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JW Randolph

Raised on the banks of the Tennessee River, JW's work to create progress in his home state and throughout Appalachia has been featured on the Rachel Maddow Show, The Daily Kos and Grist. He served first as Appalachian Voices’ Legislative Associate and then Tennessee director until leaving to pursue a career in medicine in 2012.

EPA Policies: Creating Appalachian Mining Jobs

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | 2 Comments

“Areas with especially heavy mining have the highest unemployment rates in the region; contrary to the common perception that mining contributes to overall employment.” – Dr. Michael Hendryx

Congressional Republicans, led by rogue Democratic Congressman Nick Rahall, will hold a hearing today in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment (phew!) that has absolutely nothing to do with reality. This farcical hearing, scheduled especially for Cinco De Mayo is EPICALLY titled: “ EPA Mining Policies: Assault on Appalachian Jobs – PART 1.” WAIT A SECOND?! What is this title, a Styx song? Is this seriously supposed to be a substantive Congressional hearing? There are plenty of jobs being lost, and population being lost, and lives being lost in Appalachia.

But Rahall and co are missing a simple fact. Mining jobs are on the rise in Appalachia, and EPA’s policies are helping to create MORE mining jobs in the region. More on that below.

This is a complete and utter joke of a one-sided hearing, and a waste of our tax dollars. Not only that, but Rahall and his buddies running the subcommittee made sure to block out the voices of Appalachian citizens, scientists, and other rational people. Oh, and by the way…they DEMAND to be taken seriously.

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1) Mining Jobs
Lets talk about them. According to the Energy Information Administration, there are about 34,000 mining jobs in all of Central Appalachia (southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, Virginia, and a few counties in Tennessee) as of 2010. This includes “…all employees engaged in production, preparation, processing, development, maintenance, repair shop, or yard work at mining operations, including office workers.” This employment number is on the rise over the last decade even though coal production has plummeted in the region. Why? Because companies are relying on underground mining for an increasingly large share of their coal. Underground mining employs more people than mountaintop removal (one of a multitude of benefits you get from not blowing up a mountain and dumping the toxic waste into headwater streams.) So, why are we always showing you the graph below detailing the historical loss of mining jobs, specifically in West Virginia?

Because there IS an assault on mining jobs in Appalachia. Namely – MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL, a practice used specifically to take the miner out of the mine.

Lets look at 2007-2010 when the US job market declined by 5% overall. During this period, production from mountaintop removal mines declined by 25% and employment at Central Appalachian coal mines increased. Claims by coal companies and their cronies in Congress that more stringent permitting of mountaintop removal is causing an economic crisis in Central Appalachia are simply false. Since 2007, as production in Central Appalachia has shifted away from mountaintop removal and back toward underground mining techniques, the increase in employment at underground mines has more than offset declines at other types of mines.

Many companies proceed by replacing miners with machines and explosives. Underground mines, however, create 52% more job-hours than mountaintop removal mines for every ton they produce and employ nearly two thirds of the miners in Central Appalachia while producing just over half of the coal. In addition, unemployment in counties where a high proportion of coal is mined by mountaintop removal is higher than in counties where coal is mined mostly underground. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2000 through 2010, the average annual unemployment rate was 8.6% in Central Appalachian counties where more than 75% of coal production was by mountaintop removal, compared to 6.7% in counties where mountaintop removal accounted for less than 25% of production. )

SO, EPA’s continued protection of human health and clean water is driving production away from surface mining and towards underground mining, which employs far more people. Ergo (and this is the really important part)…

2) EPA’s mining policies are creating mining jobs in Central Appalachia that otherwise would not have existed. Meanwhile, the coal industry is making money hand over fist

WHAT?! How is that possible? I thought that the President had declared a war on coal, and was determined to shut down coal mining and to end coal and to kill coal and to destroy coal and to attack our way of life? I thought the EPA was a socialist plot to overthrow American businesses and values and freedoms and coal jobs and liberty?

