june 2014 - balancing the scales

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VOLUME 33 NUMBER 4 JUNE 3, 2014

Rising Voices and Our Long View: Moving from Checkers to Chess pg. 18

Erosion of campaign finance laws gives money more power in politics . 4

Central Kentucky chapter pushes for sustainable affordable housing trust fund in Lexington ................................... 6

Members learn of co-op economies at Jackson Rising conference ..... 7

Appeals court denies request to review mining’s health impacts ruling .... 10

Group that opposed pipeline celebrates success, looks forward .............. 11

KFTC’s voter empowerment work with GOTV and beyond ..................... 12

www.kftc.org | June 3, 20142 | Balancing the Scales

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For bank drafts, return this form with a voided check from the account you wish to have the withdrawal made. Make checks payable to KFTC or the Kentucky Coalition and mail to: KFTC • P.O. Box 1450 • London, Ky. 40743-1450.

Balancing the Scales is published by Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and mailed third class from Lexington, Kentucky. Reader contri butions and letters to the editor should be sent to 250 Southland Drive Suite #4, Lexington, Ky, 40503 or [email protected]. Subscriptions are $20/yr.

Table of Contentsis a statewide grassroots social justice orga ni zation working for a new balance of power and a just society. KFTC uses directaction organizing to accomplish the following goals:

• fosterdemocraticvalues• changeunjustinstitutions• empowerindividuals•overcomeracismandotherdiscrimination• communicateamessageofwhat’spossible• buildtheorganization•helppeopleparticipate•winissuesthataffectthecommonwelfare•havefun

KFTC membership dues are $15 to $50 per year, based on ability to pay. No one is denied membership because of inability to pay. Membership is open to anyone who is committed to equality, democracy and nonviolent change.

KFTC STEERING COMMITTEE

Sue Tallichet, chair Dana Beasley Brown, vice chairMegan Naseman, secretary-treasurerCarl Shoupe, at-large memberSteve Boyce, immediate past chair

Chapter RepresentativesHomer White, Scott CountyChristian Torp, Central Kentucky Lisa Montgomery, Rowan County Ben Baker, Northern Kentucky Shekinah Lavalle, Jefferson County Alan Smith, Southern Kentucky Rutland Melton, Harlan County Katie Pirotina, Perry County Meta Mendel-Reyes, Madison County Elizabeth Sanders, Letcher County Nina McCoy, Big SandyLee Ann Paynter, Wilderness TraceLeslie McBride, Shelby County

Alternates: Rosanne Fitts Klarer, Scott County; Greg Capillo, Central Kentucky; John Hennen, Rowan County; Rick Traud, Northern Kentucky; Nan Goheen, Jefferson County; Travis Lane and Jeanie Smith, Southern Kentucky; Clair Stines, Harlan County; Russell Oliver, Perry County; Steve Wilkins, Madison County; Josh May, Letcher County; Virginia Madison, Big Sandy; Leah Bayens, Wilderness Trace; Joanna Mackens, Shelby County.

Member CommentaryIntern reflects on time with KFTC, lessons of a long-time leader ..............................................................3Erosion of campaign finance laws gives money more power in politics ................................................ 4Workshop focuses on cultural organizing for social change .......................................................................5

Local UpdatesCentral Kentucky chapter pushes for sustainable affordable housing trust fund for Lexington .. 6Northern Kentucky chapter members table at summer events to build membership ..................... 6

New Energy and Transition UpdateMembers learn of co-op economies at Jackson Rising conference .........................................................7EKPC plans to close Dale power plant in Clark County .................................................................................7

Canary Project UpdateEPA proposes national criterion for selenium pollution ............................................................................... 8EPA releases first-ever pollution standards for existing power plants .................................................... 9Public hearing set for comments on new general permit ...........................................................................10Appeals court denies request to review mining’s health impacts decision .........................................10

Bluegrass Pipeline UpdateGroup that opposed pipeline celebrates success, looks forward ............................................................. 11

Dear Appalachia – a letter from a daughter ...................................................................................................... 11

Voter Empowerment UpdateKFTC’s voter empowerment work with GOTV and beyond ....................................................................... 12Jefferson County chapter bikes the vote .......................................................................................................... 12

Annual MeetingPreparations begin for annual membership meeting ................................................................................... 13Annual Meeting: Call For Nominations - The Process ...................................................................................14Annual Meeting: Call For Nominations - THe Form ....................................................................................... 15Annual Meeting: Registration ................................................................................................................................ 16Annual Meeting: Schedule ....................................................................................................................................... 17

Economic JusticeRising Voices and Our Long View: Moving from checkers to chess ....................................................... 18

Calendar ........................................................................................................................................................................20

www.kftc.org | June 3, 2014 Balancing the Scales | 3

Member commentary

e-mail any staff member at [email protected] except for Jessica Hays Lucas, use [email protected]; Beth Howard, use [email protected]; and Beth Bissmeyer, use [email protected]

FIELD OFFICESLouisvilleJessica George, Jerry Hardt, Alicia Hurle, and Carissa Lenfert735 Lampton St. #202Louisville, Ky 40203502-589-3188

WhitesburgTanya Turner andSara Pennington P.O. Box 463Whitesburg, Ky 41858606-632-0051

Central KentuckyTim Buckingham, Jessica Hays Lucas, Beth Howard, Enchanta Jackson, Erik Hungerbuhler, and Heather Roe Mahoney250 Plaza Drive, Suite 4Lexington, Ky 40503859-276-0563

Northern KentuckyJoe Gallenstein640 Main StreetCovington, Ky 41005859-380-6103

Floyd CountyJessie Skaggs154 North Lake DrivePrestonsburg, Ky 41653606-263-4982

Bowling GreenDenney Breeding270-779-6483

BereaLisa Abbott, Beth Bissmeyer, Amy Hogg,and Kevin Pentz140 Mini Mall DriveBerea, Ky 40403859-756-4027

KFTC OFFICES AND STAFF

MAIN OFFICEMorgan Brown, Robin Daugherty, and Burt LauderdaleP.O. Box 1450 | London, Kentucky 40743606-878-2161 | Fax: 606-878-5714 [email protected]

Intern reflects on time with KFTC, lessons of a long-time leader

Social media corner

@KFTC@NKY_KFTC@ScottCoKFTC@MadCo_KFTC@EKY_KFTC

@JCKFTC@WT_KFTC@SoKyKFTC@VotingRightsKY@CanaryProjeCt

www.flickr.com/photos/KFTCphotos

www.KFTC.org/facebook

Cover: KFTC member Sarah Martin participated in direct actions around immigration reform and economic justice in Washington D.C. recently.

by Cory Lowery

I didn’t know exactly what to expect from Kentucky or from Berea College when I first came, other than a few vague inklings of stereotypes that didn’t mean much to me (coming from a rural place near the mountains myself, jokes about ac-cents and backwardness have faded into background noise). Still, my surprise at stumbling into a genuinely progressive college and town, a place where tolerance and diversity were the norm rather than the exception, grew by the day. Least of all did I expect to find that democracy was alive and well in Kentucky, due in no small part to Kentuckians For The Commonwealth. I had the good fortune to sign up for an elective course with Silas House during my second semester at Berea, and in mid-February the class piled into some vans and headed to Frankfort. Once there, we joined a crowd of over a thousand people for I Love Mountains Day, and I remember being quite awestruck by the demonstrations, the occupation of the governor’s office, and the speeches: it was all something I had never experienced before. That sense of novelty hit me again and again, even after I joined KFTC as a student intern. From the annual meet-ings and the demonstrations, on down to the regular chapter meetings and the legwork of posting flyers, meeting with city council members and state representatives, and sending letters to the editor, I always felt like I was witnessing and participating in democracy in action. However, even these things were little consolation as I approached my departure from Berea. I have always been a pessimistic sort of person, and knowing that I would be grad-uating soon was filling me with apprehension about where I would be headed next. The fact that I was and continue to be a news and political junkie wasn’t helping matters; it seemed like in every other story I read, people were hurting, democ-racy was being eroded by corruption, and things were only getting worse. Luckily for me, Beth Bissmeyer, my local chapter orga-

nizer, asked me to work with two other student interns to in-terview Steve Boyce, a long-time KFTC member that many who read Balancing the Scales likely know and have worked with. I feel fortunate that one of my last projects as a student intern at KFTC was to interview a man who has spent much of his life engaged in the political process, and served a cru-cial role in KFTC leadership over the years, as well as in the development of the Madison County chapter. During our wide-ranging conversation, we touched on a variety of earlier campaigns, including the chapter’s advocacy on structural tax issues in the city of Berea, along with more contemporary ones like KFTC’s work for a just Appalachian transition. Eventually, however, our conversation turned to the role of organizations like KFTC in the democratic pro-cess of Madison County and of Kentucky. During the course of our conversation, I referred to Boyce as an “activist,” but he denied the label, saying instead that “KFTC’s actions, at bottom, are about education.” In his view, the role of grassroots organizations is to draw attention to social and political problems that impact everybody, and to offer just alternatives based on a careful study of the issues and of the political process. Additionally, the role of engaged citizens and organiza-tions is to “open up space for democratic opportunities” in order to allow communities to organize around “shared conviction[s].” Making it easier for people to engage, whether through voting, lobbying, or education, is crucial to making change happen, according to Boyce. His insights, gleaned through decades of experience and some great successes, are valuable to anybody who struggles for positive change in their communities, but are also rel-evant for me in this time of uncertainty in my life. Despite the continuous stream of disappointments coming from state and national government, change for the better happens on the ground, and is led by people like Steve Boyce and all of the other thoughtful and committed people who make KFTC’s successes possible. I will continue to watch KFTC’s work with great enthusiasm, and try to emu-late the examples I have been given, wherever I end up.

Steve Boyce , a KFTC past chairperson, was interviewed by interns Cory Lowery, Doug Peach and Brea Bailey.


member commentary

Erosion of campaign finance laws gives money more power in politicsby Steve Wilkins

There was a time when I spent very little time thinking about the politics of our country. Yes, I would diligently re-search candidates and vote at all elections, but beyond that I had little tolerance for the day-to-day political noise. Then, 2010 brought Citizens United v. FEC into my life. All the legalese boiled down to a 5-4 split U.S. Supreme Court decision blessing two notions I found intolerable – that corporations had the same first amendment rights of free speech as “real persons,” and that money equals speech. The Supreme Court’s decision unleashed spending on political advertising and pseudo-documentaries at a stag-gering pace, for now corporations could spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns as long as they were separate from candidates and political parties. Citizens United (CU) clearly troubled many others, as well. Those who are fans of Stephen Colbert’s late night TV program are certainly aware of the super-PAC (political action committee) he formed in 2012, Americans for a Bet-ter Tomorrow, Tomorrow, created as a satirical mockery of the whole super-PAC concept: “An orgy of pure distortion leaving nothing behind … but the clean campaign we all deserve.” The decision also gave birth to a number of more serious efforts to regain or enhance control over who spends what in political campaigns. Most notable of these are Public Citi-zen’s Democracy is for People campaign, Move to Amend and People For the American Way. All three are still active today. Each of these organizations advocates some version of a constitutional amendment since that is the only tool that can change the direction of a Supreme Court decision.

