Here is a link to MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann's program from last night, including a piece about coal mining in Kentucky

Our very own member Teri Blanton was interviewed as part of the piece and her segment begins at about the 3:20 mark.

There's a rumor that one of our members will be on Keith Olbermann's show tonight, which starts at 8pm Eastern Time and runs through 9pm on MSNBC.  If you have time to watch, check it out.  We'll link to the program when it's online. 

"Coal execs hope to spend big under new rules to defeat Conway and Chandler"

By John Cheves

Excerpted from the Lexington Herald-Leader

Several major coal companies hope to use newly loosened campaign-finance laws to pool their money and defeat Democratic congressional candidates they consider “anti-coal,” including U.S. Senate nominee Jack Conway and U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler in Kentucky.

The companies hope to create a politically active nonprofit under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, so they won’t have to publicly disclose their activities — such as advertising — until they file a tax return next year, long after the Nov. 2 election.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last winter that corporations and labor unions may pour unlimited funds into such efforts to influence elections.

“With the recent Supreme Court ruling, we are in a position to be able to take corporate positions that were not previously available in allowing our voices to be heard,” wrote Roger Nicholson, senior vice president and general counsel at International Coal Group of Scott Depot, W.Va., in an undated letter he sent to other coal companies.

Nicholson declined to comment on his letter Tuesday, after the Herald-Leader obtained it.

For the full story, click here to visit the Lexington Herald-Leader's Bluegrass Politics blog.

Today's Lexington Herald-Leader included a strong piece analyzing racial disparity in Kentucky, particularly in terms of representation in government.  Visit the Herald-Leader's Bluegrass Politics Blog here for the full story. 

"...8 percent of Kentucky’s population is black. This is a world where people are more conscious of racial discrimination in jobs and housing, of higher rates of poverty, unemployment, inadequate education and prison incarceration for blacks."

This is where black visitors aren’t welcome in all private establishments. For example, the Kentucky Human Rights Commission in 2008 settled a complaint with an American Legion post in Franklin after it refused to allow a black television repairman onto the premises. Under the terms of the settlement, the post paid the repairman $6,500 and agreed to civil-rights compliance training."

Kentucky politicians don’t address race because they don’t think they need to, said University of Kentucky historian Gerald Smith, who writes and teaches about black life in the state."

Ninety percent of Kentucky is white, and especially in rural areas, whites tend to have limited contact with people of other races, Smith said. Kentuckians often aren’t so much racist as racially oblivious, Smith said."

“There are many places in Kentucky where you can live and work and not ever see black people at all. The closest to black people they’re going to get is watching UK basketball on television,” Smith said."

Smith said he wasn’t surprised that Paul’s criticism of the Civil Rights Act did him little harm in Kentucky. A Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll in May found that one-third of Kentucky voters agreed with Paul, that businesses should get to decide whether to serve customers of different races.

“There are things that political candidates can say and do here in Kentucky that just wouldn’t fly in other parts of the country,” Smith said. “And at the same time, there are things they don’t have to say or do.”

“People who say they don’t think about racism simply aren’t confronted with it. But our elected officials should represent everyone. I realize that people don’t want to discuss racism, but we can’t just keep sticking our heads in the sand.”  - John Johnson, Kentucky Human Rights Commission

Visit the Herald-Leader's Bluegrass Politics Blog here for the full story.

Yesterday, Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear announced that nearly $1.7 million in unclaimed funds remain in the Kentucky Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program. During phase one of the program, residents could ‘reserve’ rebates. Nearly half of Kentuckians who reserved a rebate have not purchased an appliance, making those unclaimed funds now available. 

Rebates range from $50 for energy efficient appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers to $400 for solar water heaters.

Find out more here, or apply for a rebate here.

Terrific news!  The West Virginia Gazette reports that Army Corps of Engineers has decided to halt the use of the Nationwide Permit 21 for surface coal mines.  This permitting process has been used extensively in Appalachia to allow for the creation of new mountaintop removal sites with little environmental oversight.  Here is how our allies at the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition describes the NWP 21:

Before a company can start removing a mountain and dumping it into nearby valleys, there is supposed to be a rigorous permitting process to ensure that they will use good science, operate within the law and not harm nearby communities. Unfortunately, about one-third of mountaintop removal coal mining projects are approved under “nationwide permits.” These permits are designed for projects with “minimal impact” –but burying miles of streams under millions of tons of rubble is hardly “minimal impact.” During the Bush Administration, the Army Corps regularly granted nationwide permits for valley fills, even after federal judges found that the practice was illegal.

