Our newest chapter, located in the most northern part of our state, had an interesting  weekend last week, decided to take an opportunity to table at a music festival in northern Kentucky. The festival is located at the longest continuing operating drag strip in the country, and is a diverse collection of self-described beardos.

Many, due to the nature of the festival, the feel of the music, and the sense of community, have dubbed the festival a yearly "Woodstock in Morningview", although members felt that perhaps "Bluegrass Bonnaroo" was a more appropriate nick name for the Whispering Beard Festival. Regardless though, this was a curious crowd that brought in people from all over the state.

The Northern Kentucky chapter used this event as a chance to let people the destruction of Mountain Top Removal, giving away buttons that said I Love Mountains and Stop Mountaintop Removal, selling KFTC t-shirts, books about the destructive practice, and cds.

All weekend members were talking to beardos (some familiar with our work, some not), and running into members from all over the state. There were members from Whitesburg set up talking about their music and art, and directing their customers to our booth about some of the issues facing Eastern Kentucky. There were other members who came up by chance and picked up unscheduled shifts at the booth, and directed as many of their friends over as possible.

Each member had their own approach. Some waited as people came by to look at the signs asking people to stop mountain top removal, some stopped people to hand them buttons, some pointed people to a map detailing the overlap between poverty and strip mining, and still some stopped any willing to show  the photographs showing the destruction of paradise. As member Scott Goebel told many prospective members, "Are you familiar with the John Denver song 'Almost Heaven, West Virginia?' Well, here's a picture of a home where people thought they had Almost Heaven, and ended up with Almost Level."

By the end of the weekend the Northern Kentucky chapter recruited 25 new members, raised over $250, and put over 90 people in touch with our great organization. Here, surrounded by good bands, friendly faces, and a number of beards, the Northern Kentucky chapter found fertile ground to begin growing new power.

 "Our water is worth more than that coal!” Bennie Massey said to the Kentucky Department of Mining and Reclamation Enforcement (DMRE) at Wednesday's hearing on the proposed strip mine for Benham & Lynch, Harlan County. Bennie, Lynch's longest running city council member, joined 20 of his neighbors and friends in Middlesboro at the DMRE to speak out against the 500-acre strip mine that will threaten the community's drinking water. 

Allies from around the state supported these brave communities by answering a KFTC call to action made last week to contact KY Dept. of Natural Resources Commissioner Carl Campbell, telling him that enough is enough, respect the plans and concerns of local residents and give priority to protecting the communities' assets. Upon request from several residents at the hearing, the deadline for these comments has been extended. Click here to take action.

Along with water, residents of Benham and Lynch expressed several other fears about the proposed mine. “Mountains can't be destroyed and then expected to hold back water,” one woman explained after reading aloud an article about Pike County residents of Harless Creek suing a coal company for extreme flooding damage. “I have flood insurance right now and I live up on a mountain.”

 Stanley Sturgill (below) added, "I don't wanna be blasted out of bed every morning by those machines."

Portal 31

Residents of Benham and Lynch in Harlan County are creating a new future of their communities. They are asking for support to help stop another proposal to strip away the communities' assets and their hopes for the future.

“Our little communities of Benham and Lynch have a lot of potential. The Portal 31 Exhibition Coal Mine, Lynch Depot, Benham Theater, the Schoolhouse Inn, and the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum are all part of our history and heritage. We are planning to rehab the Old Restaurant and Old Fire Station, near Portal 31. We can continue to build tourism if we protect these facilities and the beauty of our mountains” – Stanley Sturgill

This area also boasts the highest peak in the state (Black Mountain), great quality drinking water, and local development plans that can be a showcase for the rest of the state.

That is, if they can keep coal companies from destroying everything.

Residents are now challenging the fifth pending coal mining permit application that puts all their present and future plans at risk. The latest is a 500-acre strip mining proposal that would come very close to historic buildings in Lynch. The company, Nally & Hamilton, has caused KFTC members numerous problems over the years. The strip mining on the other side of the mountain from Benham and Lynch destroyed Elmer Lloyd’s pond three years ago and contributed to additional problems last week. Check out his story here.

Harlan chapter members recently filed, with the help of Kentucky Resources Council, that an area including these 500 acres be declared Unsuitable for Mining. But Benham and Lynch residents must also fight for this individual permit to be denied while the larger petition proceeds for the viewshed and watershed be declared unsuitable for mining.

Their future and their children and grandchildren’s future depend on the right decisions.

Click the "act now" button below to send an email to the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Carl Campbell, telling him that enough is enough. Respect the plans and concerns of local residents and give priority to protecting the communities' assets.