All of these organizations are now speaking out against the latest court decision known as McCutcheon v. FEC. In that case, Shaun McCutcheon, a corporate CEO and self-described Republican activist, argued that the Federal Election Commission’s limits on the aggregate amount an individual could donate to politicians and campaigns in an election cycle were a “burden on speech and association.” As such they violated the Constitution’s first amendment. The same narrow majority that acted on Citizens United now made a similar decision in McCutcheon, allowing un-limited spending in federal campaigns. Justice John Roberts, speaking for the majority, wrote, “[t]he government may no more restrict how many candi-dates or causes a donor may support than it may tell a news-paper how many candidates it may endorse.” Justice Clarence Thomas wanted to go even further, advocating the complete elimination of campaign finance restrictions. Arguing for the minority, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote, “[this] creates a loophole that will allow a single individual to contribute millions of dollars to a political party or to a candidate’s campaign. Taken together with [Citizens United v. FEC], today’s decision eviscerates our Nation’s campaign finance laws, leaving a remnant incapable of dealing with the grave problems of democratic legitimacy that those laws were intended to resolve.”

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Dear Editor,

A key misconception in McCutcheon and the earlier decision in Citizens United has been to ignore an im-portant distinction in the long line of freedom of speech cases. That is the distinction between the content of speech, which is protected as essential to our free po-litical processes, and the non-content aspect which is subject to reasonable limitations. Thus, the time, place and manner of speech and assembly are regulated. Money, itself, is not speech and has no content. So it is reasonable to assert that money in politics can, and should, be regulated. That regulation comes from the policy making branch of government: the legislature. By equating money and speech, the Supreme Court has made a tragic mistake that now can be remedied only by an amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Preferably such an amendment should call for manda-tory public financing of elections.

George Schuhmann,Jefferson County

letter to the editor

At KFTC’s last annual meeting, I had the pleasure of joining in a campaign finance workshop where I presented a version of the federal campaign finance background. I en-courage each KFTC member to research the organizations I mentioned above – or others – and bring some energy and/or money to bear on what I see as a severe threat to a func-tioning democracy. Sixteen states have submitted resolutions to the U.S. Congress supporting a constitutional amend-ment. Note that any amendment will have to address both “corporate personhood” and “money as speech” in order to be effective. Several of the state resolutions address only the personhood issue. What about Kentucky? There have been resolutions in-troduced in the General Assembly in 2011, 2013 and 2014 calling on Congress to propose a constitutional amendment “to establish reasonable limits on contributions and expen-ditures in political campaigns and to prohibit noncitizen contributions and expenditures.” The last two years the reso-lutions passed a House committee but were denied a floor vote. Two of our neighbor states, Illinois and West Virginia, have passed resolutions addressing both issues. What can we do to light a fire under our commonwealth?

See a brief history of campaign finance management on page 5

KFTC’S POSITION ON CAMPAIGN FINANCE (2013-14 PLATFORM)

KFTC Annual Membership Meeting August 22-24, 2014 • General Butler State Park in Carrollton

www.kftc.org/annual-meeting


Workshop focuses on cultural organizing for social changemember commentary

Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 While there had been several prior efforts to manage federal campaign finances, the FEC Act of 1971 insti-tuted campaign finance disclosure requirements for federal candidates. This was further codified in 1974 with the following amendments:● Capped individual contributions to federal candidates.● Capped contributions to federal candidates by PACs.● Capped total federal campaign expenditures.● Capped expenditures by individuals and groups “relative to

a clearly identified federal candidate.”● Established the Federal Election Commission.

However, attempts to erode these restrictions began immediately.

Key Challenge to FECA and 527s Buckley v. Valeo (1976)● Caps on campaign and independent expenditures

were deemed to violate free speech. ● Disclosure requirements only applied to expendi-

tures authorized by a candidate or those for com-munications that “expressly advocate the election or defeat of clearly identified candidates.”

Buckley v. Valeo gave rise to the “527” groups.527 groups could spend unlimited amounts and col-lect unlimited contributions from any individual, cor-poration, union, etc. as long as they did not expressly advocate for a candidate or party (527 is the section in the U.S. Internal Revenue Code under which tax-exempt organizations are formed to influence the selection, election, appointment or defeat of candi-dates to public office).

The Rise of Soft Money ● Soft money, also referred to as “federal money,”

emerged as a result of a ruling by the FEC in 1978.● Soft money is any money that does not specifi-

cally tell you to vote for a specific candidate.● Money spent on “party building” is not regulated.● This ruling was neglected for ten years, but was

“discovered” during the 1988 presidential cam-paign.

1996 Supreme Court ● Invalidated the FECA provision that restricted

how much a political party could spend in con-nection with a particular candidate as long as it was not coordinated with the candidate.

● Soft money increased from $105.1 million in 1993-94 to $421.3 million in 2001-02.

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002● Prohibited national, state and local political party

committees from spending soft money on activi-ties that affect federal elections.

● No corporate or union funds could be spent on “electioneering communications” within 30 days of federal primaries or 60 days of general elec-tions.

● Enacted “stand by your ad” provision.

A 2003 Supreme Court decision clarified that non-profit organizations were exempt IF: ● Formed for the sole purpose of promoting political ideas.● Did not engage in business activities.● Did not accept “for profit” corporate or labor union monies.

527s aka PACs● Remember, decisions back in the ’70s allowed these to exist,

but they were neglected until BRCA.● In the 2004 elections, 527s shifted the primary flow of

money from inside the political party to outside for the first time.

● Prominent examples were Swiftboat Veterans For Truth and MoveOn.org.

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)● Citizens United, a conservative lobbying group, wanted to

air and advertise a film critical of Hillary Clinton.● A lower court held that Hillary: The Movie could

not be shown or promoted because of the 30-day provision in BRCA.

● When brought before the Supreme Court:o “The Court held that corporations and unions

have a first amendment right to spend un-limited funds on campaign advertisements, provided that these communications are not formally “coordinated” with any candidate. In so holding, it found that the political speech

rights of American voters and corporate enti-ties are indistinguishable.” [Brennan Center for Justice].

o The Supreme Court naively stated that politi-cal spending can only corrupt if it is directly coordinated with a candidate’s campaign.

● FEC and lower federal courts quickly expanded this logic:o As long as a group is not coordinating with

any candidate, there is no anti-corruption rea-son to impose contribution limitations on that group.

o Thereafter, numerous political committees declared independence from their preferred candidate, and Super PACs were born.

Dark Money ● Term coined in 2010 refers to money that is spent

to influence the outcome of an election or ballot question without being disclosed prior to the vote.

● Disclosure laws went all the way back to 1910!● Disclosure of donors and donors’ employment

allows the public to vet candidates who might be more responsive to those donors than to others.

● Now, through the use of PACs, Super PACs and “non-political” non-profits, elections and ballot initiatives can be influenced by undisclosed sourc-es (until after the vote).

McCutcheon v. FEC● FECA amendments, in 1974, set aggregate limits

on donations to both federal candidates and fed-eral political campaigns.

● Shaun McCutcheon argued that restrictions on aggregate amounts that could be spent on candi-dates and campaigns were a “burden on speech and association,” violating his first amendment rights. Previous recent Supreme Court decisions became a part of this argument.

● The same slim Supreme Court majority that wrote for Citizens United overturned prior decisions on aggregate limits and allowed unlimited spending on federal campaigns. It kept in place the limit on specific candidates.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE MANAGEMENT

by Nina Bosken

“Just listen,” I was told. “When it’s your turn, trust that a story will come to you.” I was seated at a table with six other people, all but one complete strangers to me. We were to tell a story of when we saw the arts create social change. Sure enough, when my turn came up, a story came to me. Each story was unique and cap-tivating. I felt a bit closer to each person after we concluded our story circle to break for lunch. These stories were told at Cultural Organizing for Social Change in Kentucky, a workshop on May 10 offered by Arts and Democracy, Kentucky Foundation for Women, and Al-ternate ROOTS.

I was privileged to spend my Saturday with about 40-50 passionate social activists, mostly Kentuckians and several KFTC members like myself. As one of the other attendees said, it was good to be at a workshop with people who already understood that cultural organizing is important. Because of that, we were able to jump right into this work. When I look back upon my day, two things have lin-gered in my mind. First, the importance of storytelling. Storytelling is an ancient art that continues to be powerful. Stories connect people across differences. Stories get us in touch with our emotions. And stories often give color and life to facts written on a page. I hope to take the idea of a story circle back to my chapter in northern Kentucky. The second was the session I attended after lunch focus-

ing on theatre and led by a woman who works with youth. I’m a part of an improv comedy troupe in the Cincinnati area and I work at a Montessori school, so this session intrigued me the most. We had fun doing some theatre exercises with our voices and bodies. We then created a machine as a group that was improved in part (my part). Basically, I walked out and started acting like a part of a machine with my voice and movement. Each person then joined in and we created a machine focused on Kentucky social change. We performed this in front of the entire group and they seemed to enjoy it. I left the day feeling inspired and energized. I’m excited to incorporate these ideas into my life as an activist.


LOCAL UPDATES

Central Kentucky chapter pushes for sustainable andaffordable housing trust fund for Lexington For the first four months of 2014, Greg Capillo and his roommates didn’t have functioning plumbing on both floors of the home they rent. Pieces of the ceiling have fallen in on them on several occasions. But, like many folks in Lexington, they are staying because it’s a place they can afford. “We don’t want to move because we know we won’t be able to afford another space this close to where we work,” Capillo said. “We love our neighborhood and we want to stay, but there are very few options for working class people trying to live in this city without cars.” And he is not alone. One in four Lexington families cannot afford to live in the city. And here are some other Lexington housing statistics: • According to the Mayor’s Housing and Homelessness

report, 33,800 renting households cannot afford to keep a roof over their heads.

• More than 12,000 renting households are forced to pay half of their income in rent each month.

• Rent for a two-bedroom apartment averaged $700 per month in 2012. This means a person making minimum wage would need to work 74 hours each week for this rent to be affordable.

• The housing crisis is a $36 million per year problem that currently puts 6,000 households in dire need of assistance.

• Due to the relative prosperity of Lexington, rental hous-ing costs will continue to rise, meaning 400 additional units will become unaffordable each year for the foresee-able future unless something is done.

