Mar-May Issue
Abingdon Scouting trip: April 14 – 1 bundle
Tableing Charlotte E-day event: April 17 – 50
Bay’s Mtn E-day fest: April 17 – 50
Larry Gibson event: April 22 – 1 bundle
Sewanee/Summertown trip: April 30 – May 2 – 1 bundle
Trail Days Damascus: May 14-16 – 3 bundles
Spindale Goat Festival: May 22 – 1 bundle (I’m going to do interviews for goat husbandry article… home of WNCW, might scout some locations in Sylva)
Mo to Blacksburg – taking 1 bundle

Total Bundles goin out before next issue: 9
Bundles in Archives: 2

Daniel Stone published a piece on coal and energy over Newsweek’s “The Gaggle” called “West Virginia Mine Disaster Unlikely to Affect National Energy Debate“. David Roberts at Grist responded to Energy Committee Staffer Bill Wicker for a quote he had in the article, and its well worth the read. But the article was so full of mis-information and false pretexts, that I wanted to spend some pixels correcting a few things, beginning with this paragraph:

Coal is the one fuel that powers most of what we do. It accounts for 49 percent of American power consumption, and as demand for power increases while the cost of alternatives (wind, solar, biofuels) remains high, coal is poised to play a bigger, not smaller, role in our energy landscape. To put it more crassly, the cost of coal is just too cheap. A kilowatt hour of coal power costs about $0.04, less than a third of renewables.

Facts:
A) For 2009, coal provided just 44.6% of electricity, not the 49% Stone suggests (likely from the 2008 data.) If you are looking at “energy” then it is 22-23%, much less.

B) Saying that coal is poised to play a “bigger” role is ridiculous. Coal is declining, particularly production in Central Appalachia. It has been declining for the past two decades and is projected to continue downward. But not only that. It is getting deeper, thinner, and of less quality. The heat content is in decline as well, meaning that it takes more tons of coal to produce the same amount of electricity.

C) Delivered costs of coal are wildly different in different locations and in different coal plants. Central Appalachian coal (like that in West Virginia) is the most expensive coal on the domestic market.

D) Again, everything is location specific when it comes to price. But when you look at Coal V Renewables, Stone uses ballpark figures for the cost of a coal plant that is already built, but renewables that are not yet built. If you are looking at building a new coal plant vs investing in renewables, the two are cost competitive (EIA). In fact, except for solar, nothing even doubles the cost of coal, and thats without CCS.

E) The deeper we go for thinner seams of less quality coal, the more expensive central Appalachian coal gets and the more competitive natural gas, wind, geothermal, or biomass may look. The same is true for safety regulations. Coal companies fight them tooth and nail because safety isn’t free. This has an impact on energy policy. You can’t look at mining safety in a vacuum.

Secondly, I am concerned that many in the news media continually fails to appreciate the sacrifice of coal miners, whose deaths occur with alarming frequency both at home and overseas. Mr. Stone continues…

The reason safety isn’t included [in the cost of energy] is because accidents—from mine cave-ins to oil-rig deaths—don’t happen often enough for safety to become a formidable factor in the national discussion on our energy future. What’s more, the playing field isn’t all that tilted. Despite a bad week for coal miners, wind has also been fatal—14 men were killed working with wind energy in the mid-’90s, and more since, according to wind-industry analyst Paul Gipe. Not to mention the risks posed by nuclear. While most sectors have undergone regulation over the past few years to root out dangerous components, the reality is that all energy sectors are still risky in many ways.

Facts:
A) Mining accidents happen all the time in the US. Over 300 people have died mining coal in the United States just in the last decade, nearly always exceeding 20 per year. Its just that there isn’t always media saturation. Over 51,000 people have died mining coal in China in the same time period. Thats more than 3600 times the numbers that have been “killed by wind” in just one country and in half the time span.

B) Speaking of which, Mr. Stone uses MONSTROUS false equivalency regarding the different energy sectors. He says 14 people were killed working with wind energy in the mid-90s? What does that even mean? First of all, Gipe’s numbers are worldwide. That doesn’t even compare to the number of deaths from mining and processing coal in the United States alone. 18 people died mining coal in the US just last year, and that was a “great” year. In the last century over 100,000 people have died mining coal in the US.

