Yesterday, Saturday, May 15 was a pretty unremarkable day in most respects.  For us, collectively as Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, there wasn't anything singularly huge on the calendar, but we decided to try to compile quick stories about a lot of little things that happened throughout the day and present them as this - A Day in the Life of KFTC. 

At 7 a.m. KFTC members in northern Kentucky came together outside of Ockerman Middle School in Florence to start setting up tables for the big Relay for Life yard sale.  Alex Searles organized the KFTC table, but eight members participated in all, selling items that they donated to the  cause and passing out information about KFTC.  They also invited those interested to the big NKY KFTC Chapter Formation meeting on Tuesday.  By the end of the event at 4 p.m., they brought in $150 and made a lot of key contacts with new people.  Members also left with KFTC Voter Guides to hand out over the next few days.

At 10 a.m. the KFTC booth at the Butchertown Art Fair in Louisville got rolling.  Many of the candidates for mayor were there and most of them dropped by the KFTC table to say hello.  The event was in a neighborhood where KFTC does a lot of work, so many people at the festival  recognized us, and cheered for KFTC.  It gave a lot of our members who don't volunteer with us every month a chance to drop by and plug into our work.  A few people said they'd been meaning to join KFTC and took membership envelopes or joined on the spot.  Others asked about voting locations and we made lists of people to call back on Monday with that information.   Nine hours later, at 7 p.m., we packed up and headed home. 

At 10:30 a.m. a workshop started at the Pine Mountain Sustainability Symposium on "Steps Towards Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy" the workshop was facilitated by KFTC leaders Carl Shoupe and Roy Silver, among others.  This was just one of many events our members participated in throughout the powerful three-day conference designed to bring together specialists, practitioners, educators, and organizers to share their experiences and learn about model projects throughout southeastern Kentucky.  The symposium included hands-on trainings, workshops, woodland hikes, and garden tours with local and regional experts working on food, energy, and forest issues.

At noon, Tyler Birdwhistell and Bethany Baxter met in downtown Georgetown to go door-to-door in the Scroggin Park Housing Authority neighborhood - passing out KFTC Voter Guides and letting people know where their voting location is.   After about two hours, they had covered half of the neighborhood, which was enough for a couple of us to come back the next day and finish it up in an hour and a half. 

"I ran into one woman who is a former felon - so she'd had her right to vote taken away from her when she was much younger.  She told me the she worked for years to get her right to vote back and that she almost gave up a few times.  But she got them back during the Patton administration and has voted ever since." - Tyler Birdwhistell

At 3 p.m. a small group of KFTC folks visited the Peace and Global Citizenship Fair at Bluegrass Community Technical College in Lexington.  It was a great event organized by BCTC’s Students for Peace and Earth Justice.  For our part, we canvassed the crowd with a big stack of KFTC Voter Guides, asking people to cast an informed vote on Tuesday.  Kudos to BCTC’s Students for Peace and Earth Justice for putting together a great event that is getting a bit bigger every year. 

At 4 p.m. the Madison County KFTC members kicked off their Spring Friendraiser, with more than 70 people enjoying a potluck, cornhole and games, a great silent auction, live music by Mudpi, a short program about the awesome work of KFTC, and apparently a game that involved more than a little rolling around in the mud.  Members brought in $700 in donations and had a lot of fun before winds picked up and a hailstorm heralded an early end to the event.  We'll likely have a separate blog entry on this exciting event in the next few days, so stay tuned.  

In addition to all of that, members ran voter mobilization phone banks throughout the day in Bowling Green, Louisville, and in at-large (non-chapter) areas of the state, to name a few places, and members passed out KFTC Voter Guides or handbills about the election at events and in their neighborhoods throughout the commonwealth.  

No doubt, our 6,000+ members across the state accomplished an awful lot in the name of social justice on Saturday that will never make it to this blog - conversations with neighbors, writing letters to elected officials, etc.

