Today, in celebration of the national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., KFTC members from Perry and Letcher counties joined hundreds of folks from eastern Kentucky organizations, churches, schools, businesses and communities for the annual MLK Day Community Breakfast hosted by Hazard Community & Technical College.  This year's event, held at HCTC's main campus in Hazard, featured the theme 'Visions of Unity' and keynote speaker Renee Michelle Shaw of KET. 

Building on opening remarks, "Dr. King had more than a dream, he had a vision", Ms. Shaw drew parallels between the vision of King and the visions many communities in eastern Kentucky are working toward, including the eradication of poverty, educational attainment, and "transformative progress."  Shaw made specific note of the disproportion of "young black men in prison garb rather than graduation gowns." 

The event also featured a community service project with information tables from local organizations. The Perry County KFTC Chapter used this space to share upcoming legislative session events and talk with attendees about HB 70 , a Restoration of Voting Rights amendment, and our upcoming Voting Rights Lobby Day on March 8.

Russell Oliver said he was "glad to see KFTC front and center at a different kind of event."  We signed up two new Perry County members, sold two T-shirts, and collected several signatures on the Voting Rights petition, including new Cordia School boy's basketball coach and former UK basketball star, Rodick Rhodes.  Coach Rhodes, along with Perry Chapter member and Cordia director Alice Whitaker brought the Cordia boys basketball team out to the event.

During the ceremony HCTC Director of Cultural Diversity Elbert Hagans read aloud the names of Appalachian African-American teachers from several eastern Kentucky counties while local NAACP president, Ludrenia Hagans-Sheperd lit candles in their honor.  He later thanked the local organizations who participated in the community service project by reading each name aloud (including Perry County KFTC), while Letcher County Steering Committee Rep., Elizabeth Sanders volunteered with WMMT equipment to capture audio from the event. 

Shortly after, local KFTC member and HCTC professor, Jenny Williams presented this year's MLK March banner created by youth attendees of the ceremony.  After the breakfast and keynote event, this banner and youth from the event lead a musical and lively march into downtown Hazard to Consolidated Baptist Church for more speakers, a gospel choir performance and luncheon, all hosted by the church. 

This invitation is from our friends at Appalshop.

Appalshop and the Central Appalachian Regional Network invite you to attend the first Rural Broadband Summit & Hearing. This event will be held in Whitesburg, KY on Oct. 11–12 and is presented by the Center for Rural Strategies, Center for Media Justice, and Free Press.

We’ve reached a critical juncture in the debate over the future of wireless Internet in America. AT&T is arguing that it needs to take over T-Mobile to extend broadband to rural Americans, and the Justice Department has sued to stop the deal, in part because of AT&T's rural-build out claims. Now is the perfect time to discuss what will work to connect millions of underserved Americans to high-speed Internet.

Your input is key as we discuss how the future of health care, education, jobs and civic participation depends on access to broadband. That’s why we’re inviting you to attend the first Rural Broadband Summit & Hearing. This event is a great opportunity for rural advocates and media justice advocates — as well as local, state and federal policymakers — to discuss community-based solutions to closing the digital divide.

Here are the details:

What: Rural Broadband Summit & Hearing, Oct. 11–12 

Summit Info: Oct. 11, 1–7 p.m., Letcher County Cooperative Extension Service, 478 Extension Drive, Whitesburg, Ky.


Hearing Info: Oct. 12, 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m., Appalshop Auditorium, 91 Madison Ave., Whitesburg, Ky. 
Special guests include USDA Administrator Jonathan Adelstein.
Guests are encouraged to participate in both events.

Click here to learn more and to RSVP.

Contact Center for Rural Strategies 606 632 3244 for more information

Mountain Heritage 2011 in Letcher County was a great weekend filled with great music, delicious festival treats and of course some Voter Empowerment.  Despite some cool weather on Friday, the crowds were energized and friendly.  Helping out at the table that day was Celeste Johnson, she helped register 5 voters and gather 8 signatures on our petition for better taxes for Kentucky’s working class.