C) You can’t look at energy in a vaccum. Policy makers certainly don’t. Look at the externalized cost of what is happening to coal communities, particularly in Appalachia. Not only has coal had a negative impact on endemic Appalachian poverty, but the health costs are estimated to be more than $42 billion every year due to health impacts and life lost. There is no cost comparison. There is no risk comparison.

Who opposes coal miners?

No one except the crazy, misguided people at Westboro Baptist Church – who are currently bringing their hate parade to your corner of West Virginia.

Appalachian Voices condemns these lunatics and anyone else who would use this tragedy as some sort of opportunity to denigrate the incredible sacrifice and service that coal miners have given to their communities, their states, and their country.

We said it yesterday, but it bears repeating:

There ought be a monument to America’s coal miners in every town and city in the United States. As Jeff Goodell says, coal helped the US win two world wars and build the strongest national economy the world has ever seen. But, Appalachia can no longer be a national sacrifice zone. Our miners, our mountains, and our communities are non-negotiable.

An underground explosion has left twelve miners dead and an unknown number missing at a mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia. Rescue workers are on the scene. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these miners.

Ken Ward has more at the Charleston Gazette.

Update: Senator Byrd released the following:

“I am praying for these miners, their loved ones, and for those who still may be trapped. Tragically West Virginians have considerable experience dealing with these disasters in the coal mines. And we know every second counts. My utmost hope is that our experienced and well trained mine rescue teams and first responders will be able to keep further casualities to a minimum”

West Virginia Blue has the statements of other elected officials from across the Mountain State.

Update II: The great reporters over at The Wonk Room have posted the video of interviews with Ken Ward and Senator Rockefeller.

Update III: Lots of great coverage from CNN…
Hopeful for survivors

Responders

More footage can be found at CNN

The science is in, and the Obama Administration is listening. Today’s issuance of guidance by the Environmental Protection Agency is an absolutely historic step in ensuring that the economy, ecology, and communities of Appalachia are better protected from the devastating impacts of mountaintop removal. Citizens from Appalachia and across America are celebrating.

As Senator Byrd said:

“The greatest threats to the future of coal do not come from possible constraints on mountaintop removal mining or other environmental regulations, but rather from rigid mindsets, depleting coal reserves, and the declining demand for coal as more power plants begin shifting to biomass and natural gas as a way to reduce emissions. “

It is in that vein that we expect Congress to follow the Obama Administration’s lead by passing legislation that will permanently protect our homes and communities from mining waste. The Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 1310) currently has 167 bipartisan cosponsors in the House of Representatives, and the Appalachia Restoration act (S. 696) has 10 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate. Change in Appalachia is now inevitable, and the time for Congress to pass this legislation is now!

West Virginia’s senior Senator, urging reason and civility:

The announcement by the EPA of its Proposed Determination to exercise its veto authority over the Spruce #1 Mine permit begins a process that enables the company and the public to comment on the matter in writing and at public hearings. I would strongly encourage all parties to seek a balanced, fair, reasonable compromise.”

“EPA Administrator Jackson reiterated to me that more wide-ranging guidance is forthcoming in the near future, providing clarity relating to water quality issues and mining permits. I encouraged her to move forward as soon as possible so those seeking approval of permits can fully understand the parameters for acceptable activity under the Clean Water Act.

Record participation moves legislation closer to passage

Last week, the Alliance for Appalachia (including App Voices) put on our largest lobby week ever to end mountaintop removal. More than 200 participants from 27 states came to tell Congress to end mountaintop removal and pass the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310) and the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696). Citizens directly impacted by mountaintop removal were joined by concerned Americans from as far away as Oregon, Maine, California, Minnesota, Michigan, and Colorado in an incredibly powerful act of solidarity. You can read more about their adventures in Marsha Johnston’s blog post, who was a participant at the event.

Participants set up and executed over 150 meetings with Congressional offices, sharing their stories and concerns about the horrific practice of mountaintop removal. We also dropped in on over 200 additional offices with whom meetings were not scheduled, and worked hard to get face-to-face time with key Congressional targets.