Ending Nationwide Permits will allow citizens more voice on mountaintop removal permits in their community–and it will require more scrutiny from government agencies to make sure permits are following the law and using good science. It will slow down mountaintop removal — but it won’t stop it. 

A valley fill at the head of Montgomery Creek in Perry County

Readers of this blog may remember last October's public hearing at the Pikeville Expo Center on this issue.  This is a victory that can in large part be credited to our brave members and allies in other states who stood up at that meeting to speak out against the NWP21 and to all of those who submitted written comments to the Army Corps.

UPDATE: At Tuesday's public hearing (see more below) the Army Corps of Engineers announced they have extended the deadline and are accepting written comments on the Smith plant's dredge & fill permit until June 18. Comments may be be submitted to the Corps via email: lrl.regulatorypubliccomment@usace.army.mil 

Click here for information to help you compose your comment.

_________________________________________________

More good news on the Stop Smith campaign. Tuesday night, about 125 people attended a public hearing on a proposed permit that would allow East Kentucky Power Cooperative to impact Kentucky waterways and wetlands with coal ash. Of the 32 people who took the microphone, 31 opposed EKPC's plan to build a new coal-burning power plant in Clark County.

This "dredge and fill" permit - also called a 404 permit - would allow EKPC to impact more than 14 miles of streams including 210 stream channels and nearly 5 acres of wetlands, burying about half of these waterways that feed into the Kentucky River under toxic coal ash.

Many speakers focused on the dangers of mercury in the coal ash and other potential long-term effects. The Army Corps of Engineers will consider the comments in deciding whether to grant the permit.

John Patterson, who owns land adjoining the site, said he worries about his family and how the plant will affect future generations. "This is something that, quite frankly, is scaring me to death."

Patterson said Kentucky has an opportunity to be a leader in innovative energy technology. "The eyes of the nation really are upon us," he said.

Miranda Brown, also a Clark County resident, worries about her drinking water. "94 percent of my drinking water comes from the Kentucky River," she said. Brown gets her water from Winchester Municipal Utilities, which has intakes near the site where coal ash will be dumped.

"The people of Clark County know better than to defecate in our own water. Can we trust the Army Corps of Engineers to do the same?" Brown asked.

Only one speaker, William Quisenberry of Winchester, expressed support for the plant, saying it would bring good jobs and that he trusted EKPC and the state to keep the plant safe. But many other speakers disagreed, saying energy efficiency and renewable energy would produce many more jobs. They also cited the recent Gulf oil spill and the Kingston coal ash spill as examples of industry and government not doing their jobs to ensure safety.

Allies KFTC, Kentucky Environmental Foundation and the Sierra Club offered free mercury testing at the hearing to call attention to the already high mercury levels in Kentucky waterways.

If you missed the hearing, you can replay KFTC's live blog of the event, and watch video clips from the hearing at this link: http://www.kftc.org/blog/archive/2010/06/08/live-blogging-smith-404-permit-hearing

For more information about the hearing, follow these links:

Winchester Sun article: http://www.winchestersun.com/stories/2010/06/09/loc.105845.sto

Lexington Herald Leader article: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/06/08/1298302/dozens-oppose-proposed-power-plant.html

WKYT video clip: http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/95923954.html

_____________________________

More photos from the hearing:

  

  

  

  

     

Watch it here on C-SPAN.

An important step to achieving a clean and economically viable future for rural electric cooperatives, their member-customers, and their local economies will be the establishment of “on-bill financing” programs which will help overcome the up-front costs of implementing energy efficiency and weatherization measures.

The Rural Energy Savings Program Act

(S. 3102 / H.R. 4785)

On March 10, 2010, the Rural Energy Savings Program Act was introduced in Congress. The bill was introduced in both the House and the Senate with bipartisan support.

Under the new program proposed by the bill, the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) will create a $4.9 billion loan program available to cooperatives with a zero percent interest rate. Cooperatives in turn will make this money available to consumer members in the form of micro-loans with an interest rate of no more than 3 percent, which can be paid back primarily through savings on their electric bills. This type of loan program is called “on-bill financing” because the loan payments would be made right on the utility bill. Another key component is that the loan would stay with the real property (i.e. the electric meter) rather than with the utility customer.