“Tabling at the festival is a nice way to talk to new people”, Johnson said.

The next day the weather was much better and the crowd was even larger, and we registered 7 more folks and collected even more signatures on the tax petition. 

There were many great conversations had at the KFTC table this year, and great folks to continue talking about the future of Kentucky.  Over all we registered 12 new voters and can’t wait for our next opportunity to register more. 

Late last week, KFTC members and staff from Eastern KY chapters came together in the new Whitesburg KFTC office to hone our Voter Empowerment skills. 

We covered everything from analyzing the political landscape, learning about KFTC's long-term approach to Voter Empowerment, learning how to register voters, to planning outreach events over the next two months.

We prepared for outreach tabling at the Black Gold Fest (Sept 16th), Mountain Heritage Festival (Sept 23rd-25th) and the Apple Festival (Sept 30th-Oct 1st).   

This week we've been reporting to you on the Environmental Justice Listening Tour that KFTC members hosted for the Environmental Protection Agency. You've read the comments of members in Clay County, at the Cordia School, in Whitesburg, and in Harlan County here; and you've witnessed regular Kentuckians speaking directly to the EPA here and here.

Today we bring you one more inspiring voice from eastern Kentucky and a report on the false controversy that paid coal industry spokespeople and coal politicians have tried to cook up.

Ada Smith is a KFTC member from Letcher County. She spoke to EPA administrators during the community meeting held at the Appalshop theater in Whitesburg last Thursday. First Ada shared her concerns that that those living near mountaintop removal coal mines "can't turn their faucet on and get a drink of water, that they can't take a bath without being scared that there's arsenic in their water...There's been stories all this week of people's well water being on fire under the ground." Then, as if sensing the political backlash that had just taken place early in the day in Frankfort, Ada told the EPA: "My state is not going to respond to the concerns I have around coal mining." She said, "What I know is that...our state people are not going to do the job, but [the EPA] can."

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Earlier that day, in an Interim Subcommittee on Energy of the General Assembly meeting at the Capitol in Frankfort, politicians railed against the EPA's visit and the fact that the Agency had the opportunity to hear regular Kentuckians voice their hopes and concerns without being drowned out by the noise of coal industry. Media outlets who reported on the EPA's listening tour, and on the comments of residents, also picked up the story of the false controversy created by industry spokespeople and legislators--often without a response from KFTC or local residents.

Read some of the comments by the politicians that put the interests of the coal industry and elected officals before those of the regular Kentuckians dealing everyday with the impacts of the industry at the bottom of this blog post. Those politicians who blasted the EPA, who discounted the voices of the Kentuckians addressing the EPA during the tour, and who spoke up to protect the industry include: Rep. Leslie Combs, Rep. Tim Crouch, Rep. Myron Dossett, Rep. Rocky Adkins, Rep. Lonnie Napier, Rep. Fitz Steele, Sen. Robert Stivers, and U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers, among others.

KFTC couldn't let such irresponsible comments go unacknowledged or unchallenged and promptly issued a statement, highlighting the importance of the listening tour and the opportunity that Kentuckians had to speak directly to the agency charged with protecting them, as well as calling out the politicians for their silence when the deadly impacts of the industry are made known. WYMT printed this statement in full.

On Thursday and Friday of this past week, more than 150 eastern Kentucky residents participated in a tour with leaders of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. At stops in Manchester, Vicco, Whitesburg and Lynch, the residents over and over asked the federal officials to enforce the law and help us create safe and healthy communities. Concerned mothers, teachers, students, retired coal miners, nurses, entrepreneurs, the unemployed and many others spoke directly to the EPA officials.

• We expressed our vision for a prosperous eastern Kentucky and shared our hope that by working together we could create economic opportunities so that our children won’t have to leave the region to find meaningful work.

• We expressed hope that those jobs would not put workers in danger, and would not do damage to our land and water.

• We asked for assurances that our drinking water not make us sick, and that those companies that are poisoning our water be stopped and held accountable.

