As my German grandparents always said, there isn't anything America can't do.Of course, that was then and this is now. We live in an America where corporations are people and money is free speech. Where oil and coal corporations spend millions of dollars every year to kill legislation that threatens their industry and to discredit scientists who sound the alarm. It's an America where members of Congress earmark public money to fossil fuel industries whose profits are measured in billions. Where industry executives tell elected officials which regulators to hire and fire. We've become an America where industry spends millions more every year spreading misinformation and outright lies."

Meanwhile, here in Kentucky, legislation is currently moving forward to a) remove the current ban on nuclear energy in Kentucky, b) create a caucus of legislators whose purpose is to promote the interests of Kentucky's coal, oil and natural gas industries, c) allow utility companies to condemn private lands in order to build pipelines to transport carbon dioxide captured from coal plants, and d) call upon Congress to prohibit the US EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.  

 Anyone looking for a good source of information about these and other energy bills pending before the Kentucky General Assembly should visit the website of the Kentucky Resources Council. Look on the left side for a link to "bills we are watching." KFTC also maintains a helpful bill tracker with summaries and status updates on the bills we've taken a position on. 

Last night dozens of KFTC members, joined with our great allies from all over the state, spoke up for clean air and public health at a hearing in Winchester, KY.  The hearing was sponsored by the Kentucky Division of Air Quality and was in regards to an air permit application for a proposed coal-burning power plant in Clark County.  The plant is being proposed to be built by East Kentucky Power Cooperative and would provide power to 16 rural electric co-ops around the state.

"I am a ratepayer/member of Bluegrass Energy, which gets its power from EKPC...As my co-op's power producer, I fear that EKPC is putting me and other members at dire financial risk by pursuing a coal-fired power plant design that is certain to result in higher additional environmental costs versus any other power generation choice it might make," said Madison County KFTC member Steve Wilkins during the public comments section of the hearing.

41 KFTC members and allies spoke out against the dirty air permit application.  Each of the speakers talked about why they believe in clean air, their vision for the future of Kentucky, and the good local jobs that will be possible if EKPC chooses to go down an alternative path of clean, renewable energy.

When asked why she came out, Jefferson County KFTC member Martha Flack said before the hearing, "I think it is really important that we start looking at alternative sources of energy so that we can do a better job protecting the environment and our health... I just dont want to see another coal-fire power plant go up."

Thanks to everyone who traveled far and wide -- especially our great KFTC members in the Eastern part of the sate -- to stand up for clean air, public health, and a better vision for Kentucky!

If you haven't yet sent in comments, there is still time to do so.  Please visit this link to send your comments to the Division of Air Quality.  The more Kentuckians speaking out for a cleaner, better way -- the more powerful we are! 

Here are a few links to some of the news stories about the hearing and our work!

• KY Public News Service
  
• Channel 36
  
• WEKU
  

We will be posting more videos and pictures soon.  Stay tuned!

You can find links to watch the debate live here or you can listen to it live on WV Public Radio.

The Canary Project will also try to do some live streaming video interviews with members of the audience. You will be able to watch these interviews by clicking this Ustream link.

If you have suggested questions you would like asked please post them in the comment section for this blog post.

Downstream Strategies, an environmental consulting firm, recently released a report that urges Appalachian states to invest in developing their renewable energy infrastructure. According to an ABC News story the report:

predicts production in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee will fall nearly 50 percent within a decade and urges those states to adopt laws, low-interest loan programs and other measures to support the development of renewable energy sources.

The report goes on to say that this decline will be in part due to competition from cleaner burning natural gas but it also points to a dramatic decrease in easy to recover coal and increasing environmental controls.

Studies have shown that local ownership of renewable energy projects generates greater jobs and local revenues than corporate-owned projects. Therefore, support for local ownership of energy development will help to maximize the potential economic benefit of developing renewables.

Improvements and investment in energy efficiency can also generate new jobs and revenue, while saving businesses and residents money on energy consumption. Supporting measures include: energy efficiency resource standards, expanded demand response initiatives, building energy codes, low-income efficiency programs, and research and development support.

Finally, policy attention must be focused on developing workforce programs that will provide the skills and knowledge required for emerging and potential renewable energy industries, and should be coupled with energy-and investment-related policies aimed at spurring project development. 

According the the Energy Information Administration web site, power plants reduced their coal consumption by ten percent last year and the projections are for demand to continue to be low in 2010.

As Senator Byrd said late last year, "West Virginians can choose to anticipate change and adapt to it, or resist and be overrun by it. The time has arrived for the people of the Mountain State to think long and hard about which course they want to choose." (Byrd, 2009)

You can download the report here. And a link to the ABC News story about the release of the report is here.

From Renewable Energy World 
comes this interesting news:

On January 7, 2009, a key legislator in Indiana introduced a proposal to establish a comprehensive system of “feed-in tariffs,” designed to spur the rapid development of jobs and in-state renewable energy generation.