You are encouraged to submit comments by 4 p.m. on Thursday, September 2 (this is an extension from the original deadline).

Thanks for helping and making a difference.

Nearly three years ago, Elmer Lloyd began a journey for justice on his property in Cumberland, KY after the Nalley & Hamilton owned strip mine above his home completely devastated his family's fish pond. Excessive drainage of toxins, sediment, and mud killed hundreds of fish and nearly filled in the entire pond, as shown by video footage here. Years of lawyers, inspectors, court battles, and coal company lies, ended in Elmer having to settle with the company.

“I fully believed there were enough laws to protect my property. Boy was I wrong.” Elmer, disabled underground coal miner, says of the tragedy. This past November Elmer received his small settlement and began a new journey to restore his pond. Since then he has spent nearly three thousand dollars on the restoration.

Late last week, the site above Elmer's home, now considered “reclaimed”, released another slide of silt and mud into his pond. “We had some rain, but the stream coming off Pine Mountain [onto my property] was crystal clear. The stream running off that strip job was thick mud running right into my pond.”

Inspectors came out but were resistant to give Elmer any information. They told Elmer they would be in touch about the water samples they took, and they couldn't write a violation if the company was in compliance.

“They probably won't give them an off permit violation because of all the mess I made about it the last time. They know I won't shut up about it and I'll stay right on 'em.”

Elmer is hopeful that this incident isn't as detrimental, although still very damaging. He is yet to find any dead fish, but it will take some work to fix it. If his pond takes a couple similar hits to this one, it will be right back to the destroyed state it was three years ago. 

A lot of people around here have serious damage to their homes and property, but are scared to talk about it because them or their families work in the mines. I'm just a drop in the bucket, but I don't care to tell about it.

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.

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.

By Teri Blanton

Today marks the 33rd anniversary of the signing of the surface mining control and reclamation act (SMCRA). This law was supposed to have brought some peace to Appalachia which had been mercilessly strip mined for decades. Unfortunately when the final deal was made, Appalachia wasn’t at the table. SMCRA represents not an effective law to protect the land but rather the best political compromise that could be reached in the heat of the moment.

You don’t have to spend much time in Eastern Kentucky to realize that the law has been a failure. Our mountains continue to be lost, streams buried and communities devastated. President Jimmy Carter almost prophesied this outcome when he expressed his disappointment in SMCRA to supporters at the Rose Garden signing ceremony. Carter knew, and we now realize, that the battle was not yet won. We carry the same signs, make the same arguments, and visit with the same parade of politicians, bureaucrats, and agencies that confronted our elders 40 to 50 years ago.

All things run in cycles, and we are now closer to ending mountaintop removal than we’ve been at any time since SMCRA was signed.  We have the attention of Congress and the Obama Administration. In the months ahead we need to commit ourselves to closing the deal that should have been made on August 3, 1977, and ending radical strip mining and mountaintop removal forever.

By KFTC member Silas House
Originally published in The Courier-Journal

Recently "an anonymous donor" paid for a sign to be made up and displayed at the Stonecrest Golf Course in Prestonsburg, Ky. The sign uses a photo of a semi-nude Ashley Judd that originally appeared on a 2006 cover of Marie Claire magazine. The caption beside the picture reads, "ASHLEY MAKES A LIVING REMOVING HER TOP. WHY CAN'T COAL MINERS?"

The sign is sexist, ignorant and infantile. The sign shows that the coal industry will stoop to any level to pit Appalachians against one another, and illuminates the fact that some people who support mountaintop removal will try to prop up their argument by misconstruing the facts and quotes.

Since Judd's speech on mountaintop removal mining aired, WYMT, the Hazard, Ky., news station (and a sister station of WKYT in Lexington) has repeatedly aired reports on the controversy brewing around her speech. Yet most of the controversy it's reporting on is being created by the station itself. All of its reporting has been incredibly biased. With its coverage of the sign, the reporting was not only biased, but sexist.

The sign came in response to a statement Judd made in a speech she delivered to the National Press Club in June about mountaintop removal, which she opposes. Her exact quote was, "I don't know a whole lot of hillbillies who golf." When put into context, it's clear that Judd is saying that true Appalachians cherish a mountain more than they do a golf course. And she's also pointing out that most MTR sites are not put to any use, despite a handful that have been used for things such as a prison and a golf course.

Much ado has been made of this quote. Those in favor of MTR have used it to say that Judd is using the word "hillbillies" in a negative connotation. They fail to point out that Judd starts the speech with these words: "Being an Eastern Kentuckian is the simple fact that brings me the most honor ... I ... am proud of being a hillbilly." They also say that her golf course quote is perpetuating a stereotype about Appalachians being backward. But they are misconstruing the quote and taking it out of context.