• The mayor and residents of one small town asked that mining not be allowed to destroy the town’s drinking water source and future economic potential.

• One family asked that someone stop the dust and water pollution from a coal processing plant that a doctor told them is making their daughter sick.

• And we let it be known that one of the biggest obstacles to safe workplaces and healthy communities is systematic non-enforcement of the laws designed to protect our health and safety and inaction by the state and federal agencies.

As Kentuckians and members of KFTC, we thank and commend the EPA officials for coming to listen to the people most impacted by the decisions that they make regarding the issuing of permits and enforcing the law.

As if on cue, by Friday afternoon, the airwaves and the internet were filled with howls of protest from paid coal industry spokespeople (who had turned down a meeting with the EPA officials) and state and federal politicians, complaining that ordinary Kentuckians had the chance to have their concerns heard by the EPA. They claimed the EPA had no right to come to Kentucky to see and hear for themselves the dangerous and deadly impacts of the modern coal industry. They expressed outrage that EPA got an opportunity to hear, and the chance to value, the opinions and concerns of the people who bear the consequences of an industry that has no respect for the law – a reality these politicians won’t acknowledge.

But not one of these politicians expressed any concern about the families who are without safe drinking water; about the children who are sick because of the pollution in their neighborhood; about the damage to the homes and drinking water wells of families who live near mining operations, or our youth who must leave the region to find meaningful jobs while they do little to help create new job opportunities.

While these officials were howling against the one federal agency that has shown some inclination to enforce the law, their past silence is also of note:

When a study was released recently showing that people who live near mountaintop removal mines have an increased risk of cancer, we didn’t hear one word of concern for the people who are sick, only attacks on the scientists.

When a study was released recently documenting that children born in communities near mountaintop removal mines have a 26% higher incidence of birth defects, we heard not one word of concern or compassion from these same political leaders.

When it was demonstrated that specific coal companies had been filing fraudulent water monitoring reports and poisoning streams below their mine sites (violations the companies have acknowledged), we heard not one word of disappointment from these same politicians.

But when a federal agency – charged by Congress with enforcing the laws that protect our health, our water, our air and land – comes to talk with real people affected by these issues, Kentucky’s political leaders are beside themselves with fury over the very notion that an enforcement agency might actually make coal companies obey the law.

Have these politicians no shame, whatsoever?

In Kentucky, we still have a chance to help lead the nation toward a new power, clean energy economy with more and better jobs, healthier communities, and more affordable energy. But we have to stop the destruction being caused today by our old power coal industry and old power ways of thinking. And that requires leaders with vision, compassion, and political courage. The ones squawking about the EPA doing its job have shown, again, that they are not these leaders.

If your state legislator or Congressperson is one of the politicians listed below, please consider writing a letter directly to him or her. Also, send a letter to the editor of your local paper, especially if they've run a story about the EPA visit or the false controversy. You're encouraged to use points in KFTC's statement above, putting the voices of regular Kentuckians before the coal industry and its politicians.

There are tips on writing a letter to the editor here.

And you can locate your legislator here.

Let us know if you send in a letter by calling your local KFTC organizer or emailing info@kftc.org.

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Here are some of the comments by legislators and industry spokespeople, with a link to the news source for each comment:

• Rep. Rocky Adkins: “My problem with the federal EPA is that I think they have an agenda and I think they are tied to groups that have an agenda and I think that is flat wrong for a federal agency to have a drawn opinion without hearing a cross-section of views and opinions come from everyone.”
• Rep. Lonnie Napier: "I just want my fellow legislators from Eastern Kentucky and those in the coal industry to know that many of us have and will continue to support any efforts to protect our coal industry."
• Rep. Myron Dossett: "I pledge to...stand with my fellow legislators in Eastern Kentucky to fight any Federal restrictions on the coal industry."
• Rep. Fitz Steele: "[A] federal agency coming to our communities to conduct the people’s business in private? That does (not) pass the smell test.”
• Rep. Leslie Combs: "I continue to be disappointed by the EPA and their actions toward Kentucky’s coal industry...[T]o stage meetings and site visits with people sympathetic to only one side of this issue is mind boggling to me. It’s bad enough that the elected officials weren’t invited – to snub our people is just terrible. I do feel that in my position I have worked cooperatively to engage the coal industry with other businesses and industry across the state to meet common ground. This stunt of the EPA is a slap in the face to me, my constituents and all of Kentucky.”
• Sen. Robert Stivers: "I was shocked to have to read in the paper that the EPA was visiting my hometown. If they truly wanted to hear the impact that mining has produced, they could have, as a courtesy, invited legislators and other elected officials.