The Central Kentucky chapter, along with other com-munity allies such as Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct Action (BUILD) and the Catholic Action Center, among others, has been pushing the Lexington Fay-ette Urban County Council for a dedicated funding source for an affordable housing trust fund that will create more affordable units in Lexington. The chapter and allies have made significant progress and are still moving forward. An Affordable Housing Trust Fund is a pool of money from a dedicated funding source that creates quality, afford-able housing in Lexington for people who spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities. On March 18, the mayor proposed $3 million for af-fordable housing, and on March 20 the council passed his request. This money comes from a surplus of the 2014 fiscal year and would be used in the 2015 fiscal year starting July 1, pending a plan for how to spend that money from the mayor’s office that the council would have to approve. On April 8, Mayor Jim Gray publicly committed to bring to the council by July 1 a proposal creating an afford-able housing trust fund to build and renovate affordable housing. He also committed to dedicate a minimum of $2 million of annual revenue for the creation of the affordable housing trust fund. We expect to have a solid update in July. In the mean-time, local KFTC members are inviting Mayor Gray, the

Lexington Fayette Urban County Council, and candidates running for mayor and council seats to hear firsthand what it is like for folks who struggle to afford housing in this city. Members Tanya and Christian Torp are inviting the mayor, council and candidates to breakfast on Saturday, August 16 at their home in Lexington, followed by a tour of the neighborhood in which the officials and candidates can see firsthand the lack of safe, affordable housing and hear testimony from those directly affected. “If people make decisions about others from an ivory tower they will often make decisions that effect thousands of people in our community and never actually talk to people who are directly affected,” said Tanya Torp. “For me, I want decision-makers to walk in the shoes of the people they are

legislating. I want them to stand in the same place as those who are directly affected and see where they are coming from.” Chapter members will be preparing for the Safe, Afford-able Housing Tour and breakfast all summer through a can-vassing project in which they will go door to door in the first district to talk with people about their neighborhood, their housing situation, educate them on the trust fund, register voters and build community. Anyone interested in sharing your personal story about housing or if you are interested in canvassing with the chap-ter this summer, please contact Central Kentucky chapter organizer Beth Howard at [email protected] or 859-276-0563.

This summer the Northern Kentucky chapter of Kentuck-ians For The Commonwealth is welcoming the heat by hitting the streets and participating in upcoming festivals across the region. The chapter hopes to bring a New Power message to people across northern Kentucky and share KFTC’s vision. The chapter will return to the Covington Farmers Market in June to do voter registration and talk about chapter work that ranges from voting rights to ban the box to clean energy and more. Every Saturday from June through October, the chapter will be out registering voters at Third and Court Street in

Covington, handing out voter guides and helping people learn more about the work KFTC and allies are doing. On June 21, the chapter will have a table at Roebling Fest from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. at Third and Court Streets. This event celebrates northern Kentucky’s heritage and features other community resources. The following weekend, the chapter will be at Northern Kentucky Pride in Goebel Park from noon until 7 p.m., sup-porting allies at Northern Kentucky Fairness in the fight to gain workplace and public accommodation protection for members of the LGBTQ community.

Northern Kentucky chapter members tabling at summer events to build membership


NEW ENERGY AND TRANSITION UPDATE

Members learn of co-op economies at Jackson Risingby Ryan Fenwick

Two KFTC members attended the Jackson Rising: New Economies Conference in Jackson, Mississippi, to learn how cooperatives can be part of building a better economy with a better way of doing business. Jackson Rising brought together 500 people – including Central Kentucky chapter member Ginger Watkins, myself and KFTC’s New Energy and Transition Organizer Sara Pennington – May 2-4 for discussion and information shar-ing between national and regional authorities on coopera-tives, cooperative owners and others interested in the co-op model. Presenters included the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, Southern Cooperative Association, Southern Grassroots Economics Project, Cincinnati Union Co-op Initiative, Mondragon USA, Green Workers Cooperatives, and U.S. Solidarity Economy Network. Participants from across the nation were introduced to the basics of forming agreements for making cooperatives work, state policy obstacles to cooperatives, ideas for seeking initial funding for cooperatives from cooperative banks and foundations as an alternative to national banks that often deny funding for cooperatives, and other details about how day-to-day cooperative business is conducted. The conference presented cooperatives as a bottom-up way to organize business and land ownership that is an alter-native to the top-down models we currently live with. Cooperative ownership means democratic owner-ship of land and businesses. Cooperative workers work for themselves since they share ownership of their business. If the manager is not performing well, cooperative members can vote for a replacement. Increases or decreases in hours worked are shared by cooperative members on terms they

set. All owners have an equal share in the business, but do not have to be paid the same salary. Though cooperatives seem exotic because there are rela-tively few examples in the U.S., the model is viable and rep-resentatives of successful cooperatives were eager to explain how and why it works. Cooperative entrepreneurs take great pride in their business, because it is their business. The conference was hosted by Cooperate Jackson, a coalition of social justice organizations in the Jackson area working to build a strong association of cooperatives. The group’s strategy calls for setting up a four-part infra-structure made up of a federation of cooperatives emerging in the Jackson economy, a cooperative incubator, a coop-erative school and training center, and a cooperative credit union and bank. Unfortunately, the group was hosting the conference in the shadow of the untimely death of newly elected mayor Chokwe Lulumba, who ran on a social justice platform that promised to bring contracts to minority-owned local busi-nesses, and to conduct economic development in the city by supporting cooperatives as a way to keep money in the local economy and fairly distribute gains across a wide spectrum of the Jackson population. When Mayor Lulumba died eight months after being elected, his son ran for his seat, promising to continue his father’s policies. After a very close election, however, the city elected a mayor with a more conservative agenda, and offi-cial city politics are now back to business as usual. Not to be deterred, Cooperative Jackson plans to use the conference to begin implementing plans for a more just economy. For more information about cooperatives, visit this free on-line resource, “Think Outside the Boss”: www.aca-demia.edu/1829531/Think_Outside_the_Boss_How_to_Create_a_Worker-Owned_Business

EKPC plans to close Dale coal-burning power plant in Clark County East Kentucky Power Cooperative announced in April that it will deactivate the Dale Station power plant over the next year, indefinitely ending operations by April 2015. Located in southern Clark County, Dale Station is EKPC’s oldest power plant, with four coal-burning generat-ing units that began operating between 1954 and 1960. None of the station’s four units currently meets the provisions of the federal Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule, which goes into effect in April 2015. Accord-ing to EKPC, bringing the plant into compliance would be too costly. EKPC plans to close Dale Units #1 and #2 immediately. Beginning in April 2015, Dale Units #3 and #4 will be con-ditioned for indefinite storage. In recent years, Dale Station has been operated on a limited basis due to economic factors. According to EKPC,

it has often been more affordable to operate other plants or purchase power from the market, particularly since EKPC’s 2013 integration into PJM Interconnection (a regional transmission organization (RTO) that coordinates the move-ment of wholesale electricity in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia), which provided ready access to competitively priced power. In addition to the electric generating units, Dale Station has electric transmission facilities, including power lines and a switchyard, which will continue to operate after the gener-ating units are closed. EKPC is a rural electric generating cooperative with 16 distribution cooperatives in eastern and central Kentucky, providing power to 520,000 homes and businesses in 87 Kentucky counties. When KFTC and allies successfully prevented EKPC

from building the Smith coal-burning power plant in 2010, the settlement created a collaborative among EKPC, its 16 distribution co-ops, KFTC and other public interest groups. The Clean Energy Collaborative was required to meet for two years to explore ways to increase energy efficiency and renewable energy in the co-ops. That two years ended in Oc-tober 2013, but the members decided to continue meeting and are working on a new charter. The collaborative developed several recommendations, including adding wind, solar and hydroelectric to EKPC’s Envirowatts program, building a small solar farm and leasing panels to co-op members, developing an energy ambassadors program, and further researching the potential for wind and hydro in Kentucky, among others. EKPC’s 16 rural electric co-ops have annual meetings throughout the summer. See the schedule on page 19.

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING: AUGUST 22-24, GENERAL BUTLER STATE PARK

Jefferson County member Ryan Fenwick and Central Kentucky member Ginger Watkins attended the Jackson Rising: New Economies Conference in Jackson, Mississippi.


CANARY PROJECT UPDATE

EPA proposes national criterion for selenium pollution Selenium pollution from coal mines is receiving national and state attention, as concern about the toxic chemical in Kentucky waterways grows. Selenium is a bio-toxin that accumulates in fish tissue, so even small exposures can have devastating long-term health impacts. In mid-May, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a national criterion with the goal to “provide rec-ommendations to states and tribes authorized to establish water quality standards under the Clean Water Act.” Kentucky officials over the past two years also have been re-writing state standards for selenium pollution. In a con-troversial process last year, the Beshear administration adopt-ed, and a legislative subcommittee approved, new selenium standards that weaken existing rules and make enforcement more difficult. The U.S. EPA gave only partial approval to Kentucky’s weakened standards, a decision that is now being challenged in court by KFTC and ally groups. Meanwhile, the legislative subcommittee that approved the state’s new standards last year is asking if they were given misinformation, or at least incomplete information, by the Beshear administration.

New Kentucky standards Members of KFTC and ally groups helped bring public attention to the effort by state officials to weaken Kentucky’s selenium pollution rules last year. At meetings of the Admin-istrative Regulation Review Subcommittee in February and April 2013, Ted Withrow, Bev May and others testified as to why the existing selenium standard should be strengthened rather than weakened. At the February 2013 meeting, May described the “shoddy science” used to justify the weakened rules, and asked that they not be adopted. May said she lives in Floyd County along Wilson Creek, a stream that remains contaminated with selenium even though the strip mining at the head of the hollow occurred about 20 years ago. She reminded the committee that a 2009 Kentucky Division of Water study “found extensive selenium contami-nation, sometimes at highly toxic levels, below mountaintop removal and valley fills.” However, state officials delayed release of these findings so that they would not have to re-quire coal companies to monitor their selenium pollution as a condition of Kentucky’s general water pollution permit for coal mining, which was up for renewal that year (and is up for renewal again this year — see related story). Withrow testified that the state’s existing standard already was insufficient for protecting the public from sele-nium exposure. The new standard would change both the level of acceptable selenium concentration in water and the methodology to one that looks at concentration in fish tissue and ovary eggs. “By the time you get to this [new] criterion there won’t be any ovaries to look at,” Withrow said. He added that the methodology is “backed up with old science that was discred-ited years ago. The science is overwhelmingly flawed to be put forth in a rushed way.” Even so, at their April 2013 meeting legislators narrowly

approved the new standard, largely based on the testimony and assurances of Bruce Scott, commissioner of the Ken-tucky Department of Environmental Protection. Now Scott’s testimony is being called into question. In May, the subcommittee called Scott back to explain a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services letter to EPA that was highly critical of the new Kentucky selenium standard and EPA’s partial approval of it. Rep. Tommy Turner said he was not satisfied with the information Scott had provided the committee when the selenium rule change was before the subcommittee last year, and that he felt the administration had rushed the process. Rep. Johnny Bell asked Scott why he didn’t wait to adopt the standard until after he got the letter from the Fish and Wildlife Service (it is common practice to get feedback from related agencies when proposing regulatory changes). He also asked Scott if the letter “gave him concern.” Scott did not seem concerned. He replied that the EPA had done a careful review using peer-reviewed studies and followed scientific standards, and that meetings about the proposed rule change were public. Withrow followed the questioning of Scott with testi-mony that corrected Scott’s inaccuracies and added omitted information. Specifically, he pointed out that invitation-only meet-ings the cabinet had last year with interested parties were not public and when an uninvited person showed up he was

asked to leave (though allowed to stay in the end); that EPA does not do peer reviews; that the science used to justify the proposed standards was cherry-picked for favorable informa-tion while unfavorable information was ignored; and that with slashed budgets, these standards will greatly increase cost and personnel of enforcement and take citizens out of the process. “I went on to conclude,” Withrow said afterwards, “this regulation was put forth because the coal general permit for coal mines is up for renewal.” At the conclusion of the meeting, “Rep. Turner thanked Withrow for his testimony and said he wants to get all the information we can give him on the newly adopted selenium standard with an eye toward modification in the next legisla-tive session,” reported Sue Tallichet, who also attended. EPA in the mix The U.S. EPA late last year gave only partial approval to the state’s new selenium standard, conditionally approving the new chronic (long-term) standard and not approving the acute (at a given point in time) standard. EPA “approved the chronic standard conditionally only after Scott submitted a letter saying the Division of Water will, for streams without fish, default to the water column standard and a trigger will be created,” KFTC and allies pointed out in a lawsuit that followed EPA’s action.