YES, we’ve been subject to the networks and local politicians echoing what Mike Casey calls coal’s fantasy that this dirty fuel is a clean, sustainable, job creator. The truth is that reliance on coal mining has sucked the jobs, opportunity, and economic vitality out of huge swaths of Central Appalachia.

Casey says:

…[f]ossil fuel production has not insulated energy-producing states from fiscal crisis…[t]he volatility of fossil fuel markets poses obstacles to the stability and long-term security of economic growth in energy-producing regions.” …This is a problem for the coal industry, which spends heavily to construct a fantasy world in which it’s a “clean” industry to which we should feel grateful, a vital supplier of our power, and an economic lifeline to host communities.

Appalachia is hurting economically, in large part due to an overreliance on unsustainable mining practices. But its not like the coal industry itself is hurting under EPA’s current mining regulations. For Q1, coal companies are already bringing in the dough, with Alpha (who is buying out Massey Energy) just announcing that their Q1 profits had tripled! Patriot announced record revenue, with the boss saying;

…year-to-date coal production in Central Appalachia has increased over the prior year.

Arch is pulling a handsome profit, while specifically not citing EPA as a problem in driving up costs. CONSOL says they made record revenue, while the CEO stated:

“CONSOL Energy had a superb quarter, by nearly any measure,” commented J. Brett Harvey, chairman and chief executive officer…We also exceeded our expectations on coal production.”

How TERRIFICALLY annoying for all of us that Congressman Rahall doesn’t have the slightest clue what he is doing when it comes to making public policy..

3. What exactly is EPA regulating? Mainly, valleyfills. A majority of new mines in Central Appalachia don’t use valleyfills.
The majority of recently approved permits for new mines in Central Appalachia do not even use valley fills. A survey of all applications for new mine permits in Central Appalachia that were approved by state agencies in 2009 revealed that just 44% used valley fills to dispose of mine waste. Valleyfills, whose impacts are known to be deadly, dangerous, and permanent, are a very small and unnecessary part of Appalachian surface mining.

Central Appalachian production is declining, with mountaintop removal making up less than 5% of US electricity generation. The bottom line is that U.S. coal production is limited by demand for coal, not by the ability of companies to obtain permits for mountaintop removal mines. According to energy analysts as well as executives from Arch Coal, Peabody Energy, and Southern Company, declining Central Appalachian coal production is the result of competition from lower cost natural gas. Coal mines across the country are producing at just 75% of their capacity – down from 85% in 2008 – and the Energy Information Administration projects that coal demand won’t recover to 2008 levels for another 15 years. Coal from mountaintop removal mines could easily be replaced if other US mines were operating at just 81% of their capacity. So, theres that.

If Congressman Rahall knew the first thing about Central Appalachian mining, he might include some expert witnesses, or citizens whose lives are forever impacted by the very unnecessary (and unpopular) method of mining called mountaintop removal. Poll after poll show that a majority of people across America and across Appalachia oppose mountaintop removal. His constituents seem to agree, as Rahall’s district in southern West Virginia is being swiftly depopulated.

But hey, at least the citizens of WV-03 still have it better off than their neighbors in KY-05, the only district with MORE mountaintop removal.

We all have ideas on how to provide job growth and economic opportunity for our region, but one thing is clear. MORE mountaintop removal is not the answer. There are real problems to be addressed in Appalachia and this goofy hearing is a great big whiff.

Why the Week in Washington Was a Win!!!

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | 1 Comment

How raising YOUR voice won a hard-fought victory over the coal lobby

Last week more than 150 people from 23 states and directly impacted communities in Appalachia converged in Washington DC to give Congress a piece of our mind. hundreds more joined us virtually by calling their Congressmen and Senators and asking them to cosponsor the Clean Water Protection Act (now HR 1375) and the Appalachia Restoration Act. In addition, citizens met with every federal agency which regulates mountaintop removal, and scored a BIG WIN in keeping mountaintop removal policy riders out of the federal budget.