On August 18 and 19, Kentuckians had the opportunity to speak directly to key officials of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about their vision for Kentucky and, especially, about their concerns related to the devastating effects of mountaintop removal mining and valley fills. KFTC hosted Lisa Garcia from the Washington, D.C. office, who is a special advisor to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Environmental Justice, and Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming, administrator for EPA's Region 4, as well as seven other EPA directors and staff members.

EPA Region 4 Administrator Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming (left) listens to the concerns
of Anne Carr (far right) and other residents in Lynch.

The tour brought the EPA in contact with more than 150 Kentuckians, many of whom were able to share their stories and concerns. At stops in Manchester, Vicco, Whitesburg and Lynch, the residents over and over asked the federal officials to enforce the law and help create safe and healthy communities. Concerned mothers, teachers, students, retired coal miners, nurses, entrepreneurs, the unemployed and many others spoke directly to the EPA officials.

• We expressed our vision for a prosperous eastern Kentucky and shared our hope that by working together we could create economic opportunities so that our children won’t have to leave the region to find meaningful work.
• We expressed hope that those jobs would not put workers in danger, and would not do damage to our land and water.
• We asked for assurances that our drinking water not make us sick, and that those companies that are poisoning our water be stopped and held accountable.
• The mayor and residents of Lynch asked that mining not be allowed to destroy the town’s drinking water source and future economic potential.
• One family in Clay County asked that someone stop the dust and water pollution from a coal processing plant that a doctor told them is making their daughter sick.
• And we let it be known that one of the biggest obstacles to safe workplaces and healthy communities is systematic non-enforcement of the laws designed to protect our health and safety and inaction by the state and federal agencies.
  

As Kentuckians and members of KFTC, speakers also thanked and commended the EPA officials for coming to listen to the people most impacted by the decisions that they make regarding the issuing of permits and enforcing the law.

In Clay County, Anne Shelby described her community's efforts to protect their land and water through a Lands Unsuitable for Mining petition, which the state ignored and, as she says, often ridiculed. Listen to her passionate statement here (and check back on this blog throughout the week for more inspiring Kentucky voices speaking directly to the EPA):

After leaving Clay County, the caravan of Kentuckians and EPA officials headed to Knott County to hear from more community members.

 

The Hazard Herald printed a detailed article on this next stop on the EPA's visit, to the Cordia School in Knott County:

Ivy Brashear, [pictured above right] a Viper resident and graduate student at the University of Kentucky, thanked the EPA for changes that have been made to coal mining regulations recently. She said she believes that EPA officials have gone to bat for the environment[...]

“Thirty years is all we have left of the coal, 30 years and then they are gone,” she said. “They are going to leave here and we are going to be here with dirty water and dirty air and cancer clusters and birth defects.”

And to round out the first day, the EPA officials heard from a long list of folks from throughout eastern Kentucky. The Appalshop theater in Whitesburg was packed as KFTC members spoke about their concerns, including a barrage of recent studies that show the harmful impacts of strip mining and valley fills. Reporter Erica Peterson with WFPL-FM in Louisville followed along on the whole trip and had this to report on the Whitesburg stop:

Later that night, people packed into a theater in Whitesburg and testified about water pollution, the perils of an economy that’s too dependent on coal and the industry’s political influence.