Thus far, the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310) has picked up 166 bipartisan cosponsors, including two additional signers this week; Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL-05) and Bill Foster (D-IL-14). The Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696) has 10 bipartisan cosponsors, with many more in the works.

Thanks to the planning team, the participants from around the country, and the people of Appalachia who spent many long hours and sleepless nights to make this the biggest and best lobby week we have ever had.

…

I’m here at the 5th Annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington, joining residents from the coalfields of Appalachia in meetings with our Congressmen, gathering support for the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310) and the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696). This may be the 5th year, but the momentum is tangible. We have 166 co-sponsors for the CWPA, bi-partisan support in both Houses and committee chairmen who are receptive to moving this forward. To build even more momentum, today is a National Call-In Day to urge your Congresspeople to support these bills. Their offices are hearing from us in person and need to hear from even more constituents.

I’ve been familiar with mountaintop removal (the practice of blasting the tops off mountains and dumping them in streams to get at coal seams maybe a foot thick) for years now. But this week it became personal.

Please, take the two minutes to call your Rep. Below are some of the most powerful points I’ve heard from local residents to communicate with members of Congress.

• Coal jobs are declining. Mountaintop removal displaces deep mining jobs by replacing people with giant machines.
• Mountaintop Removal drives away jobs. What business wants to start up in a place with undrinkable water, coal dust and blasting debris falling from the air and buildings that develop cracks in their foundations from the blasting? As you can see above, mountaintop removal and poverty are highly correlated. Coal is not the answer for economic revitalization.

• People cannot live without clean water. When your water is brown, or black or red, don’t drink it. Don’t shower in it (the mist gets into your lungs). Appalachia once has some of the cleanest, sweetest water in the country, because the mountains and their forests act as giant water filters. When coal companies shove mountaintops into streams, not only does this pollute the streams, but it destroys the natural filtration.
• Support is needed from outside the region. The almost non-existent enforcement of environmental protections, intimidation from coal companies and elected officials who were bought and paid for by coal money have worked to silence this issue. Appalachia deserves to enjoy its rich natural resources, not destroy them forever. Mountaintop removal has already destroyed an area the size of Delaware. How many more states are we willing to sacrifice?

Please call your Rep. We can change this.

This posted courtesy of our friends at the Southern Appalachian mountain Stewards

Hello friends,
I’m writing to ask you to take a step today that can help break King Coal’s economic stranglehold on coalfield communities in Southwest Virginia. By a few simple, digital steps, and three votes, you can help jump start grass roots efforts at sustainable economic development in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Heard enough? Great. Go here and vote for the Wise Energy and Sustainable Economic Development and Diversification Project. Need to know more? Read on.

For years, communities in Central Appalachia, in parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, have been standing up to defend their quality of life, the quality of their environment and the prospects for a brighter and better tomorrow for their children and grandchildren. For over a century, the coal industry has maintained a mono-economic stranglehold on many places in Appalachia, a stranglehold that has held the coalfields captive to the destructive whims of King Coal.

Today, coalfield communities are fighting harder than ever to stop the destruction of their mountains. They are also opening a new front in the struggle against King Coal’s destruction. From West Virginia to Tennessee, grassroots groups are coming together to promote a new kind of sustainable, and diverse economic development that keeps wealth at home, rebuilds our environment and supports our communities for the long haul. WE SEDD is one of these efforts, and it sure could use your votes

You can read more about some of these coalfield visions of sustainable development, among many other places, at Appalachian Transition Initiative, Appalachian Community Economics, Central Appalachian Prosperity Project. Below is a little bit more about the effort in Wise County. Haven’t voted yet? What are you waiting for?

The Wise Energy and Sustainable Economic Diversification and Development Project (WE SEDD) is a citizen led effort to diversify the coal dependent mono-economy of Wise County, Va by promoting economic and environmental sustainability, local and worker ownership, community-owned renewable energy systems and local economic skills. Together, in community, we seek to rebuild sustainable Appalachian communities.

Wise County, in Southwest Virginia, is one of a handful of coal-producing counties in Virginia. Already, over 25% of the County’s landmass has been destroyed by strip mining and mountaintop removal, and the coal industry’s hunger for ever higher profits promises the destruction of more of our community’s mountain heritage.