People who pass along this interpretation of the quote are doing exactly what the coal companies want them to do: they're perpetuating a lie and they're letting the importance of the issue get clouded up in something else.

The sign insinuates that Judd has made her career on taking off her clothes. Nudity is sometimes a part of acting, yes. But to imply that Judd has made her living off that is ridiculous. If George Clooney, another Kentuckian, had made the same speech, would they be putting up a sign about him taking off his clothes, since he, too, has appeared nude on film? Of course not. Because he's a man.

Lots of folks in Eastern Kentucky think that destroying the land is a lot more offensive than someone being naked. Yet the news seems to not know they exist, and certainly hasn't interviewed them.

WYMT furthered the sexism by only interviewing men during its report on the sign. The station refused to show the picture because it feared it "might be offensive to some viewers," implying the picture was vulgar instead of an artistic statement. It also threw in its own opinion with little nuggets like this: "We only found one person who thought the sign was a little over the top." That's blatantly leading the viewer/listener, and it's something that journalists are not supposed to do in this sort of report.

I believe everyone has the right to offer their opinion about MTR and Judd's speech, and I welcome differing voices. But twisting words and purposely taking things out of context is just flat-out wrong. It's lying.

When people and the media do this, however, they're doing just what the industry wants them to, as big corporations have always furthered their own causes by dividing and conquering the people. And when they do this they're simply illuminating to most intelligent folks that they don't have enough real facts to back up their argument that MTR is a good thing, so they resort to name calling and lying. That's just pathetic, and I hope more people will start seeing through these tactics.

Read Ashley Judd's comments here.

Ashley Judd wrote the statement below in response to recent attacks from industry representatives on her public comments about mountaintop removal at a National Press Club Luncheon. Ashley is a KFTC member and spoke at the 2008 I Love Mountains Day.

I am proud to be standing with so many Eastern Kentuckians everywhere who are working to build a better future. There's so much potential today, right now, for Eastern Kentucky to proudly and bravely lead the way to a new energy economy in this country, with more jobs and more justice for the people of the Appalachian Mountains. It is time for a community abused and exploited by outsiders who have never had our best interests at heart to rise and lead our entire country into a renewable energy future. We can and do have the hope and the vision to bring real, diverse jobs, money, health, and generativity that benefits the broader common welfare.  The cost of premature mortality related to coal mining in Eastern Kentucky was 3.1 to 6.2 billion every year. Kentucky's annual net loss related to coal mining is $115 million per year.  This must stop.
 
When I started speaking out about mountaintop removal, I expected to be attacked personally. I told my husband we should be prepared for it, because the coal companies are cunning, callous and greedy. They use people on the ground as their front, and pit us against one another. However, I know the derogatory and defamatory comments directed at me absolutely pale in comparison to what it is like for those who live every day in the war zone created by mountain top removal mining in our beloved communities and mountains.

 Thus, rest assured, I will continue to speak out about the many reasons I’m so proud to be from Eastern Kentucky for so many generations, and also about the things I think can be better. I stand with those whose jobs are lost by increased mechanization, and those who are a terrified to lose the coal jobs they do have, because coal does not allow for other local economies. I stand with those whose land has been stolen from them, whose homes' foundations are cracked and whose water runs orange and black. I stand with those are sick from particulate dust and pervasive environmental toxicity related to MTR. I stand with those who grieve dead loves ones, killed on dangerous mining sites, by fly rock, by overloaded coal trucks, by social problems such as addiction related to the despair this mono economy wreaks. I stand with those who grieve the 800 mountains gone forever, the 2,500 miles of stream buried. I stand with those who believe we do not have to choose between mountains and jobs, our past and our future. I even stand with those who oppose me.  I believe we can work together.  

I look forward to the chance to have a real conversation, a civil conversation, as we retire the cynical and superficial coal company-created argument that we must choose between people and mountains.  That is simply false, fear based and fear mongering. The time has come for Appalachia to have a dynamic, diverse economic base that actually supports and perpetuates our inherent richness, rather than destroying and depressing it.  

KFTC is proud to stand with Ashley and people from Eastern Kentucky who are working to build a better future in the region. There is great potential right now for Eastern Kentucky to help lead the way to a new energy economy in this country, with more jobs and more justice for the people of the Appalachian Mountains. Talking together in a civil, honest way about how we'll get there given the very serious issues we're facing today is the start of a real solution.