EPA’sproposednationwideseleniumcriterionisbetterthanwhatstateofficialsproposedbutfallsshortofwhatisneeded,saymembersofKFTCandallygroups. Likethestate’schronicstandard,itreliesonfishtissueandovarysampling.However,italsoprovidesawater-basedstandardwherefisharenotpresent. Relyingonfishtissuesamplinglikelymeansthatviolationswillnotbedetecteduntilthedamageisalreadydone. “Ifyousetafishtissue-basedstandardandyouwaituntilfishhavegottentothepointwheretheyhaveaccumulatedthatmuch,uptothelimit…it’salreadykindoftoolatebecausethishasbeengoingonoveralongperiodoftime,”ErinSavage,awaterqualityspecialistwithAppalachianVoices,toldSNLEnergy. “We’rereallyconcernedaboutenforce-abilityofthesestandardsonthegroundaswellastheabilityforcitizenstodocitizenenforcementoftheCleanWaterAct,”Sav-agesaid. Fishtissuetestingiscostlyandpresentsotherobstaclesforcitizenenforcementac-

tions.CitizenactionislargelyresponsibleforenforcementoftheCleanWaterActthattakesplaceineasternKentucky. Fishtissuesamplesalsodonotneces-sarilyidentifythesourceoftheseleniuminstreamswherethereareseveralsourcesofpollution. Thereisashort30-dayperiod,untilJune13,forpubliccommentsonEPA’spro-posal.KFTChasjoinedalliesinaskingthatthecommentperiodbeextended. Followingclosureofthepubliccommentperiod,EPAwillhireacontractortoconductanindependentpeerreviewofthedraftcri-terion.Afterthatiscomplete,EPAwillallowpubliccommentsforanother30days. MoreinformationisavailableonEPA’swebsiteathttp://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/aqlife/sele-nium/index.cfm. Oncefinalized,EPA’swaterqualitycri-terionforseleniumwillproviderecommen-dationstostatesandtribesauthorizedtoestablishwaterqualitystandardsundertheCleanWaterAct.Stateswillnotberequiredtofollowthestandards.

FISH TISSUE TESTING IS NO MATCH FOR SELENIUM STANDARDS

continued at the bottom of page 9


Selenium standards, continued from previous page


EPA releases first-ever pollution standards for existing power plants As this issue of balancing the scales went to press, the Obama administration was preparing to release the first-ever standards for carbon pollution from existing power plants. Power plants are the largest single source of carbon pollution and account for about 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Until the new standards take effect, there are no limits on the amount of carbon pollution power plants can dispose of into our air. Scheduled to be released on June 2, the standards are expected to be complex, phased in over time, and take into account the different energy mix that exists in different states and regions. States such as Kentucky that depend the most on coal may have higher limits but be expected to make sig-nificant improvements over time. (Kentucky currently gener-ates more than 90 percent of its electricity by burning coal.) The power plant rules are part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to cut carbon pollution and prepare the United States for the impacts of climate change. That plan also calls for doubling renewable energy generation by 2020, modernizing the U.S. electric grid system, investing billions of dollars in carbon capture and sequestration research and projects, improving fuel economy standards and energy effi-ciency appliance standards, expanding investment in energy efficient buildings, and other strategies. It is likely that the EPA will use section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act to ask states to develop plans to reduce average carbon pollution across their utilities’ entire fleet of electric power generation. States and utilities could then achieve their emissions goals through a variety of strategies, includ-ing minimizing older plants with higher emissions, increas-ing energy efficiency and establishing emissions-trading programs. The EPA would review and approve each state’s plan to ensure compliance with the carbon standard. Some states, including Kentucky, may refuse to develop plans that comply with the new rules. In those cases, a state’s carbon reduction plan would be written and administered by the US EPA. That scenario could result in costly legal challenges, increased hostility toward the EPA, and reduced opportuni-ties for innovative, efficient and flexible solutions that could work best for each state. Unfortunately, that’s the collision course Kentucky’s political leaders are now following. Earlier this year Kentucky lawmakers passed a bill that spells out how Kentucky’s carbon pollution plan should be written, months before the EPA’s standards were even announced. HB 388 was sponsored by Rep. Jim Gooch, a legislator from western Kentucky with many financial and political ties to Kentucky’s coal industry. He also chairs the House Natural Resources Committee. The law’s language ties the hands of the Kentucky En-ergy and Environment Cabinet and may make it impossible for a state plan to comply with the new federal rules. Ironi-cally, Gooch’s law may also force utilities and ratepayers to pay for more expensive approaches to reducing carbon emis-sions, all in the name of protecting Kentucky’s coal industry. Many Kentuckians are bracing for an intense outcry from coal interests and many politicians over the EPA’s an-

nouncement. KFTC will provide information that helps members and supporters communicate with confidence about climate change and the proposed rules. That will include ideas about opportunities to create good jobs and save Kentuckians money by investing in en-ergy efficiency and clean renewables. And there will be ways for members to make your voice heard. For updates, visit www.kftc.org and follow KFTC on Facebook and Twitter. Recent reports on climate change In April 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its fifth report in 25 years on the science and impacts of global climate change. In May, the third “National Climate Assessment” was released by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. A U.S. military ad-visory board also recently released a report called “National Security and the Accelerating Risks of Climate Change.”

The key messages from all three reports were consistent: • Global climate disruption is happening now, and the risks

will intensify over time. • The impacts of climate change vary from region to region,

but are severe and widespread. Impacts include increased frequency and severity of floods, storms, drought, fires and extreme heat; sea level rise and ocean acidification; dislocation of many human populations; costly damage to infrastructure; increased water shortages and food in-security; expanded range and frequency of many diseases; intensification of conflict and violence; and mass extinc-tion of species.

• Comprehensive actions and investments are needed now to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and prepare communi-ties to deal with changing conditions.

• There is time to implement policies, investments and cul-tural and economic changes to avoid worst-case scenarios. In fact, many recommended changes can have other co-benefits, including healthier air and water, energy savings, improved infrastructure, reduced poverty and inequality, and job creation. Further delay greatly limits our options and chances of success, and increases the costs.

Links to these reports:1) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: https://

www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/2) National Climate Assessment: http://www.global-

change.gov/3) Center for Naval Analyses Report: https://www.cna.org/

reports/accelerating-risks

KFTC members comment on rules for new plants Last month, many KFTC members submitted public comments to the U.S. EPA about proposed rules to reduce carbon pollution from new electric power generating plants. Those standards, which were proposed in the fall of 2013, are considered both groundbreaking and symbolic at the same time. While they represent the EPA’s first ever safeguards for carbon pollution from coal-burning power plants, they ap-ply only to new construction. And no new coal plants are expected to be built in the U.S. for at least the next decade. Below are some of the key points contained in com-ments to the U.S. EPA from KFTC members regarding the agency’s draft standards for carbon pollution from new power plants:• Limiting carbon pollution from new power plants is an

important and welcome step to safeguard Kentuckians and all people from disruptive changes that are already hap-pening to our climate, health and economy due to rising global temperatures.

• Efforts to reduce carbon pollution must also invest in a just economic transition for workers and communities that are closely tied to the old coal economy.

• The proposed EPA rules for new power plants do not adequately address carbon pollution from natural gas, biomass, waste incinerators or coal gasification plants and must be strengthened.

• Efforts to reduce carbon pollution should prioritize the health of low-income and minority communities who are most likely to live in energy-inefficient housing and near places where polluting fuels are mined, drilled, transport-ed, burned or disposed.

The state’s proposed new chronic standard was based on the concentration of selenium in fish tissue, a change from the existing rule that was based on the concentration in wa-ter. KFTC members and others argue that this would mean no enforcement in streams where pollution already killed all the fish. EPA wrote to Scott for an explanation, and Scott replied by letter saying where there were no fish, the state would default back to a water-based standard, which would trig-ger enforcement actions when pollution exceeded a certain concentration. The EPA accepted this promise and gave its approval. But in a lawsuit filed in December, several groups in-

cluding KFTC challenged this approval, pointing out that “intentions” expressed in a letter do not have the effect of law and are unenforceable. The court was asked to overturn EPA’s approval of the chronic standard. In late March, the plaintiffs in that case sent EPA a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue on the additional claim that EPA failed to “complete consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) prior to approving Kentucky’s revised water quality standard for selenium.” EPA gave partial approval to Kentucky’s new chronic standard in November without waiting for the FWS to weigh in. When FWS did so, it expressed strong objections to the proposal.


Appeals court denies request to review health impacts decision


The U.S. Court of Appeals (sixth circuit) has denied a request from KFTC and the Sierra Club to review a ruling that allows the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue valley fill permits without taking into consideration the impact on human health. The groups had asked that the full 12-judge appeals court review the ruling of a three-judge panel, which in March upheld a lower court ruling against landowners living near a massive 869-acre strip mine in Knott and Perry counties. They had challenged a permit issued to Leeco last year by the Corps allowing 3.5 miles of streams to be destroyed through one valley fill, one sediment pond and various “mine throughs” on tributaries of Stacy Branch and Yellow Creek of Carr Creek. In making the decision, Corps officials said burying or mining through more than three miles of streams would “not

significantly affect the quality of the human environment.” In the Petition for Rehearing filed in April, attorneys with Earthjustice pointed out that the previous rulings let the Corps:

“authorize surface coal mining in waters of the United States without considering risks to public health – including, in this case, evidence that surface coal mining causes cancer, birth defects, chronic heart and lung disease, and premature death. Now, in a span of just six weeks since the panel decision, the Corps has issued two more permits authorizing massive sur-face coal mining operations in Kentucky. Following the panel decision to the letter, the Corps has refused to consider evi-dence that surface coal mining poses grave risks to the health of local residents. Unless this Court grants rehearing en banc

Public hearing set for comments on new general permit A public hearing will take place on June 18 to receive comments on proposed drafts of the state’s General Permit for Coal Mining. The general permit sets limits on what pollutants can be discharged from coal mining operations into the state’s waterways. The law requires that it be updated and renewed every five years. The current general permit expires on July 31. This year, state officials are proposing separate permit conditions for eastern Kentucky and western Kentucky. Though an improvement over the existing general per-mit, the proposal falls short of what is needed to protect pub-lic health and the environment, KFTC members say. And it fails to take positive steps to prevent additional pollution to streams already heavily damaged by coal mining. According to the state’s own reports, a majority of the streams in eastern Kentucky are listed as “impaired” as a result of coal mining pollution. Since Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, Kentucky officials have failed to set any Total Maximum Daily Load limits for any stream designated as polluted by coal mining operations in eastern Kentucky. TMDLs are “a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still safely meet water quality standards,” according to the U.S. EPA. The Kentucky Division of Water only reduces the amount of pollution going into streams when TMDLs have been developed for that stream, not if the steam has been identified as being impaired with pollution from coal min-ing. So severely degraded streams can continue to get more pollution dumped into them because the state refuses to cre-ate TMDLs for streams impaired by mining pollution. State officials also did not propose a stream standard for conductivity, a general measure of a stream’s health. Scientific data specific to the Appalachian region show that life in a stream starts to diminish when conductivity rises above 300 micro-Siemens (μS/cm) and that most aquatic life cannot exist when levels rise above 500 μS/cm.

