New Energy and Transition News | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

New Energy and Transition News

LG&E/KU rate case attempts to alter reality

An electric meter in the winter
February 1, 2019 at 05:51pm
Energy Democracy, , Sustainable Energy, Central Kentucky, Energy Democracy, , Sustainable Energy, Harlan County, Energy Democracy, , Sustainable Energy, Jefferson County

Over the past several years, Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities (KU) have pushed legislation that would eliminate net metering – the retail electric energy rate that rooftop solar owners receive as compensation for electricity they feed back to the grid.

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Fighting to Save the Black Lung Trust Fund

December 15, 2018
WMMT Making Connection News
Just Transition, Big Sandy, Just Transition, Cumberland, Just Transition, Harlan County, Just Transition, Perry County
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The Farm Bureau: Big Oil’s Unnoticed Ally Fighting Climate Science and Policy

December 21, 2018
Inside Climate News

For more than three decades, the Farm Bureau has aligned agriculture closely with the fossil fuel agenda.

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Appalachian water crisis demands new revenue streams, stronger oversight

December 15, 2018
Lexington Herald Leader
Just Transition, Big Sandy, Just Transition, Cumberland, Just Transition, Harlan County, Just Transition, Perry County

Personal stories of families collecting rainwater, going without laundry or bathing, and keeping children out of school seem like the stuff of a hurricane aftermath or other weather emergency — not routine life in America.

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Black lung disease is still killing miners. The coal industry doesn't want to hear it

December 13, 2018
The Guardian

Today’s black lung rates are higher than 50 years ago, affecting men as young as their 30s, and in Kentucky their right to decent health care is being curtailed.

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Protesters disrupt US panel's fossil fuels pitch at climate talks

December 10, 2018
The Guardian

A Trump administration presentation extolling the virtues of fossil fuels at the UN climate talks in Poland has been met with guffaws of laughter and chants of “Shame on you”.

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Mitch McConnell owes coal miners an answer as clock runs out on tax for black lung victims

November 30, 2018
Lexington Herald Leader
Just Transition, Big Sandy, Just Transition, Cumberland, Just Transition, Harlan County, Just Transition, Perry County, Just Transition, Southern Kentucky, Just Transition, Western Kentucky

Kentuckians bringing a plea for victims of black lung to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will have a hard time being heard above the clamor of coal industry money — more than $2 million poured into federal races in the last two years by Alliance Resources CEO

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KFTC members continue to build New Power through the Power House workshops

November 9, 2018 at 03:54pm
Energy Democracy, , Just Transition, , Sustainable Energy, Cumberland, Energy Democracy, , Just Transition, , Sustainable Energy, Rowan County

Since April of this year, KFTC members across eastern Kentucky have helped host energy efficiency workshops in their communities, as part of our ongoing Power House Project.

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Sen. McConnell Hints at Support for Black Lung Disability Trust Fund

October 24, 2018
Ohio Valley Resource
Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Big Sandy

At a public meeting in Pikeville, Sen McConnell was asked whether he would support strengthening funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. Currently, the fund is running out of money because more miners are getting sick and more coal companies are going bankrupt.

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Fixing What's Broke: why Congress must support a Just Transition for miners with black lung and communities

October 21, 2018 at 06:00pm
Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Big Sandy, Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Cumberland, Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Harlan County, Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Perry County, Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Rowan County, Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Western Kentucky

A new report from KFTC describes ways Kentuckians are organizing to demand action from Congress – and especially from Senator Mitch McConnell – in support of a Just Transition for miners with black lung disease, retired and laid off miners, and their communities.

To build a new economy in coal communities, the report says Congress should start by "fixing what's broke," including strengthening funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, passing the RECLAIM Act, and protecting miners' pensions.

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