“I want to talk for a moment about another insidious form of coal pollution," said former Kentuckians for the Commonwealth chair Doug Doerrfeld

“It is hard to overstate the degree to which the influence of coal has also polluted our democracy,” he said. “While coal mining provides just 1 percent of all jobs in the state and the industry contributes 2.5 percent of Kentucky’s economic output, the power of the industry’s money in our political system is overwhelming.”

The next day, the EPA wrapped up their trip in Lynch, in Harlan County. The Harlan Daily Enterprise reported on the story there:

“We have a beautiful area. Right now, it is virgin territory as far as surface mining goes, and we like to keep it that way,” said Stanley Sturgill, member of Lynch City Council and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth.

...

A statement by former council member Carl Shoupe captured what seemed to be the sentiment of many of those gathered.

“We’re not against coal, but we are asking the EPA to listen to us and help us preserve and save what we cherish. EPA is our last bastion,” said Shoupe.

Media coverage of the tour was extensive and came from a variety of sources. The local news station, WYMT, broadcast two reports on the tour, one on the community testimony in Whitesburg and one on the stop in Lynch.

Throughout the trip, Keyes Fleming and Garcia stated that environmental justice is important to the administration and that low-income and minority voices need to be heard in the decisions that affect them most, particularly as they relate to pollution. Keyes Fleming said the residents who spoke to them throughout the trip were heard "loud and clear."

By Friday, the internet and airwaves were full of complaints from the coal industry about the visit. In their wrap-up, WFPL reported on the controversy:

[Charles Baird of the Coal Operators and Associates] criticized the lack of advance notice to members of the media other than WFPL. But there were local media outlets at each event.

And two employees from the state Division of Water were present. Also, Bill Bissett of the Kentucky Coal Association confirmed that he was notified of the tour, and the EPA offered to meet with coal supporters for an hour on Friday.

But many members of the mining industry were at a conference in Lexington.

Soon, we will report more on the backlash from the coal industry and the coal politicians--and KFTC's response to their irresponsible statements.

Perry County resident Pam Maggard told EPA officials that if coal mining continues in Eastern Kentucky, there needs to be a bigger emphasis on safety and environmental issues.

“If they are going to mine then they need to do it with regards to miners’ safety and community health and safety,” said Maggard. “We need clean air; you can see how dusty it is here. We need homes left on their foundations. We need clean water. We can find another electricity source, we can’t find water.”
...
Tiffany Stiles, a 2011 graduate of Cordia, is currently a radiology student at Hazard Community and Technical College. She and her fiancé and hoping to build a home, but she fears the land they have may end up being negatively affected by coal mining.

“I don’t want to have to move away to build a life,” said Stiles.

As natural gas drilling becomes more and more abundant in Letcher County, the folks in that chapter have become as educated as possible on the issue.  Nitro-Fracking is the preferred method of fracking in the region, which has been more difficult to understand because most natural gas drills in America tend to use Hydro-Fracking.

Gasland, the documentary by Josh Fox, was recently nominated for an Academy Award and has really helped shine a light on the recent struggles that communities all over America are facing to keep clean water.  While the film is based around Hydro-Fracking, many of the problems are the same.  Much like other extraction industries, the natural gas companies have used fear to try to silence concerned citizens, and put money in the pockets of elected officials to turn a blind eye to what is happening.

Last Thursday, the Letcher County Chapter gathered for a screening of Gasland.  One member in attendance, Celeste Johnson lives in the community of McRoberts where natural gas drilling is quickly consuming the hillsides, leaving much of the community frustrated with the constant noise of drilling and fracking, not to mention fear over the safety of their water.  “I felt like it was scary, not knowing what the nitro-fracking is doing here, whether or not it’s destroying our water the same way as in the movie,” said Celeste.  Currently there are two gas wells within 100-200 feet of the community’s water plant.

This May 20 to 27th, the seventh annual Mountain Justice Summer Camp will take place in the beautiful mountains of Letcher County, Kentucky.

The week-long camp will feature workshops, guest speakers, discussions, and live music.Participants will learn about mining practices, community organizing, economic transition, and actions they can take to protect Appalachian ecosystems.