Many streams below coal mining operations already exceed those levels. The proposed permit adds for the first time limits on se-lenium, but uses the weak standard recently adopted by state officials that is currently under legislative review and court challenge (see related story). “They are keeping an eye on selenium more than they have been, but still no hard limits, which we really, really need,” said Mary Love, co-chair of KFTC’s Land Reform Committee. “They are using the selenium standards the EPA approved. If they look for fish and can’t find any, they go to the water column. We think the initial testing ought to be the water column and not the fish.” KFTC members also point out that the general permit for coal mining should not even be used. It assumes a “one size fits all” approach that does not consider individual stream conditions and the potential impacts of the pollution on that specific stream and its uses. Such considerations are usually part of an individual

permit. But state officials want to make the general permit the standard and issue fewer individual permits, Love ex-plained. “The reason they are doing this is because they don’t have the personnel to deal with a bunch of individual permits. The staff keeps getting cut and cut and cut,” Love said. “The coal companies are going to be required to do more testing, and be more vigilant in their testing, but the standards are still too lenient.” The June 18 hearing will take place at 6 p.m. in Room 301D of the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection at 300 Fair Oaks Lane in Frankfort. The first 90 minutes is for accepting comments about the draft permit for eastern Kentucky, and the second 90 minutes is for the western Kentucky draft permit. Written comments will also be accepted and may be mailed to the Division of Water at 200 Fair Oaks Lane, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 or emailed to [email protected]. The deadline for written comments is July 1.

and reinstates the Corps’ NEPA obligations, the Corps will continue to put public health at risk while closing its eyes to the consequences.” The previous court decisions did acknowledge that no agency, state or federal, is considering the impact on human health before issuing coal mining and valley fill permits. The appeals panel ruling affirmed that the Kentucky Division of Mine Permits “has the means to address public health concerns associated with surface coal mining,” but in reality state officials choose to ignore evidence of cancer, birth defects, and chronic heart and lung diseases when they issue permits for strip mining operations. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is still an option, though considered a long shot.

KFTC members are used to attending permit hearings, both large and small. In June 2012, members waited to get into the Frankfort Convention Center to voice their concerns to the U.S. EPA.


BLUEGRASS PIPELINE UPDATE

Group that opposed pipeline celebrates success, looks forward Kentuckians who helped to at least temporarily halt the proposed Bluegrass Hazardous Liquids Pipeline will remain vigilant while putting their energies into related activities. In April the Williams company, one of the partners in the proposed pipeline, told investors it would spend no more capital on the project. Company officials said that they had been unable to secure commitments from potential customers and that the project was “ahead of its time.” But landowners and community members along the proposed pipeline route already had a pretty good idea the pipeline would not be built – at least not through their com-munities and hopefully not elsewhere. They had formed sev-eral blocks of landowners who refused to sell an easement to the company despite exorbitant offers. The company simply could not find a way around or through these blocks. A previously planned strategy meeting on April 30 hosted by the Loretto Community of Sisters and Co-members turned into a victory celebration. About 45 people attended the din-ner. Rep. David Floyd and Sen. Jimmy Higdon were thanked for their efforts to pass eminent domain legislation in the just completed General Assembly. They in turn thanked land-owners and concerned citizens for their steadfast presence in Frankfort, which gave their efforts support and meaning. Folks then discussed Williams’ announcement and noted that company officials had chosen their words carefully. They did not say the project was cancelled or abandoned, only that they would not spend any more money at this time. But no one expects that the company will walk away from a project on which it had already spent tens of millions of dol-lars. And Rick Arnedt of Nelson County pointed out, “Almost everything they’ve said is untrue.” The company has secured some easements along the proposed route. Those contracts remain in effect and expire in three years only if there has been no activity. They also can be transferred to another company. During the nearly year-long campaign to stop the pro-posed Bluegrass Pipeline, those involved learned of many other threats and potential threats to Kentucky’s land, water and people. Among those is the possibility of large-scale frack-ing in the New Albany shale region in western and central Kentucky. Pipeline officials touted the potential “development” of the New Albany shale as they tried to sell the usefulness of their pipeline for Kentucky products. Knowing the devasta-tion and disruption large-scale fracking has created in other states, that possibility has many people concerned. “You don’t even have to live close to be dramatically af-fected [by fracking],” said Bob Pekny of Woodford County. Folks talked about other concerns and hopes. “We also want to be fighting for something [not just against something] so they can’t trample on something that’s strongly rooted in us,” said Loretto Sister Kathleen Vondar-haar. “The challenge is to not just focus on Kentucky. The real issue is climate change,” said Sister Claire McGowan of New

Pioneers for a Sustainable Future, based in Springfield. “How do we figure out a strategy that keeps people rooted in Ken-tucky but lets us see the bigger picture?” While working on bigger issues, this group also will con-tinue being the lead voice on pipeline issues in Kentucky. That

Dear Appalachia – a letter from a daughterWith the author’s permission, we share this poem by Clay County author and KFTC member Anne Shelby. The poem was first written for a National Public Radio program, State of The Reunion. A version of it was published in the journal Appa-lachian Heritage.

Dear Appalachia, Sometimes, I think you’re trying to run me off. Go on. Take your best shot. Tell me I’m not welcome anymore. I’m blue as a fish hook; you’re red as cardinal weed. And now Fox News, talk radio, and ten thousand web sites reinforce what was always most narrow-minded, most mean-spirited in you. Bring on the dozers and the dynamite. Blow the tops off these moun-tains as if they were nothing more than just coal to be mined, just money to be made. Prove to me that for every crooked politician we get rid of, three more will emerge, younger and slicker, to take his place. Show me meth labs. Show me the children of families poor now for seven generations. I will not turn away. And I will show you houses with vegetables and flowers growing alongside, with children raised in a loving crowd of neighbors and kin – gentle, digni-fied, invisible.

You won’t run me off, and I won’t go. We are all bound together here, by our love for this place – deep, abiding, and ultimately inexplicable, though a thousand hillbilly songs have tried to explain it. We are bound by memory, which lingers over these hills and valleys like fog after rain. My great-great-uncle hunted with yours. They traded dogs, knives, stories, fiddle tunes. Our great-grandfathers shouted to one another in the corn field and the log woods. Our great-great-aunts and grand-mothers quilted and broke beans together, talking and laugh-ing easy under shade trees. For two hundred years they stood at one another’s sickbeds, birthings, baptizings and buryings, and wondered at the same mysteries and knew the same joys, the same sorrows. You can’t run me off, and I can’t go. I’ve been here too long now. I can’t rest away from the soft embrace of hills around me, can’t feel the blood running in my veins without creek water rushing over rocks. I’m lost without the markers in the family graveyard, to show me where I came from and where I’m bound. You can drown me out, but I’ll keep singing anyway. I know the words and the tune, the harmony parts, the parts that stomp the floor and the parts that yearn – one more hill-billy song, about how I love you and how you break my heart.

Your daughter,Anne Shelby

includes doing education around the proposed Kinder Mor-gan / MarkWest natural gas liquids pipeline, building support for legislation limiting eminent domain in the 2015 General Assembly, and working with local planning and zoning boards on pipeline siting rules that protect local residents.

About 45 people attended an April 30 strategy meeting that turned into a victory dinner after companies behind the proposed Bluegrass Hazardous Liquids Pipeline announced they were suspending any additional investment in the project. The dinner was hosted by the Loretto Community of Sisters and Co-members. Photo by Peg Jacobs


VOTER EMPOWERMENT UPDATE

KFTC’s voter empowerment work with GOTV and beyond Just as no two regions of Kentucky are identical, neither are KFTC chapters’ voter empowerment work. Across Ken-tucky KFTC members prepared to get out the vote during the primary election with activities including registering voters, tabling at events, door-to-door canvassing and phone banking. Chapters were very creative about how they encouraged voters to exercise their voice in our democracy. Jefferson County organized a Bike the Vote event that brought out a fun, diverse crowd. The chapter also canvassed the Smoke-town neighborhood to talk to residents about housing and development issues while encouraging them to vote. Southern Kentucky organized a door-to-door canvass and, as many other chapters did, phone banked to encourage voters to make it to the polls. The Letcher County chapter handed out voter guides in downtown Whitesburg. The Central Kentucky chapter partnered with the NAACP to address a last minute polling location change that had the potential to disenfranchise many black voters. The two organizations staked out the former polling location to let voters know about the change and also offer them rides to their new polling place. The Madison County chapter phone banked voters lead-ing up to the election, and the day after the primaries visited Eastern Kentucky’ University’s campus to develop partner-ships and discover student outreach opportunities.

KFTC’s Voter Guide proved to be a hot commodity A tool for voter education, the KentuckyElection.org and our printed Voter Guide informed voters about candi-dates’ stances on issues affecting Kentuckians. In early spring, KFTC chapters across Kentucky sur-veyed those running for office to learn their position on issues relating to energy, public transportation, fairness and voting rights. The answers ranged from heartwarming to gut wrenching, and reinforced the importance of voters know-ing candidates’ values prior to casting a vote. After a month surveying candidates, we posted the survey responses to

KentuckyElection.org and mailed our Voter Guide to nearly 13,000 voters. After release of the Voter Guide, there was a 60% increase in visits to the KentuckyElection.org site than in 2012. This difference is largely due to members, staff and candidates sharing the link via word of mouth, email and on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Primary day voter turnout & November GOTV planning KFTC worked hard to rock the vote this Primary Day.Voter turnout varied across the state, but organizers in chap-ters that participated in Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts

Jefferson County chapter bikes the voteby Donovan Taylor

The Saturday before the Kentucky primary election voter registration deadline, the Jefferson County chapter of KFTC organized Bike the Vote, a pop-up voter registration drive in west Louisville. Eighteen people volunteered to register vot-ers, some riding bikes between the four pop-up locations: two grocery stores and two parks. After four hours and eight miles of biking, the group registered 40 voters. Chapter members registered a total of 84 voters during the week of April 14. What follows is Donovan Taylor’s reflection on his Bike the Vote experience. Taylor is the president of the Chickasaw Federation, a west Louisville neighborhood association. The Bike the Vote tour through the west Louisville neighborhoods - California, Chickasaw, Shawnee and Port-land - was a fantastic event promoting voting and civic re-sponsibility as well as a great opportunity to engage with area residents. Bike the Vote tour proved to be a mutually beneficial event. Many residents were excited about our presence and

convenience provided to them to apply or update their voter registration. Additionally, area residents were pleased to be informed on the upcoming May 20 primary and the various races for public office. Moreover, several residents were pro-vided information and encouraged to apply to restore their voting rights. Above all, residents were encouraged to exercise their right and civic duty to vote intelligently. Bike the Vote volunteers benefitted both from resident appreciations and the opportunity to further their organi-zational efforts through connections with area residents. In particular, my work with the Chickasaw Federation benefit-ted by me having the opportunity to engage with Chickasaw residents introducing the work of the neighborhood associa-tion and encouraging their participation and membership. Bike the Vote was an excellent display of neighbor care and civic responsibility. More than simply encouraging voter registration and voting, the team of bike riders was a visual encouragement to area residents to join others taking differ-ent actions to enhance the quality of life in west Louisville. I look forward to participating on a like event with KFTC in the future.

felt their activities helped get more voters to the polls. Acknowledging the impact that a good GOTV pro-gram can have in engaging, educating and turning out vot-ers, KFTC is already gearing up for our GOTV efforts for November’s General Election. We have plans to use a new database called Voter Action Network (VAN) to broaden our reach across the state. We are also scheduling more voter outreach trainings for staff and members, and chapters are committed to creating volunteer opportunities for members to connect with voters on issues that are important to Ken-tuckians. Connect to your chapter organizer to see how you can join us and help empower voters across Kentucky!