Bipartisan co-sponsors of the Senate version of the bill (S. 3102) include Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tim Johnson (D-SD), and Michael Bennett (D-CO).

A companion bill in the House of Representatives (H.R. 4785), was introduced by Representatives James Clyburn (D-SC), Tom Perriello (D-VA), Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and John Spratt (D-SC).

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is supporting the two bills, and you can find more information on their website.

Why this bill is important and its implications for Appalachia

The East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) is a non-profit electric utility that provides power to 16 rural electric cooperatives across 87 Kentucky counties and is currently in the permitting process for the proposed construction of a new coal‐burning power plant in Clark County, KY, called the Smith plant. About half of the counties served by EKPC are in Appalachia, and about a quarter are coal-producing counties. Many of these are some of the most economically distressed counties in the nation.

A recent report commissioned by Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, Kentucky Environmental Foundation, and the Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club found that an investment in a combination of energy efficiency, weatherization, hydro-power and wind power initiatives in the region would generate more than 8,750 new jobs for Kentucky residents, with a total impact of more than $1.7 billion on the region’s economy over the next three years. This alternative approach would meet the energy needs of EKPC customers at a lower cost than the proposed coal plant.

Federal and state policies that make possible on-bill financing for the energy efficiency and weatherization portion of the alternative are important steps toward a clean energy future for EKPC co-ops and their members. Passage of the Rural Energy Savings Program Act is integral to this future, and the jobs and positive economic impact it will bring.

____________________________________

UPDATE: As of May 12, bill now has 15 co-sponsors for the Senate version. And the House version is now co-sponsored by four of Kentucky's six representatives: Rep. Ed Whitfield (KY-1), Rep. Ben Chandler (KY-6), Rep. Hal Rogers (KY-5), and Rep. Brett Guthrie (KY-2).

Also, we should mention that on the state level, the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED) is working on a pilot of the on-bill financing idea with four distribution co-ops in eastern Kentucky. MACED and those co-ops are waiting for Public Service Commission approval but are currently working together to get the systems in place to provide on-bill financing options to co-op members. 

On April 30th, the central Kentucky chapter of KFTC held a chili-cook off friendraiser. What's a friendraiser you ask? Well it's an opportunity to raise money for the organization but with a focus on giving members a chance to hang out with one another, celebrate all of our hard work, and just have a darn good time.

The event was held at the Lexington Friends meeting house on Price street. Six folks entered chili into the contest and nearly forty people came out to partake in the deliciousness.

The chili was fantastic, and incredibly diverse. There were chilis w/ sirloin, turkey and chicken, as well as two vegan options. One chili even had cornbread baked right into it!

I'm not surprised that folks put such effort into their entries considering the prize for first place! The winner of the event took home a copy of the beautiful hard covered book about mountain top removal mining plundering appalachia, a gift certificate for a one-hour massage, and a dinner for two from Stella's Kentucky deli.

Our three wonderful judges that evening are each KFTC members with a keen sense of what makes a good chili. Member Chris Oaks who hails from the Cincinatti area explained to the contestants that what he looks for in a chili is "depth,"while Danielle Boucher who is a newer member and a UK undergraduate explained that she looks for "kick." Our third judge, Marty Mudd who is active on KFTC's land reform committee and also a member of Kentucky mountain justice informed us that he would be looking for a chili w/ "many layers."  

Our winner that evening was long time KFTC member Teresa McReynolds with her sirloin chili. However, in my opinion everyone was a winner considering there wasn't a drop of chili left by the end of the night! In addition to the cook off we also held a raffle. Tickets were $1 and raffle items were donated by several local businesses including Stella's Kentucky Deli, The Morris Book Shop, Woodland Computers, and Charmed Life Tattoo. We also had two professional massages donated by Nishaan Sandhu and Phil Robinson.

It was a rockin' good time and we ended up raising almost $280. Thanks to everyone who came out, to all the businesses and individuals who donated raffle items, to everyone who entered chili, and a special thanks to our intern Jordan Panning for coming up with the idea and organizing the event. We'll be sure to do it again next year!