In the face of this destruction, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS) and other groups, have dedicated themselves “to stopping the destruction of our communities by surface coal mining, to improving the quality of life in our area, and to helping rebuild sustainable communities.” The Wise Energy and Sustainable Economic Development and Diversification project is an effort to achieve the final part of SAMS’ mission statement: to rebuild sustainable Communities in Wise County and Southwest Virginia.

Inspired by our friends and allies across Appalachia, like Coal River Mountain Watch, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Appalachian Community Economics and others, we are undertaking a collaborative effort to identify the skills and potentials inherent in the Appalachian spirit of self-sufficiency and self-determination.

WE SEDD will promote these natural Appalachian talents in order to foster a new model of economic development in Southwest Virginia that can break the mono-economic stranglehold of outlaw mining and fossil fuel dependency that today whittles away at the hope we hold for a brighter future.

Already we have held three “Wise Energy Forums” to discuss the challenges facing our regional economy, and to identify the possibilities for sustainable development. From these forums, we have taken the step of creating a directory of locally owned businesses, and identified an initial group of Wise County citizens dedicated to continuing the work of diversifying our local economy. From here we hope to identify skills already existing in our communities, connect the individuals with those skills to others across our communities, and connect them to trainings, funding and support to develop their own entrepreneurial passions.

By creating and promoting economic alternatives in the coalfields of Wise County, we will rise to the challenge so often heard in our community organizing efforts here: “I work on the strip mines because there isn’t anything else here. Show me something that can provide for my family, and I will stand with you for our mountains.” By encouraging the growth of sustainable, economic systems, we will ensure the long-term viability of our communities, and play our rightful part in the global struggle for Climate Justice and a brighter planet for our children.We are asking for $5000 to jump start the Wise Energy and Sustainable Economic Development and Diversification Project, Will you Help us Get there?

Please Vote.

Today, President Obama took questions from the House Republican Caucus, including one from Congresswoman Shelly Moore Capito (WV-02) about coal jobs in West Virginia. The exchange begins around minute 19.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Unofficial Transcript:

CONGRESSWOMAN CAPITO: Thank you, Mr. President, for joining us here today. As you said in the State of the Union address on Wednesday, jobs and the economy are number one. And I think everyone in this room, certainly I, agree with you on that.

I represent the state of West Virginia. We’re resource-rich. We have a lot of coal and a lot of natural gas. But our — my miners and the folks who are working and those who are unemployed are very concerned about some of your policies in these areas: cap and trade, an aggressive EPA, and the looming prospect of higher taxes. In our minds, these are job-killing policies. So I’m asking you if you would be willing to re-look at some of these policies, with a high unemployment and the unsure economy that we have now, to assure West Virginians that you’re listening.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Look, I listen all the time, including to your governor, who’s somebody who I enjoyed working with a lot before the campaign and now that I’m President. And I know that West Virginia struggles with unemployment, and I know how important coal is to West Virginia and a lot of the natural resources there. That’s part of the reason why I’ve said that we need a comprehensive energy policy that sets us up for a long-term future.

For example, nobody has been a bigger promoter of clean coal technology than I am. Testament to that, I ended up being in a whole bunch of advertisements that you guys saw all the time about investing in ways for us to burn coal more cleanly.

I’ve said that I’m a promoter of nuclear energy, something that I think over the last three decades has been subject to a lot of partisan wrangling and ideological wrangling. I don’t think it makes sense. I think that that has to be part of our energy mix. I’ve said that I am supportive — and I said this two nights ago at the State of the Union — that I am in favor of increased production.

So if you look at the ideas that this caucus has, again with respect to energy, I’m for a lot of what you said you are for.

The one thing that I’ve also said, though, and here we have a serious disagreement and my hope is we can work through these disagreements — there’s going to be an effort on the Senate side to do so on a bipartisan basis — is that we have to plan for the future.

And the future is that clean energy — cleaner forms of energy are going to be increasingly important, because even if folks are still skeptical in some cases about climate change in our politics and in Congress, the world is not skeptical about it. If we’re going to be after some of these big markets, they’re going to be looking to see, is the United States the one that’s developing clean coal technology? Is the United States developing our natural gas resources in the most effective way? Is the United States the one that is going to lead in electric cars? Because if we’re not leading, those other countries are going to be leading.