It's a lot of little things, but this was just one day.  And day after day in community after community, it adds up.  So keep at it folks. 

What can we do tomorrow?

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!

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.

Click here to watch the animated video, The Story of Cap and Trade.

The Governor's Conference on Energy and the Environment will take place at the Lexington Convention Center on Wednesday, September 30th and Thursday, October 1st.  There is a charge for attending, but scholarships are still available (see the link below). 

According to the information page, this year's agenda will address the following topics:

• How do we achieve energy security in a carbon-constrained world?
• How do we develop our biomass resources?
• What opportunities do we have to increase our renewable energy portfolio?
• How can smart grid technologies help us achieve our energy efficiency objectives?
• How are actions at the federal level going to affect Kentucky's energy landscape?

The agenda includes a session presented by state and federal elected officials about Kentucky's energy landscape and a session that will discuss "new opportunities" in that landscape for our state.  The decisions our state must make around questions of energy and the environment at this critical moment will steer the use of taxpayer money well into the future. 

The questions covered on the agenda point to even bigger questions for KFTC. What do we want Kentucky's energy landscape to look like in the coming years?  What direction will we head as a state in terms of both energy reliance and our economic future?  How can we facilitate a clean, sustainable, just transition in our communities?  This conference is a chance to hear the answers the Governor and policymakers are offering to these important questions and to voice your feedback about those suggestions.

  Click here to link to the state information page about the conference, which includes registration and scholarship information.

Even though the General Assembly isn’t in session, you can still call your Kentucky Senator and Representative and leave a message to let them know what you think about issues like Coal, Tax Justice, Economic Development, and Voting Rights.

Call 1-800-372-7181 to leave a message for your legislators.  The message line is open 8am to 4:30pm Monday – Friday.

If you don’t know who your representative and senator are, just ask and the operator will tell you.

Also, you can write a letter or email to your senator and/or representative.  Find their contact information online at www.lrc.ky.gov/Legislators.htm

Finally, if you'd like to schedule a meeting with your legislator, along with other KFTC members in your district, just contact your local KFTC Organizer and we'll work with you to set up a meeting. 

“Well, once the coal goes away, I just don’t see what you do to keep the show going.”             Gov. Paul Patton

Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues Blog Post:

University of Kentucky historian Ron Eller, author of the recent Appalachian history Uneven Ground, argues that tourism and other industries could replace coal mining and lead to greater prosperity. But former Gov. Paul Patton of Pikeville, now back in the mining business, says the region cannot support its current population without coal.

Eller is among those who want to wean Appalachia from its historical dependence on coal. “We have to do two things,” he said when asked about the future of the Appalachian economy: “Look for other alternatives [to coal mining] and stop limiting those alternatives by destroying the terrain.” In order to ready the region for transition to tourism, Eller urges the state to “stop giving out permits to surface mines above 2,000 feet” above sea level — an act that would end most Eastern Kentucky strip mining.

The Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, based in Berea, says promotion of entrepreneurship and “micro-businesses” with five or fewer employees is the key to the region’s economic future. MACED President Justin Maxson argues, “If you add just one job at 10 percent of the micro-businesses in Kentucky, that's 5,800 new jobs in the state ,” and current economic-development strategies “ overlook an important swath of entrepreneurship in the mountains.” 

For decades, the best-known entrepreneurs in the Appalachian coalfield were coal operators. Paul Patton, right, was one. Eight years in Kentucky’s highest office has made him less optimistic – or as he puts it, more realistic – about a non-coal economy. Patton was never a strip miner, but says surface mining isn’t an obstacle to economic diversification. “It’s a tradeoff,” he says, holding up his hands like a pair of scales. “You can’t have a modern society and a pristine environment. You can’t say you want all the benefits [of development] and then ban something every time human life is affected. You just can’t.” Asked about his own administration’s progress on Appalachian development, he sat back in his chair for a moment. “Well,” he smiled, “it’s a lot harder than I expected. I didn’t really get the results I wanted.” Pressed to say what happens when the coal runs out, he was frank. “Virginia City,” he said, naming the Nevada boom town that became a ghost town when its silver ran out.“Well, once the coal goes away, I just don’t see what you do to keep the show goin’.”