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KFTC is accepting nominations for members of its governance and issue committees (descriptions below). All committee nominations will be considered by the Leadership Development Committee. New committee assignments will be finalized in Septem-ber by the Steering Committee.

Personnel Committee — Members may participate in hiring process and review annual staff perfor-mance evaluations. This committee provides guid-ance and makes recommendations about personnel policies and issues. Meets as needed.

Finance Committee — Reviews and recommends budget and quarterly financial statements. Reviews and recommends financial policies and practices. Meets periodically in person and by conference call.

Leadership Development Committee — Develops, evaluates and helps implement KFTC’s leadership programs. Nominates and reviews nominations of people to serve on statewide committees and offices. Meets several times a year as needed.

Land Reform Committee — Coordinates KFTC’s statewide campaigns on issues connected to natural resources. Meets 3-6 times a year, as needed.

Economic Justice Committee — Develops and co-ordinates campaigns on economic issues, including tax justice. Meets 3-6 times a year as needed, often by conference call.

New Energy and Transition (NET) Committee: De-velops strategy and priorities for three related KFTC campaigns: Rural Electric Co-op Reform, Sustain-able Energy, and Appalachian Transition.

Voter Empowerment Committee: Develops and evalu-ates KFTC’s strategies for registering, informing and motivating voters, including our restoration of voting rights campaign.

Litigation Committee: Makes recommendations about KFTC’s litigation strategies; monitors progress of legal cases in which KFTC is a participant; participates in communication among allies, lawyers, and KFTC decision-making bodies. Meets as needed with frequent conference calls.

Preparations begin for annual membership meeting KFTC’s statewide Annual Membership Meeting will take place August 22 through August 24 this year at the General Butler State Park in Carrollton. The annual meeting is a time for all KFTC members to gather to celebrate great work over the past year, learn new skills and hold the yearly business meeting. During the business portion of the meeting, members will consider the proposed platform, elect statewide officers and accept new or

renewing chapters for the coming year. In preparation for the statewide annual meeting, all KFTC chapters across the state hold their chapter annual meetings two months prior, in June. At these meetings, chapter members provide input to the KFTC platform, set local priorities and goals, decide if they wish to continue as a chapter and, if so, select officers. Chapters select a Steering Committee representative

and alternate and chapter coordinators for membership, fundraising and publicity. They also agree to raise at least $500 for the statewide organization. In return for their commitment to KFTC, chapters get a seat on the Steering Committee and receive staff time and organizational resources to assist in their work.

NOMINATIONSFORSTATEWIDECOMMITTEES:

AreyouamemberofaKFTCchapter?Ifso,pleaseconsideracceptingapositionasachapterofficerforthecomingyear,startingthisfall.Chapterofficersare:

SteeringCommitteeRepresentativeSteeringCommitteeAlternateFundraisingCoordinator

MembershipCoordinator

PublicityCoordinator

Allareimportantrolesforwhichyouwillreceivetrainingandsupport.Theresponsibilitiescanbesharedwithothers.Ifinterested,pleasecontactyourchapterorganizerformoreinformation.

CHAPTER LEADERSHIP POSITIONS:

CHAPTER DATE TIME LOCATION ADDRESS

Jefferson

CountyJune9 6:30p.m. FirstUnitarianChurch

809S.4thStreet,

Louisville

Central

KentuckyJune19 7p.m.

NorthsideBranchofLexington

PublicLibrary

1733RussellCave

Road,Lexington

Rowan

CountyJune19 6p.m. St.Alban’sEpiscopalChurch 5thStreet,Morehead

Shelby

CountyJune19 6p.m. StrattonCommunityCenter

219WWashingtonSt.,

Shelbyville

Harlan

CountyJune23 6p.m. HarlanPublicLibrary 107N3rdSt.,Harlan

Letcher

CountyJune24 6p.m. HarryCaudillMemorialLibrary

220MainSt.,

Whitesburg

BigSandy June9 7p.m. JennyWileyLodge75TheatreCt.,

Prestonsburg

Madison

CountyJune23 6:30p.m. BereaCollegeAppalachianCenter 205N.MainSt.,Berea

Northern

KentuckyJune17 7p.m. RoeblingPointBooksandCoffee

306GreenupStreet,

Covington

ANNUAL CHAPTER MEETINGS:

You may nominate yourself or any other member for KFTC’s Executive Committee, the Kentucky Coalition Board of Directors, or other statewide committees of KFTC.

All nominations must be received by 5 p.m. on June 30, 2014.

NOMINATIONSFORM:Page15


The process for recommending, nominating, and electing members to KFTC’s Executive Committee reflects our commitment to being a grassroots, membership-led organization. It is an expression of KFTC’s core values, including our commitment to diversity; an open, deliber-ate and democratic process; a model of shared leadership; and a practice of developing grassroots leaders as a primary strategy for social change. Anyone may nominate someone to serve in one of the four elected positions on KFTC’s Executive Com-mittee or three seats on the Kentucky Coalition Board. KFTC’s Leadership Development Committee considers those suggestions and recommends a slate of candidates for each board that is balanced, diverse, and qualified. In July the KFTC Steering Committee reviews those slates and formally nominates individuals for election at KFTC’s Annual Membership Meeting in August.

KFTC’s Steering Committee is the statewide board that makes decisions about the organization’s strategy, policies, budget and long-term direction. The Steering Committee is made up of one representative from each chapter, plus five statewide officers. These five officers make up the Executive Committee. This group makes necessary decisions between Steering Committee meetings and provides leadership for the or-ganization. Four members of the Executive Committee are elected. The fifth position is the immediate past chair-person. The following is a description of the four elected positions:

ChairpersonThe Chairperson is a voting member of the KFTC Steer-ing Committee and Executive Committee, as well as the Chairperson of the KFTC Steering Committee and the Kentucky Coalition Board of Directors. He or she presides at all Annual Meetings, Steering Committee meetings, Executive Committee meetings, and KC Board of Direc-tors meetings.

Vice-ChairpersonThe Vice Chairperson is a voting member of the KFTC Steering Committee and Executive Committee, as well as the Vice Chairperson of the KFTC Steering Committee and the Kentucky Coalition Board of Directors. He or she presides in the absence of the Chairperson at all Annual Meetings, Steering Committee meetings, Executive Com-mittee meetings, and KC Board of Directors meetings.

Secretary-TreasurerThis officer serves as Secretary-Treasurer for KFTC and the Kentucky Coalition. He or she also serves as a voting member of the KFTC Steering Committee and Executive Committee, as well as the Kentucky Coalition Board of Directors. The Secretary-Treasurer also serves as the Chair of the Finance Committee.

At-Large RepresentativeThe At-Large Representative is a member elected from

anywhere in the state. He or she serves as a voting member of the KFTC Steering Committee and Executive Commit-tee, as well as the Kentucky Coalition Board of Directors.

Requirements:• A statewide officer must be a member of KFTC.• A statewide officer cannot be a paid employee or the

immediate family member of a paid employee of KFTC or Kentucky Coalition.

• A statewide officer cannot serve in the same position for more than two years.

• The Leadership Development Committee will con-sider all nominees and recommend a diverse slate of qualified candidates, taking into account a diversity of characteristics including gender, age, race, income, educational backgrounds, place of residence, level of involvement in the local chapter and statewide orga-nization, issue interests, and other desired qualities.

The Leadership Development Committee values your suggestions! You may nominate as many people as you like. You may nominate a person for a specific statewide office, or “for any position” on the KFTC Executive Committee. Either way, the Leadership Development Committee considers all nominees to be eligible for any and all of the four positions.

Current Executive Committee: In making your suggestions, it may be helpful to know who currently serves on the Executive Committee, and whether or not they are eligible for another term:Chairperson: Sue Tallichet Vice-Chairperson: Dana Beasley-Brown

Both have served in these positions for two consecu-tive terms and are not eligible to serve again in the same position.

Secretary-Treasurer: Megan NasemanAt-Large Representative: Carl Shoupe

Both have served in their positions for one term and are eligible to serve again if nominated and elected.

Kentucky Coalition is the sister organization to Kentuckians For The Commonwealth. Kentucky Coali-tion (KC) is a 501(c)(3) organization, meaning that it is allowed to accept tax-deductible donations from members and it can access foundation grants that are not available to Kentuckians For The Commonwealth as a 501(c)(4). Kentucky Coalition’s purpose is to support grassroots community organizing, leadership development, and pub-lic education around important public policy. KC’s reach stretches beyond KFTC and beyond Kentucky. Kentucky Coalition has provided support and acted as fiscal agent for groups working in Appalachia and the South. For instance, KC is currently the fiscal agent for the Alliance for Appala-chia, a group of 13 organizations from Central Appalachia working to stop mountaintop removal coal mining. The KC Board provides general oversight and direc-tion for the organization. It maintains a close working relationship with the KFTC Steering Committee, moni-tors finances, and conducts planning and evaluation. The

Board meets at least quarterly, often by conference call. The KC Board is composed of the five members of the KFTC Executive Committee plus three additional members who are elected by the KFTC membership at its Annual Meeting. KC Board members serve one-year terms. The KC board members who are also members of the Executive Committee follow the term limits placed on them as KFTC Executive Committee members. The three additional KC board members may serve four consecutive one-year terms.

Requirements:• A KC board member must be a member of KFTC.• A KC board member cannot be a paid employee or

the immediate family member of a paid employee of KFTC or Kentucky Coalition.

• A KC board member not on the KFTC Executive Committee cannot serve in the same position for more than four one-year consecutive terms.

• The Leadership Development Committee will con-sider all nominees and recommend a diverse slate of qualified candidates, taking into account a diversity of characteristics including gender, age, race, income, educational backgrounds, place of residence, level of involvement in the local chapter and statewide orga-nization, issue interests, and other desired qualities.