A feed-in tariff is a fancy name for a guaranteed rate that utility companies can be required to pay for approved types of in-state renewable energy generation. This approach has been used successfully in many places to encourage private investment in renewable energy facilities and systems. The costs are covered by a small charge on all utility customers bills.

Sustainable energy legislation, including a proposed feed-in tariff, is expected to be introduced in Kentucky during the 2010 legislative session. More information about the concept of feed-in tariffs is available in this white paper commissioned by the Kentucky Conservation Committee.

The legislation proposed in Indiana has a number of unique features. The bill would provide different rates for renewable energy projects that qualify for federal incentives and those that don’t – a provision that helps non-profits and individuals who can’t benefit from large income tax credits because their incomes aren’t large. It also contains a system of different rates for wind energy that is based on the quality of the wind resource in a particular area. This is intended to spread development of wind turbines across the state and avoid concentrations in only the windiest areas. There is also a special rate for small residential-scale wind turbines. The legislation establishes guaranteed rates for a range of wind, solar, hydro and biomass technologies, excluding biomass from forestry and coal-bed methane gas.

There's an important story being reported today by the folks at Labor Network for Sustainability.

Three significant unions have taken a position in favor of the science-based reductions in greenhouse gas emissions recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The unions involved are the Transport Workers Union (TWU),  Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA).

The full story is packed with insights and well worth reading!

Together these major labor organizations have called for developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25-40% from their 1990 levels. This target for addressing the global climate crisis is far stronger than positions advocated by President Obama or Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer. It is also a significant departure from positions taken by most other U.S. labor organizations, which have tended to support job creation and green economic development without endorsing specific reductions in greenhouse gas pollution.

According to the joint statement issued by SEIU and LIUNA,

A clear science-based target will drive a massive increase in the generation of green jobs, pubic mass transit, renewable energy, green manufacturing, energy-efficient construction and building retrofits, as well as in other sectors.

The statement from the Transport Workers Union added,

With the US suffering over 10 percent unemployment and falling living standards, we need to fulfill the promise of green jobs sooner, not later.

Both statements called for a "just transition" to the green economy to provide full protections for workers negatively impacted by climate policies, including "workers in energy intensive industries." 

It's encouraging to see that major U.S. labor organizations have taken up the call for a rigorous approach to the climate crisis. Organized labor support helps strengthen the push for sustainable energy policies that can also renew our economy and improve the conditions our homes, businesses and communities.

“Jeff Biggers exposes the truth about coal in America—how the myth of “clean coal” destroys even family histories. But Biggers is a long-time warrior in another fight—to stabilize climate and preserve a good life for young people. Let us hope his message about dirty coal is read far and wide.”—James Hansen, NASA Goddard Center, author of Storms of My Grandchildren



Reckoning at Eagle Creek takes us on a journey into the secret history of coal mining in the American heartland. Set in the ruins of his family’s strip-mined homestead in the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois, Biggers delivers a deeply personal portrait of the largely overlooked human and environmental costs of our nation’s dirty energy policy over the past two centuries. Reckoning at Eagle Creek digs deep into the tangled roots of the coal industry beginning with the policies of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. It chronicles the removal of Native Americans, and the hidden story of legally sanctioned black slavery in the land of Lincoln. It uncovers a century of regulatory negligence, vividly describing the epic mining wars for union recognition and workplace safety, and the devastating environmental consequences of industrial strip-mining.

 At the heart of our national debate over climate change and the crucial transition toward clean energy, is the Obama administration’s controversial pursuit of “clean coal.” Biggers exposes the fallacy that lies at the heart of this policy and shatters the Big Coal marketing myth that Illinois represents the “Saudi Arabia of coal.” Reckoning at Eagle Creek is ultimately an exposé of “historicide,” one that traces coal’s harrowing legacy through the great American family saga of sacrifice and resiliency and the extraordinary process of recovering our nation’s memory. Coal will never be called clean or cheap again.

“As this fine book makes clear, coal has always and ever been a curse, poisoning everything and everyone it touches—right up to the climate on which we depend for our daily bread. What a story!” —Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

“[An] enriching history…An important look at the staggering human and environmental costs of mining.”—Kirkus Reviews

"Nobody writes about Appalachia like Jeff Biggers. His voice is a swirl of history and memory, of fact and analysis, of hillbilly wisdom and journalistic outrage. Reckoning at Eagle Creek is bigger and brawnier than a memoir or cultural chronicle—it’s a passionate howl from the dark heart of American coal country."—Jeff Goodell, author, Big Coal

“Part historical narrative, part family memoir, part pastoral paean, and part jeremiad against the abuse of the land and of the men who gave and continue to give their lives to (and often for) the mines, [Reckoning at Eagle Creek] puts a human face on the industry that supplies nearly half of America’s energy…it offers a rare historical perspective on the vital yet little considered industry, along with a devastating critique of the myth of ‘clean coal.’ ”—Publishers Weekly

For more info and to watch a video trailer of the book, visit: www.jeffbiggers.com