See the Rural Blog for more

There were three strong energy/coal related Op-eds in the Lexington Herald-Leader today.  If you missed them, check them out online.

Costly King Coal, by Mick McCoy

Solar payback in Kentucky, by Matthew Partymiller

A renewed source of renewable energy, by Greg Kocher

A financial report released yesterday shows that the East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) should avoid the high capital costs of a new coal fired power plant, or its already weak financial position will worsen.  EKPC is a generating and transmission cooperative utility with 16 member distribution co-ops, serving customers in 87 Kentucky counties, which plans to build and operate a 287-megawatt coal-fired power plant called Smith #1 in Clark County, Kentucky. 

EKPC's plan to build a new coal fired power plant is both expensive and bad, as it ignores the reality that carbon dioxide will soon be regulated and taxed in some way.  The already burdened people of south eastern Kentucky should not be asked to pay for taking what is obviously the wrong fork in the road to our energy future," said KFTC member and Clay County resident Susan Dansereau.

The report by TR Rose Associates, titled “The Right Decision for Changing Times,” was commissioned by three organizations – Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club, Kentucky Environmental Foundation and Kentuckians For The Commonwealth – concerned with the health, environmental and economic impacts the Smith power plant would have for co-op customers and Kentucky residents.  Its recommendations are based on extensive review of EKPC financial data and its executives’ and experts’ testimony to the Kentucky Public Service Commission.

Also, read some of the news coverage about the new report:

The Kentucky Senate showed how out of touch it is with the best interests of Kentuckians with its revision of House Bill 537 last Friday.

On the last regular day of this year’s session, the Senate took the governor’s poorly written energy bill that would do little good and added support for nuclear power plants and oil/gas drilling in state parks and on university property.

Because the changes were last-minute, the House did not have a chance to consider them and may do so when legislators return for two days, March 26 and 27.

In a press statement KFTC called for the House to soundly reject HB 537.

“Kentuckians are ready to take positive, bold steps in transitioning to a green energy economy. In order to protect our citizens and our economy, we ought to be leading the way toward clean energy and energy efficiency,” the statement read. “HB 537 ends up doing just the opposite of what it should.”

When the day started last Friday, HB 537 was stalled on the House floor. Sen. Bob Leeper had proposed attaching his Senate Bill 13, in support of nuclear power, to the bill. Although the Senate had already passed SB 13 by a 29-6 margin, it appeared to be dead in the House.

Senate leaders, KFTC citizen lobbyists were told last week, didn’t want SB 13 added to the bill because they thought it would also cause HB 537 to die in the House.

So HB 537 was sent back to the Senate Natural Resources & Environment Committee, which adopted a committee substitute late Friday. The new bill keeps almost all of its original provisions. Added to the bill were Senate Bill 13, Senate Bill 138 and Senate Joint Resolution 67. After getting approval from the committee it was sent to the floor and passed 37-1. The only No vote came from Sen. Charlie Borders.

SJR 67 directs the Department for Energy Development and the Kentucky Geological Survey to “quantify the potential oil and natural gas resources on state-owned and university-owned properties.” It also directs the energy agency to develop criteria “for permitting oil and gas operations.” SJR 67 was adopted by the Senate in February, passed the House 90-5 last week and sent to the governor.

SB 138, which had passed the Senate and was still on the House floor, is very similar but takes the oil and gas leasing a step further. It actually authorizes the “Finance and Administration cabinet to lease mineral rights owned by the state and by public universities.”

The late-hour action by the Senate meant the House did not consider the bill. But it will have a chance to do so when legislators return on March 26. KFTC already had a position strongly opposed to HB 537, and that was based on its own lack of merits before the many other provisions were added.