• It is preferred that nominees to the KC Board are people with prior experience on the KFTC Steering Committee or Finance Committee who do not cur-rently serve as their chapter’s representative.

Current Kentucky Coalition Board of Directors:In making your suggestions, it may be helpful to know who currently serves on the Kentucky Coalition Board, and whether they are eligible for another term. The following members currently serve on the KC Board:Doug Doerrfeld

Has served four consecutive terms and is not eligible to serve again.

Homer WhiteMary Love

Have each served one term on the board and are eligible to serve again if nominated and elected.

CALLFORNOMINATIONS—THEPROCESS

EXECUTIVECOMMITTEENOMINATIONS:

You may nominate yourself or any other member for KFTC’s Executive Committee, the Kentucky Coalition

Board of Directors, or other statewide committees of KFTC.

All nominations must be received by 5 p.m. on June 30, 2014

Thanks!

KENTUCKYCOALITIONNOMINATIONS:

NOMINATIONSFORM:NEXTPAGE


I would like to nominate _________________________ for a position on the Kentucky Coalition Board.

I believe this person is a good choice because: __________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

I have spoken with this person about my nomination, and they are willing to be considered (It’s okay if you haven’t).

I have NOT yet spoken with this person about my nomination, and I do not know if they are willing to be considered.

Your Name:

Phone:

Email:

CALLFORNOMINATIONS:KFTCExecutiveCommittee,KentuckyCoalitionBoard,andstatewidecommittees

I would like to nominate: ___________________________________

For the following position(s) on KFTC’s Executive Committee: Chairperson Vice-Chairperson

Secretary-Treasurer At-large Rep. Any position


______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________



You may nominate as many people as you like for the KFTC Executive Committee. Please use additional paper if needed.

KFTCEXECUTIVECOMMITTEE:

I would like to nominate: ___________________________________

For the following position(s) on KFTC’s Executive Committee: Chairperson Vice-Chairperson

Secretary-Treasurer At-large Rep. Any position


______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________



KFTC’s statewide committees include: Personnel; Finance; Leadership Development; Land Reform; Economic Justice; New Energy & Transi-tion; Voter Empowerment; and Litigation. You may nominate yourself or other KFTC members for these committees. Nominees for these positions will be reviewed by the Leadership Development Committee and appointed by the new Steering Committee in September 2014.

You may nominate as many people as you like for consideration for KFTC’s committees. Please use additional space or paper as needed.

Nominee: Committee nominated for:



You may nominate as many people as you like for the Kentucky Coalition board. Please use additional paper if needed.

I would like to nominate _________________________ for a position on the Kentucky Coalition Board.


______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________



KENTUCKYCOALITIONBOARD:

STATEWIDECOMMITTEES:

You may nominate yourself or any other member for KFTC’s Executive Committee, the Kentucky Coalition Board of Directors, or other statewide committees of KFTC. All nominations must be received by 5 p.m. on June 30, 2014. You may make your nominations by returning this form to KFTC at P.O. Box 1450, London, KY 40743. You may also email your suggestions to [email protected], or use an online form at www.kftc.org/nominations. Members attending annual chapter meetings in June also will have the opportu-nity to make nominations during those discussions.


REGISTRATION Name: ____________________________________________________

Name: ____________________________________________________

Name: ____________________________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________

City, State, Zip: _____________________________________________

Phone: _______________ Email Address: ________________________

Space: To properly plan for meeting space, please tell us how much of the meeting will you be attending? (Mark All That Apply)__ Friday night __ Saturday morning __ Saturday afternoon__ Saturday Evening __ Sunday morning

Which nights will you be staying with us?__ Friday night __ Saturday night

Lodging Preference:KFTC expects to fill up all rooms and cabins at General Butler State Park. We will do our best to accommodate lodging requests, but in order to maximize the amount of overnight lodging slots, we cannot guarantee your lodging preference (cabin vs. lodge room) will be granted. But we will do our best.

__ Guest room in the lodge

__ Cabin (Cabins are located slightly farther from the conference center where the annual meeting will take place and would require a short drive between the two. Cabins have either one, two, or three bedrooms, with each cabin having only one bathroom and only one full-size bed in each bedroom)

__ Camping (KFTC will not be handling camping reservations. Primitive tent camping is available for $14 a night by just showing up at the campground, and no reservations are needed. If you would like RV and other campground reservations, you can make your reservation directly through ReserveAm-erica.com. For questions about the campgrounds, call General Butler directly at 502-732-4384).

Other Preferences:Room equipped for physical disabilities? Please specify _____________

_________________________________________________________

Roommate preference (2 to 4 people will share a room). Please specify the names of individuals you would like to share a room with _____________

__________________________________________________________

Will you need childcare? If so, please list the names and ages of the children.Name: ____________________________________________ Age: ___

Name: ____________________________________________ Age: ___

Name: ____________________________________________ Age: ___

Meals: KFTC is required to use the food service at General Butler for our event. We do our best to meet the dietary needs of all participants, but are limited by General Butler’s food service options and willingness to accommo-date special requests.

Do you have any special dietary requests? (We will communicate with you ahead of time if your dietary restrictions can’t be honored so that you are able to bring your own food.) Specify: ____________________________

_________________________________________________________

Meals you will be in attendance for:__ Saturday breakfast __ Saturday lunch __ Saturday dinner__ Sunday breakfast __ Sunday lunch

Silent Auction: Please let us know if you are willing to help out by bringing items for the silent auction: __ Yes __ Yes

Transportation:__ I am driving myself __ I can offer a ride __ I need a ride

Is this your first time attending KFTC’s annual meeting?__ Yes __ No

Cost: $80 per adult before July 25. $100 per adult after July 25. If you are reserving your own campsite or don’t need lodging, cost is $40 before July 25 and $60 after July 25.KFTC covers a good portion of expenses for the annual meeting. We ask that participants pay a portion of the expense for your attendance, if you are able to. We want everyone who would like to participate to do so. Please don’t let the suggested donation be a barrier to attending.

How would you like to pay?__ I will pay online www.kftc.org/annual-meeting__ I will pay when I arrive at the meeting__ I will mail a check (address below)__ I cannot afford to pay, but I still wish to attend

Please make a check or money order payable to KFTC and put “Annual Meeting registration” in the note field:KFTC P.O. Box 1450 London, Kentucky 40743

Payment can also be made upon arrival, but please register early so we know you are coming. Last year’s annul meeting was our biggest yet and sold out, and we are likely to sell out again this year. So please register early in order to ensure you get a spot.

KFTC2014ANNUALMEMBERSHIPMEETINGFROMTHEGRASSROOTSTOTHEMOUNTAINTOP:EMPOWERINGGRASSROOTSLEADERS

REGISTRATION


Friday, August 22

4 p.m. Registration Opens

7:30 p.m. Guest Speaker (TBA)

9:00 p.m. Evening Social Activity

Saturday, August 23

7:45 a.m. Breakfast

9 a.m. Welcome and Opening

9:30 a.m. Plenary and Guest Speaker (TBA): Join us for a high-energy morning focused on ex-ploring what grassroots leadership development looks like in and beyond the Bluegrass State.

9:30 a.m. Intro to Grassroots Organizing: Empowering the Leaders of Tomorrow – This pro-gram is geared toward 9- to 14-year-olds and will serve as an introduction to organizing, why we use it, and how young people can use it in their schools and lives.

10:45 a.m. Break

11 a.m. KFTC Plenary: Learn from KFTC members from across the state how they have developed into leaders and how they’ve used leadership skills to better their com-munities.

12:30 p.m. Lunch

2 p.m.: Saturday afternoon workshops:• We Are Our Best Hope for Change: Effec-

tive Grassroots Leadership – This work-shop will explore what it means to be a grassroots leader in KFTC.

• Building the Muscles of Democracy! Re-cruitment, Canvassing, and Get Out The Vote – In this workshop we will discuss ways to begin building a New Power voting block in your community, includ-ing developing the necessary skills and strategies aimed at getting more people involved in the electoral process.

• Listen and Be Heard: Resolving Conflict Skillfully – How do you respond when conflicts arise? How effective are you in difficult conversations? Conflict resolution skills are important in life and leadership.

Join us for an interac-tive session about ways to improve our ability to

listen, respond and provide leadership in difficult situations.

• Making Waves: The Power of Youth Orga-nizing – Young people have played impor-tant roles in justice movements through-out history. Join us at this workshop to learn how young people are making change today and tools for engaging and supporting youth in your community.

• Building New Power: Organizing Across Lines of Difference – Our identities and life experiences are an important part of who we are and how we organize. Join us at this workshop to learn how to build power and organize across lines of difference in your community.

• Integrating Art and Culture in Community Organizing – Art and culture are an im-portant part of our lives, and they can be important and powerful tools for change. Join us at this workshop to learn tools for integrating art and culture in community organizing.

3:30 p.m. Break • Take a break and relax at General Butler

among friends. Swimming, hiking, ten-nis, and much more are available to have some fun.

• Self-Care is Radical, Too: A Self-Care Workshop for Activists – This optional workshop will create a space for partici-pants to learn skills to enhance their self-care practice and recognize that wellness is a vital part of activism. Basic yoga and meditation practice will be included.

7 p.m. Dinner & Awards Ceremony

9:00 p.m. Evening Social Activity

Sunday, August 24

7:45 a.m. Breakfast

9 a.m. Sunday Morning Workshops: The Sunday morning workshops will help us find and practice ways to inform, inspire, and engage others around KFTC’s key issues and values. Join the “Let’s Talk” workshop of your choice to

empower more grassroots leaders through any of these issue lenses:

• Racial Justice and White Privilege – We’ll talk about organizing white people through unveiling and dismantling white privilege.

• Working for Our New Economy – Learn about jobs, wealth inequality, and strate-gies to address these issues and others that help build a new economy.

• A Just Transition in Appalachia – We’ll discuss ways to build a just transition in Appalachia that generates new jobs, new businesses, and new opportunities for the workers, families and young people in the region.

• Energy, Coal, and Climate Change – Prac-tice communicating about the opportunity Kentucky has to create good new jobs and improve health, while also protecting our air, water and climate. We’ll discuss meaningful ways to move conversations beyond the polarizing and false debate about “jobs vs the environment” and the so-called “war on coal.” We’ll talk about what makes these conversations hard and share best practices for informed and constructive dialogue.

• Voting Rights and Growing a Healthy Democracy – Learn how to discuss the challenges facing a healthy democracy in Kentucky, from a lack of voting rights for former felons to stringent photo i.d. measures, and where Kentucky fits in the national landscape.

• Working Together for Fairness Across Kentucky – Learn strategies and tools for working in your community in support of anti-discrimination and LGBTQ awareness.

10:30 a.m. Break

10:45 a.m. Business meeting:Join us for this annual opportunity to vote on KFTC’s platform of issues, elected officers, and more.