The camp will take place from May 20 to 27. For information and registration visit http://www.mountainjustice.org/.

Nally & Hamilton, the 4th largest coal producer of surface mined coal in Kentucky, was put on notice this afternoon that citizens plan to sue the company for 12,000 violations of the Clean Water Act.

The violations occurred from May 2008 through June 2010 and happened at more than a dozen of the company's mines in Bell, Harlan, Knott, Knox, Perry, Letcher and Leslie counties.

The allegations involve failing to perform accurate testing and monitoring of pollution dumped into Kentucky waterways. As in a similar ongoing case against ICG and Frasure Creek Mining, the results of many reports were copied exactly from one reporting period to the next and submitted as new reports.

"Before our collective vision for renewable energy resources, a renewed economy and a new politics that reflect a true democracy can be realized, the destruction of our air, water and land must be stopped," said KFTC Vice-Chair Suzanne Tallichet in a telephone press conference. "That collective vision explains why we are involved in legal actions against coal companies such as ICG, Frasure Creek and today, Nally & Hamilton."

She was joined by representatives from Kentucky Riverkeeper, Appalachian Voices, the Waterkeeper Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"We don't know what's being dumped into our waters. We can't trust the reported data," said Pat Banks of Kentucky Riverkeeper. "Submitting a false report is an irresponsible and dangerous act – and so is failure to enforce" the law.

Also similar to the ICG / Frasure Creek case, the monitoring reports Nally and Hamilton did submit "were piled in dust-covered stacks and had not been reviewed for compliance in years," explained Donna Lisenby with Appalachian Voices. They reviewed those permits at the London office of the Kentucky Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement .

After filing the ICG and Frasure Creek claims last October, the groups "waited five months to see if [state officials] would make good on their promise to enforce the Clean Water Act," Lisenby continued. Instead, they've seen the opposite coming from the Beshear administration.

"If the government fails to prosecute then we are going to do it and do it vigorously," said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., representing the Waterkeeper Alliance. He called on the U.S. Attorney and the Kentucky Attorney General to prosecute the companies for fraud.

The speakers noted that water pollution carries a cost for human health. Tallichet pointed out that Kentucky's 5th Congressional district, represented by Rep. Hal Rogers and where all these violations occurred, ranks last in the nation in life expectancy, physical health and overall well-being.

Rogers recently used his position in Congress to attempt to block efforts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to make coal companies comply with the Clean Water Act.

"Mining companies discharging toxic pollutants in our water is nothing new to our coalfield citizens,"  Tallichet said. "Too many of us have been getting sick and dying for too long. It's high time that mining companies are held accountable for their actions.

"At the same time, why not invest in wind and solar energy sources as neighboring states have? Energy efficiency is also a very important step in ensuring our energy future. A more vigorous state-wide weatherization program would create hundreds of jobs."

 A copy of the 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue letter sent to Nally and Hamilton is here.

News Coverage:

• Environmentalists accuse Kentucky mining company of faking data (The Courier-Journal)
• Group files notice of intent to sue mining company (Lexington Herald-Leader)
• Groups announce intent to sue coal company (CNHI)
• Enviro groups: Ky. coal company falsified reports (MSNBC - Associated Press)
• Another citizen lawsuit against a coal company spotlights Kentucky's regulatory breakdown (Institute for Southern Studies)
• Environmental Groups Plan to Sue Coal Company (WFPL-FM, Louisville)

KFTC members were part of New Power at work in room 131 of the state capitol annex today. The room was filled with clean energy supporters ready for the economic justice and development opportunities that House Bill 239, the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, is offering. And legislators got the message.

"All options on the table is what we're going for," responded Rep. Jill York to testimony provided by HB 239 sponsor Rep. Mary Lou Marzian and Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance members (of which KFTC is a founding member) in support of the bill.

Rep. Leslie Combs, chair of the House Tourism Development and Energy Committee where the bill was presented for a discussion-only hearing, set a positive tone in her opening statement. "I like to consider myself open-minded and I am open to all ideas that are for the benefit of the people."