So what I want to do is work with West Virginia to figure out how we can seize that future. But to do that, that means there’s going to have to be some transition. We can’t operate the coal industry in the United States as if we’re still in the 1920s or the 1930s or the 1950s. We’ve got to be thinking what does that industry look like in the next hundred years. And it’s going to be different. And that means there’s going to be some transition. And that’s where I think a well-thought-through policy of incentivizing the new while recognizing that there’s going to be a transition process — and we’re not just suddenly putting the old out of business right away — that has to be something that both Republicans and Democrats should be able to embrace.

Stephen Colbert interviewed University of Maryland scientist Dr Margaret Palmer on his show last night. Dr. Palmer was the lead author of the bombshell mountaintop removal study published in the “Science” Journal last week.

CLICK HERE to watch the interview.

Our friend Jeff Biggers has the clip and a great write-up over at Huffington Post. Be sure to pre-oder Jeff’s upcoming book, Reckoning at Eagle Creek.

Obama Administration Asked to Halt All New Mountaintop Removal Permits

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CONTACTS:
Sandra Diaz, Director of Development and Communications, Appalachian Voices….828-262-1500
Dr. Matthew Wasson, Director of Programs, Appalachian Voices….828-262-1500
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Just days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the expansion of the largest mountaintop removal coal mine in West Virginia, prominent national scientists published a blockbuster study which concludes that mountaintop removal’s impacts are “pervasive and irreversible.”

Conducted by members of the National Academy of Sciences and published in the journal Science, the far-reaching study summarized dozens of pre-existing scientific papers analyzing the impacts of mountaintop removal mining, a type of surface coal mining that uses explosives to remove the tops of mountains to expose coal seams.

The study strongly criticized inadequate federal and state regulations on the practice, stating that “Current attempts to regulate [mountaintop mining/valley fill] practices are inadequate,” and that “Regulators should no longer ignore rigorous science.”

Environmental and Appalachian community advocates hailed the study as a powerful indictment against mountaintop removal mining. Opponents to the practice also expressed disappointment over the Obama Administration’s fluctuating stance on mountaintop removal, citing inconsistencies with statements made by President Obama about restoring science to a more prominent position in agency decision-making.

In a recent interview the President told the political news organization, Politico, “It’s about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it’s inconvenient-especially when it’s inconvenient.”

Appalachian coalfield residents, who have long been aware of the major environmental impacts from mountaintop removal mining, are hopeful that the study will embolden the Obama Administration to take more decisive action to ultimately end the practice.

“The scientific study released today comes as little surprise to us living in the Central Appalachian coal mining region,” says Nina McCoy from Martin County, Ky., site of a large coal sludge dam break that overtook the county in 2000. “This should be the evidence the Obama Administration needs to close the floodgates on new mountaintop removal permits and stop the poisoning of our people.”

Last year, the Obama Administration released a multi-agency plan to more strictly enforce laws regulating mountaintop removal, but the President stopped short of prohibiting the practice.

On Thursday, the EPA told National Public Radio’s Diane Rehm Show that the agency does not have the authority to stop permitting mountaintop removal, however, critics believe there are other avenues through which the Administration could end the practice.

“The EPA has made commendable efforts to reduce the impacts of mountaintop removal on downstream water quality, but this study shows that mitigating and regulating the wholesale destruction of Appalachian Mountains is just not effective,” said Dr. Matthew Wasson, ecologist for the environmental non-profit group Appalachian Voices and director of the campaign to end mountaintop removal on iLoveMountains.org.

“The President has the power to end mountaintop removal through any number of agency actions,” Wasson added, “and he should call on Congress to pass the Clean Water Protection Act, a bill designed to end mountaintop removal-but the message from this study is that he’s out of excuses for allowing mountaintop removal to continue.”

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Images and b-roll video available upon request. Please contact Jamie Goodman at jamie@appvoices.org or 828-262-1500

Update: See other reactions at NRDC, Grist, NY Times, Coal Tattoo, Washington Post, and McClatchy.