12 p.m. Adjourn

KFTC2014ANNUALMEMBERSHIPMEETINGFROMTHEGRASSROOTSTOTHEMOUNTAINTOP:EMPOWERINGGRASSROOTSLEADERS


Economic justice UPDATE

Rising Voices and Our Long View: Moving from checkers to chess

KFTC members Greg Capillo (left) and Sarah Martin (right) with Megan O’Donnell (leg-islative director for U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, pictured in the middle) during a lobby visit at Rising Voices Conference.

by Sarah Martin

It’s 8 a.m. on a Monday morning and as our bus creeps through Washington, D.C. traffic, myself, Greg Capillo, and our orga-nizer Beth Howard have a quick breakfast. We think we are on our way to the White House to participate in a direct action re-garding immigration reform and deportation policies. While that’s true, there’s a stop to make before we arrive at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It turns out that we are on our way to a secret action. We were in Washington because KFTC had been invited to attend a joint summit between the National People’s Action and the National Domestic Workers Alliance. NPA is a national network of grassroots or-ganizations that work for direct action and to advance a national economic and racial justice agenda. NDWA works nationally to give domestic workers dignity, fair wages and treatment in their respective workplaces, and a voice for the millions of their primarily female member base. We had spent two days attending work-shops about economic justice, the prison pipeline, domestic worker rights, the con-sumer debt trap, and narrative framing strat-egies. We heard wonderful stories of triumph and saw how two social justice groups, with similar goals, could merge and be twice as

powerful. This secret action was about corporate tax loopholes. From 2008 to 2012, General Electric did not pay ANY federal taxes. In fact, our federal government gave G.E. a $3 billion refund to add to the $27 billion in profits they made during that time. You read that right, folks: General Electric didn’t pay any federal taxes for four years and received billions in refunds on top of their billions made in profits. When temporary tax breaks are given to a group, in this case global corporations like G.E., Congress will “extend” the tax break by routinely voting for it to be kept in place and not letting it expire. This happens constantly and with little resistance from any side of the isle. National groups like Americans for Tax Fairness have been working to lift up Con-gress’s opportunity this year to clean up 55 “tax extenders”, essentially tax breaks. These extenders primarily benefit corporations like General Electric, Goldman Sachs and Citi-group. ATF points out that two major loop-holes – the Active Financing Exception and the CFC (controlled foreign corporation) look-through rule – allow corporations to shift U.S. profits offshore to tax havens. G.E. lobbyists push so hard for the AFE (in 2008 G.E.’s vice president got down on bended knee to beg Congress for its exten-

sion) that it’s commonly referred to as the “G.E. loophole.” However, they have major costs. These two loopholes alone cost Ameri-cans $80 billion in lost tax revenue over 10 years. As ATF points out, “That’s money we should be using to rebuild our schools, improve health care, invest in new infrastruc-ture and create jobs.” These loopholes were why we were at G.E. About 500 of us flooded into the lobby of its corporate headquarters to demand that G.E. pay its fair share of taxes. It was as if all of us were contained in

a collective can of Ale-8 and the leaders of NPA and NDWA shook the can as hard as possible, and then popped its top. We held our signs, and the noise from our “Pay your fair share!” chanting was reverberating and, at times, deafening. Allies offered testimony in the foyer as leaders went to the top floor to present G.E.’s CEO with a letter sharing our grievances. The letter was not accepted, but we kept up our momentum right to Capitol Hill, where the real fight truly lurks.

(continued on page 19)


StayTogetherAppalachianYouthSummerInstitute

July31-August3Wise,VA

Appalachianyouthages14-30welcome!

Registeratwww.thestayproject.org$35-$150basedonyourabilitytopay.

Youth-ledWorkshops,IdentityExpression,Art,Music,Storytelling,PopularEducation,

CommunityBuilding,Economic,Environmental,&SocialJustice!

STAY’sbiggesteventoftheyear!

Economic Justice UPDATE

Rising Voices and Our Long View, continued from previous page

KFTCmemberswhoarealsomembersofaruralelectricco-opwillhavetheopportunitythisspringandsummertoattendtheirco-op’sannualmeeting.Thisisachanceforco-opmembers,whoarealsoownersoftheco-op,toattendapicnicwithotherco-opmembers,meetmembersoftheco-opboardandparticipateinthebusinessmeeting.KFTCencouragesmemberstoattendthiseventandhelpstrengthenthedemocracywithinyourlocalco-op.Herearemeetingdatesforthe16co-opsintheEastKentuckyPowerCooperativesystem.

Farmers RECCJuly10atCaveCityConventionCenter,502MammothCaveStreet,CaveCityInformation:270-651-2191or800-253-2191 Jackson Energy CooperativeJuly3onco-opgrounds,115JacksonEnergyLane,McKeeInformation:606-364-1000or800-262-7480Nolin RECCJune27atJohnHardinHighSchool,384W.A.JenkinsRoad,Eliza-bethtownInformation:270-735-1059or888-637-4247

Owen Electric CooperativeJune20atGrantCountyHighSchool,715WarsawRoad,DryRidgeInformation:800-372-7612

Shelby Energy CooperativeJune26atHenryCountyHighSchool,1120EminenceRoad,NewCastleInformation:800-292-6585

Taylor County RECCJuly11atco-opheadquarters,625WestMainStreet,CampbellsvilleInformation:270-465-4101or800-931-4551

RURAL ELECTRIC CO-OP ANNUAL MEETINGS

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Our lobbying agenda was informed by KFTC and NPA’s shared values:

1) Ask our Kentucky delegation to promote MACED’s How$martKY initiative to help rural utility co-ops in eastern Kentucky work with consumers on getting energy efficient retrofits in homes and businesses.

2) Ask for their support of H.R. 1010, a congressional bill to incrementally raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy has a great policy brief about the impact here in Kentucky, pointing out that the wage in-crease would help 1 in 4 Kentucky workers, and more than 1 in 5 Kentucky children.

3) Along with our NPA allies, ask for support

for policies that would close tax loopholes for corporations, like H.R. 1579, the “Inclusive Prosperity Act of 2013”, also known as the Robin Hood Tax. H.R. 1579 would place a ½% tax on stock trades, generating up to $350 billion a year to invest in jobs, infra-structure, public health, and education – all the necessities that some members of the Kentucky delegation say that we can’t afford. Clearly, with good policy, we can. We had a great meeting with Rep. Yar-muth’s staff. We also met with Rep. Andy Barr in person, and with staff from the of-fices of Rep. Hal Rogers and Sen. Mitch McConnell. Those meetings did not go as well. While everyone was supportive of How$mart, they opposed raising the mini-mum wage, taxing financial transactions and closing the corporate tax loopholes.

This opposition comes in the face of a growing wealth gap and the clear disparities impacting us right here in our common-wealth. Kentuckians deserve financial sta-bility and the opportunity to create secure lives for ourselves. But we won’t get there with representation in Washington that sup-presses our wages and blocks investments in our families and communities. With the exception of Rep. Yarmuth, the Kentucky delegation is clearly part of the problem. This experience clarified for me how we are living in an America that is like “The Matrix.” Some of our lawmakers like to spin a one-dimensional narrative: money is tight and we don’t have funds to support “entitle-ment” programming, that taxing industries stifles job creation, and that they themselves are just utterly powerless to do anything about it. It’s just not true. I’m tired of hearing from Kentucky leg-islators who say that the money is not there to fund necessary programming or basic infrastructure as they simultaneously let bil-lions of dollars walk away into offshore tax havens in the Grand Caymans. We need to put capital back in the hand of our citizens. I want representation in D.C. that sup-

ports policies like raising the wage, closing tax loopholes, and that asks the 1 percent to pay their fair share. If a representative from Kentucky is failing to support these policies, they are failing to do their job. Social justice work is exhausting but sometimes it’s enough to know that you or your organization isn’t alone in the fight for justice. Seeing all the members of NDWA and NPA, 1,000+ strong, I was blown away from the energy. I’m confident that we’ll win in the end. At NPA’s opening plenary, we learned of their director George Goehl’s notion of “moving from checkers to chess.” We in the movement must organize and plan for the long haul. In the meantime, we will hold our law-makers accountable, we will educate and em-power voters to build a healthier democracy, and we’ll encourage better, more competent, more progressive, more compassionate lead-ers. We represented a group of 8,000+ Ken-tuckians and met others who were doing the same for their state or national organizations. We connected and we saw we were not alone. Sometimes, until we win, that is enough.


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Why invest in Kentuckians For The Commonwealth?Your donation to KFTC supports the important work we do to build a stronger democracy, including supporting constituents in talking to their legislators, monitoring activity in Frankfort while legislators are in session, and giving members opportunities to take action on important bills. You also support our work to educate voters about where candidates stand on the issues we all care about.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTSCHAPTER MEETINGS

June 9Jefferson County Chapter Meeting6:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, 809 South 4th Street in Louisville Info: [email protected] or call 502-589-3188

June 9Big Sandy Chapter Meeting7-8:30 p.m. at the Jenny Wiley Lodge, 75 Theatre Court., PrestonsburgInfo: [email protected] or call 606-263-4982

June 17Northern Kentucky Chapter Meeting7 p.m., Roebling Point Books and Coffee, 306 Greenup Street, Covington Info: [email protected] or call 859-380-6103

June 19Rowan County Chapter Meeting6 p.m., St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 5th St., MoreheadInfo: [email protected] or call 606-632-0051

June 19Central Kentucky Chapter Meeting7 p.m. at the Northside Branch of Lexington Public Library,1733 Russell Cave Road, LexingtonInfo: [email protected] or call 859-276-0563

June 19Shelby County Chapter Meeting6 p.m., Stratton Community Center, 215 W Washington Street, ShelbyvilleInfo: [email protected] or call 502-208-1696

June 23Madison County Chapter Meeting6:30 p.m. at Berea College Appalachian Center, 205 N. Main St., BereaInfo: [email protected] or call 859-314-2044

June 23Harlan County Chapter Meeting6 p.m. Harlan Public Library107 North 3rd Street, HarlanInfo: [email protected] or call 606-632-0051

June 24Letcher County Chapter Meeting6 p.m. Harry Caudill Memorial Library, 220 Main Street, WhitesburgInfo: [email protected] or call 606-632-0051

June 24Southern Kentucky Chapter Meeting6 p.m. at The Foundry531 W. 11th Street, Bowling GreenInfo: [email protected] or call 270-779-6483

July 3Scott County Chapter Meeting7 p.m. at the Georgetown Public Library, 520 Hollyhock LaneGeorgetownInfo: [email protected] or call 859-380-6103

July 7Wilderness Trace Chapter Meeting7-8:30 p.m. at Inter-County Energy Community Room1009 Hustonville Road, Danville Info: [email protected] or call 859-314-2044

EVENTS

June 18Public hearing on draft general permit for coal6 - 9 p.m. Dept. of Env. Protection,300 Fair Oaks Lane, Room 301D, Frankfort, KY 40601This is an important public hearing on the state’s draft General Permit for Coal Mining, which governs how much pollution coal companies can discharge into the state’s waterways. The first 90 minutes will be for comments about the eastern Kentucky version of the permit, and the second 90 minutes for the western Kentucky draft permit.

Please come and wear your green KFTC t-shirt if you have one.

June 28Water Testing Field Day10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Join us for a water testing field day in eastern Kentucky! People of all skill and interest levels are encouraged to attend. Location: Cordia School (Knott County)Info: [email protected] or (502) 387-9616

june 2014 - balancing the scales

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