Archie Fields and Jeff Chapman-Crane

Jeff Chapman-Crane, a KFTC member and a constituent of Combs from Letcher County, was one of those present. He praised Combs's efforts:. "I was pleased that she was willing to hear this bill and it is a good sign for any legislator from Eastern Kentucky to do this. I complement her leadership."

If enacted, House Bill 239 - the Clean Energy Opportunity Act - would establish gradual renewable and efficiency targets that utilities would meet over time, and long-term renewable energy price guarantees for renewable energy producers. The bill would also require investments to improve housing efficiency for low-income families.

Testifying in support of House Bill 239 were (left to right): Jason Bailey, Jim King, Matt Partymiller, and Rep. Mary Lou Marzian.

Jim King, president and CEO of the Federation for Appalachian Housing Enterprises, testified about why affordable housing groups across the state support the bill.

"The current course of energy in the commonwealth is a threat to families in need of affordable housing. If energy continues to rise at the course it is rising now, assuming no changes, the average utility bill will double by 2015. This is a high burden for low-income families – the same families that live in the homes that are the biggest energy users. People are facing an 'eat or heat' situation."

King said that the bill would improve energy affordability for the families that FAHE and other affordable housing groups serve and create local jobs in Appalachian Kentucky.

Matt Partymiller, operating manager of Solar Energy Solutions, told legislators just how many jobs would be created and how much money Kentucky could attract if this bill were enacted. He stated that implementing a state Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (REPS) is a signal to national and international renewable energy production and manufacturing companies that Kentucky is making a long-term commitment to a new energy market. And this signal will bring jobs.

Partymiller noted that millions of dollar in contracts for renewable energy installation in Kentucky were awarded to out-of-state companies in 2010 and expects to see the same thing happen this year. He also pointed out that due to commitments to renewable energy that exist at the state level in Ohio and within the TVA utility service area in Tennessee, both states had attracted billions in manufacturing investments in the last two years. Right: A slide from Matt Partymiller's presentation showing a solar installation at the University of Kentucky

"When you look at the jobs we've lost in construction and manufacturing, this is an opportunity to give some of these workers jobs," Rep. Marzian said.   

If we do nothing? "We will continue to see jobs going to other states," Partymiller said. "For all the installations I have done, I have bought parts from OH, IN and TN. It's unfortunate that we don't see the development of these products here in Kentucky."

A couple of committee members already have seen the benefits of renewable manufacturing investments in their districts. Representatives Harmon, McKee, Kim King, Martha Jane King and York pointed out connections they had in their own districts to the issues raised by the speakers.

"I like to brag on Corning in my district." Rep. Kim King said. "They are now making glass for solar panels." A glass and ceramic making company, Corning Inc. is headquartered in Harrodsburg.

"I am excited for you all to be here," echoed Rep. Martha Jane King. "Hemlock Semiconductor, which makes a raw material for solar panels, is just over the county line from us. Their $2.5 billion dollar investment is spilling over into our counties and bringing jobs and investment. I think we need to look to the future."

Hemlock Semiconductor opened up operations in Clarksville, TN in January of 2009 and is expected to create 900 jobs when fully operational. They were attracted to Clarksville in part due because TVA, the electric utility that serves the area, offers 10-year price guarantees for renewable energy production. These price guarantees – similar to one of the policy mechanisms contained in House Bill 239 – are driving up the use of solar panels in the region.

York said that she had not realized the manufacturing job potential of enacting this type of legislation prior to the hearing. She also said she appreciated the tone set by Reps. Combs and Marzian during the proceedings.

"When we lose the adversarial nature, we can really look at what is on the table."

Please consider calling to thank Representative Combs and House Leadership for allowing this discussion to take place.

Call: 1 (800) 372-7181

Message: "Thank you for promoting good discussion about House Bill 239 and the tremendous benefits that clean energy can bring to Kentuckians. Let's work together towards a favorable vote on it next year!"

Here is a link to a video of the committee hearing. The discussion of HB 239 begins after about 1 minute. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13061665/highlight/154813