The reason that regular citizens like us beat the coal lobby was laid out by Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer quite plainly:

…[The Republican negotiators] walked away from [mountaintop removal] because that would have been very unpopular.”

Citizens from Appalachia met with 100% of the House and Senate delegation representing central Appalachia, and in all participants met with 200 House and Senate offices. This included 20 members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 11 members of the Water Resources committee and meetings with House and Committee leadership. The cosponsor number of the Clean Water Protection Act has already climbed to 66 members and is growing rapidly. We met with roughly half of all Senate offices, including five members of the Environment and Public Works Committee, 15 members of the Senate leadership. Several West Virginia participants had this memorable encounter with Senator Jay Rockefeller.

Dustin White, a constituent of Rockefeller’s who was there had this to say:

I want people to be clear on what this is. I am calling Rockefeller out. Be a man and come talk to the people effected, or keep hiding behind the shirt tails of the Industry. It is THAT simple.

Besides meeting with important bipartisan legislators on both sides of the Hill, citizens met with every federal agency that regulates mountaintop removal.

Kate Rooth, our National Field Coordinator adds:

We had meetings with EVERY federal agency that regulates mountaintop removal. Sadly it is more clear now than ever that we need a law if we are going to end mountaintop removal. We made our demands clear and will be following up with routine conference calls to track the progress of the agencies.

Whether it was in the White House, at the Office of Surface Mining, or on the Hill, the Alliance for Appalachia pulled off an amazing event that kept powerful budget negotiators from including anti-mountain riders to the budget, and just as certainly will keep making sure that we are creating the political will to end mountaintop removal immediately!

App Voices’ Field Organizer Austin Hall had this to say about the Week in Washington:

Never has the movement to end mountaintop removal faced such dire threats (budget amendments, stand alone bills, powerful coal state legislators, etc.) Our voice, up until the citizens Week in Washington, was being drowned out. These efforts raised our issue back into the limelight in Washington DC.

For more pictures of this years’ Week in Washington, please check out our Flickr feed below. Just click on the play button on the bottom left.

You can also read short interviews with event participants on iLoveMountains.org here and here.

House Passes Dangerous Budget in the Dark of Night

Monday, February 21st, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | 2 Comments

The Stakes are High for Appalachia as the Fight Moves to the Senate

Late Friday night and into the wee hours of Saturday morning, the long-anticipated assault on clean air and clean water laws began in the House of Representatives. At 4:39AM on Saturday morning, Republicans passed their bill with zero Democratic support, and only three Republican dissenters (Jones (NC), Flake (AZ), Campbell (CA)).

The House approved a number of amendments to the budget bill (H.R. 1) that would prevent the EPA from updating rules on mountaintop removal permitting, coal ash storage, emissions of coarse particulate matter, and a variety of other clean air and clean water safeguards. Those amendments that were attached included the coal lobby wishlist of #109, #216, #217 (previously labeled as #10), and #498 (previously labled as #219/220) These were revenue-neutral amendments, meaning they weren’t aimed at reducing the federal budget deficit, but were designed solely to prevent the EPA and other government agencies from updating and enforcing clean air and clean water laws. In short, it was Christmas for polluters.

Fortunately, the House version of the budget bill is only the first step, and for any of these rules to take effect, they must also pass the Senate and be signed into law by the President.
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Appalachian Voices supports Tonko, Polis, Holt Amendments

Thursday, February 17th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

They don’t fix HR 1, but These Amendments Could Help Protect Appalachia

Appalachian Voices strongly supports the following amendments to HR 1:

5 (Tonko)
Amendment No. 5: Page 276, beginning on line 4, strike section 1746.

65 (Polis):
Amendment No. 65: Page 276, line 11, insert “, except for expenditures that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines to be necessary to protect the public health or prevent severe environmental degradation” after “climate change”.

