A reclaimed stream in Letcher County

What

The federal Office of Surface Mining Control Reclamation & Enforcement (OSM) has proposed some new rules intended to protect vital headwater streams across the country from the impacts of the mining industry. Before OSM can implement these proposed rules, it has to do an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) of the likely environmental impacts of the proposed rules.  This study is supposed to look not only at the impacts of the proposed new rules but also at various other options, such as implementing the original 100-foot Steam Buffer Zone rule and the option of not changing the status quo.  

By proposing these new rules OSM is implementing another step from the Memorandum of Understanding drafted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in June 2009 that outlined how the Obama administration will address mining’s impacts on water quality.

OSM is holding an “Open House” for the public to learn about the proposed process for their Environmental Impact Study. We understand there will be a large room where people will be able to go up to different tables and learn about different aspects of the EIS. Then we have been told there will be a private room where people will be allowed to give 2-3 minute comments on the process of the proposed EIS; for example, someone might give a comment asking that OSMRE study the impacts of removing the trees and shrubs along the sides of the streams.

When

Where

At the Hazard Community College, just south of Hazard on Route 15.

KFTC encourages anyone who wants to go to this hearing to learn more or give comments on the proposed EIS to please go to the hearing. We will have some staff and members there for the entire day to help KFTC members and allies navigate this process. However, given the structure of the “Open House” we are not just trying to get people in the room.

For those unable to attend the Open House, you may also submit comments on the EIS by any of the following methods, although OSM requests that you use electronic mail if possible. Comments must be received by OSM by July 30, 2010.

• Electronic mail: Send your comments to sra-eis@osmre.gov
• Mail, hand-delivery, or courier: Send your comments to:
  

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Administrative Record, Room 252-SIB
1951 Constitution Ave. NW.
Washington, DC 20240.

For more information:

• OSM’s public notice in the Federal Registry
• KFTC talking points document
• Call Kevin Pentz at 606-335-0764 or email kevin@kftc.org

Since McKinley Sumner's family land in Perry County was trespassed on 3 1/2 years ago and literally stolen (part of it was gone) by International Coal Group, McKinley has spoken out about the problems with mountaintop removal and how coal companies harm people when they don't follow the law. 

With a lot of persistence, his family had gotten an agreement with the company to address the problems.  Part of that agreement required the company to plant trees and replace the soil.  They told McKinley that they were going to do it both last fall and earlier this year. 

After McKinley brought it to the attention of the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources and multiple elected officials that the reclamation had still not been completed, the coal company finally planted 60 white oak trees on the section of land destroyed.  If the trees don't take root over the course of the next year, the company committed to replant the trees. 

"I'm glad I didn't give up because you can get something done!" McKinley reflected.

We had a great statewide Steering Committee meeting this past weekend in Hazard with over 35 people coming together to help

We spent most of the agenda exploring all pieces of our Canary Project campaigns fighting for protection of mountains and people in Eastern KY - from litigation to lobbying, community ground work, and much more. 

Another agenda item was officially accepting chapter petitions from Scott County KFTC and Northern KY KFTC - bringing us from 11 chapters to 13 in one day.  

Here are some pictures of the day.

        

Election Day is here!

We're a little more than half-way through, with good ground work happening all over the state.

In Bowling Green, folks are making the last of their voter mobilization calls.

In Louisville, we just had a big voter mobilization motorcade, go through four neighborhoods, reminding people to vote.

Folks there are also still making voter mobilization calls and giving rides to the polls.  

In Eastern Kentucky, Perry County members are investigating a vote-buying scheme in the county from which several people say they've received $20 for a pledge to vote for particular candidates.  We've been notifying authorities to try to get them shut down.  The Lexington Herald-Leader is running a piece about vote-buying reports all over the state.  More on this soon.

In Lexington, two members are making calls to our member list, reminding them to get out and vote.

In Scott County, members passed out Voter Guides on Main St in the morning and are making a few of their last calls.

In Northern Kentucky, folks are passing out Voter Guides and getting ready for their big Chapter Formation meeting tonight at 7pm.

In Madison County, we've been passing out voter guides, and giving out the phone number to the local cab company who's giving out free rides to the polls. 

  

  

All across the Commonwealth, KFTC members participated in events today celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr.

We also took some time to raise awareness of our Voting Rights campaign to challenge archaic laws in Kentucky that still disenfranchise 1 in 4 African Americans.

In Lexington, ten KFTC Members marched in the powerful MLK Freedom March with our banner starting at 10am, passing out voting rights handbills throughout the route. 

This is an important event for us to be at every year,” said Jerry Moody, A dedicated Central Kentucky KFTC leader who made the long march despite suffering a stroke just over a month ago.  “Building solidarity with community groups, particularly people of color groups, is key – and this is a good way to do that.”

 In Louisville, KFTC member Tayna Fogle was part of a motorcade with Wayside Christian Mission, inviting people to sign postcards to legislators about voting rights. 
In Perry County, members participated in a breakfast with a keynote speaker, followed by a march from Consolidated Baptist Church.  They took the opportunity to re-connect with the local NAACP chapter about our big voting rights lobby day in Frankfort on March 4th. 

Harlan County KFTC members participated in similar community events several days ago. 

In Scott County, KFTC members participated in a march and community event at Gano Baptist Church for the first time, with ten members participating over all.  At the community tabling event late in the evening, we connected with lots of new people in the community, including Scott County NAACP allies and three dozen people signed postcards about voting rights. 

Homer White remarked that it was one of the best community tabling events we’ve had in Scott County and many other members agreed that we should be involved every year. 

"We passed out a lot of information and had a lot of great conversations with people," Truman Hurt from Montgomery Creek reflected. 

During the festival, Perry County KFTC members had an information table and circulated petitions about protecting our mountains and streams, creating a state-level earned-income tax credit, and restoring voting rights for former felons.

A number of people were excited about KFTC's new bumper sticker "Friends of Mountains and Miners."  This included KFTC members who have been supportive of mine safety and new folks who have miners in their families are also concerned about mountaintop removal mining.  It was a great way to engage people in a conversation about what KFTC considers responsible mining and the possibilities for future economic transition.

The festival was also a great opportunity to illustrate the range of different issues KFTC works on.  State Senator Brandon Smith stopped by the booth at one point to chat with local members.  Members asked him to continue his support for KFTC's voting rights campaign and were interested to learn about his work as the new chair for the Commission on Poverty.

"We made a lot of contacts who we can follow-up with, and we got 5 new Perry County members.  Overall, this was a great festival!" Truman concluded.

It was 28 years ago that KFTC became "official."  According to the book Making History: The First Ten Years of KFTC,

"Twenty-six people from 12 counties formally organized and named the Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition on August 17, 1981. They also agreed on a statement of purpose:

The Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition is a group of community based organizations and individuals promoting more effective and efficient community services through a fair and equitable taxation system throughout the state of Kentucky, with a particular interest in coal counties.

Also at that meeting, members "passed the hat for the first time. They netted KFTC's first funds, $38.

This Hazard meeting was not the first meeting of this group of people who were coming together from across eastern Kentucky. The group had met on several prior occasions to explore the possibilities of working together on common issues. Shared concerns included the quality of (or lack of) community services and public education in coal counties (which suffered from gross inequalities in the tax system) and the rights of landowners.

Many of the people involved were organizing in their respective home counties around these and related issues. The decision to launch a new organization was based on the understanding that the issues were all related and shared a common underlying roots cause: "the inequality of life with a single dominant industry – coal – that was not contributing its fair share."

"People, especially in eastern Kentucky, were getting to know each other. All around the region there was a loose network of people who had worked together with each other in various ways over the past 15 years or so. What we didn't have in those days was a structured connection between us. There was a no interlocking of these community-level efforts, until KFTC" — Herb E. Smith

Thanks to everyone who is helping KFTC continue to make history! If you're not a member click the here or Join button at the top of the page and become a part of the next 28 years!

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth strongly believes that we need better candidates if we want better decisions made in state and local government – and we want YOU to seriously think about what it would be like to run for office or to help one of your friends run.

Come to a powerful, energetic weekend at the beautiful Hindman Settlement School where we’ll build skills, connections, and confidence to work on elections or run for public office.

Led in partnership with Wellstone Action, a national center for training and leadership development for progressives, workshops topics will include campaign planning and budgeting, telling your story, grassroots voter contact, fundraising, base-building, stump speeches, developing a winning message and more.

For more information and to register online, Click Here.

     

A number of Canary leaders worked together to put on a tour about the impact of outlaw coal mining in Perry County several staff from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), including Peter Lehner the executive director, Julia Bovey, Federal Communications Director, and Patrice Simms, one of their head lawyers.  NRDC is a national environmental organization that works on coal issues and renewable energy.  This organization is a part of the Reality Coalition, which seeks to break down the myth about clean coal.

KFTC members wanted to illustrate the problems with the non-enforcement of coal mining laws that are supposed to protect miners and the environment and the devastation of mountaintop removal and other radical strip mining.  They also highlighted the problems with the falsity of carbon capture and sequestration and how NRDC’s support of these measures will likely result in billions of dollars of additional investment in the coal industry.  Eastern Kentuckians from Floyd, Harlan, Letcher and Perry Counties proposed a better investment would be in creating jobs in Eastern Kentucky around renewable and energy efficiency.

“I was pleased to meet an ally and hope that we can create better relationships to get more help on local, state, and federal issues.  I hope NRDC can be a great ally in our fight to stop mountaintop removal and valley fills.  I also hope that with what they saw and heard they took a way a better understanding of how this issue affects our communities,” Patty Amburgey, a member from Letcher County reflected.

Tom Fitzgerald, director of the Kentucky Resources Council, also presented to the delegation.  Jim Welch, Vice Chairperson of the Brown-Foreman Co, and his wife Marianne, both supporters of KFTC were instrumental in the success of this event.

You can check out Julia’s reflections and some video footage take on the trip Here

Last week about 20 KFTC supporters recently gathered for an informal house party in Perry County. People ate good food, shared fellowship, played music together, and discussed the upcoming legislative session.

Members also took some time to reflect on why they have value KFTC. From these reflections, a series of Haikus were born. Here are some of the creative gems that were born out of this exercise:

Empower people
Education excitement
Haikus for justice

Motivate justice
Fantabulous hopes and dreams
Wonderful action

Calm before the storm
Family community
starry wonderment

Warning rebuttle
We must rise up for action
Of the earth’s power

Freakin’ progressive
Empowering Kentucky
Cool KFTC

Community voice
Warning of earth’s rebuttal
We will scream out loud

Clean coal is bullcrap
KFTC rocks my socks
Motivated folks

Simple liberty
Can be attained with action
With people power