66 (Polis):
Amendment No. 66: Page 276, line 8, insert “or other authorities under the Clean Air Act that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines to be necessary to protect the public health or prevent severe environmental degradation” after “Clean Air Act”.

460 (Holt).
Amendment No. 460: Page 276, beginning on line 4, strike section 1746.

The House has yet to vote on these or any of the coal lobby’s favored amendments.

Welcome to Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | 3 Comments

Why Americans Should Oppose Rep Hal Rogers’ Federal Budget (HR 1)

Appalachia saw several new threats arise in Congress yesterday, as Representatives of Congress introduced bad amendment after bad amendment after bad amendment to the already dangerous Budget Resolution (H.R. 1) that is due to be voted on as soon as tonight. In all, more than 400 amendments were filed yesterday and an additional 180 have been filed today. Many of them reflected Congressman Hal Rogers’ own sentiments about how to govern – disregarding citizen protections and sound science, while encouraging the complete and utter deregulation of large polluting industries that are a threat to public health and well-being. We’ve seen what happens when Mr. Rogers’ policies are put into place, as they have been in eastern Kentucky for decades.

Of the 435 Congressional districts, Rogers’ district (KY-05) is #1 in mountaintop removal and stream damages by the coal industry. But it is also DEAD LAST in well being.
rogers

Hal Rogers’ neighborhood may be “dead first” in mountaintop removal, but out of the 435 congressional districts in the United States, his ranks:
– 435th in life expectancy (dead last)
– 435th in physical health (dead last)
– 435th in overall well-being (dead last)
– 435th in emotional health (dead last)

Kentucky ranks dead last in healthy behavior, and 49th in overall well-being, emotional health, and physical health (behind WV of course). More mountaintop removal will only make these problems with the health of Appalachian people even worse. Its hard to get worse than worst, but Hal Rogers is doing his darndest.

Yesterday the coal lobby added a litany of dangerous amendments to HR 1 that had nothing to do with spending, but instead are aimed at removing citizen protections from mountaintop removal. Here are the particularly bad amendments as they relate to Appalachian Voices’ work.

Amendment #109 (Griffith-R-WV) – This amendment would defund EPA’s authority to implement its recent guidance regarding mountaintop removal, which protects American citizens and Appalachian headwater streams from toxic mountaintop removal mining waste.

Amendment #216 (McKinley-R-WV) – This amendment would defund EPA’s ability to implement its authority under section 404c to veto Clean Water Act permits that presented a threat to public health and well being. The recent veto of the Spruce Mine #1 permit is the most well-known example of this authority, which EPA uses only in extreme circumstances.

Amendments #219/220 (Johnson-R-OH) – These amendments would defund the Department of Interior’s ability to implement its “Stream Protection Rule” (SPR) which is currently being drafted in order to protect our citizens from toxic coal waste.

In addition, Appalachian Voices has written members of Congress opposing Amendments 10 and 217 which seek to defund the regulation of toxic coal ash.

The Obama Administration is hitting back hard, and besides threatening a veto of HR 1 has already put out a backgrounder on the impacts that this bill could have on water quality. Specifically, the Obama Administration said:

The Clean Water Act language is just as irresponsible and reckless.

– The language would prohibit EPA and the Army Corps from preventing the dumping of pollution into waters that flow into the rivers in our communities.

– Preventing EPA from improving water quality makes no sense and is particularly irresponsible since we know that every dollar we spend on protecting drinking water yields $27 in health benefits.

– More than 1/3 of the population – 117 million Americans – gets their drinking water from sources fed by waters that may lack protection under the CWA – the CR would make it impossible for EPA to protect those waters and the health of Americans who rely on them.

– The language would prevent EPA and US ACE from agreeing which waters are protected under the law – leaving in place the uncertainty that followed the Rapanos decision

– Finally, the lack of certainty and common-sense this bill would reinforce has led to truly absurd and harmful outcomes.

I’d highly recommend that folks read EPA’s “Budget in Brief” report, outlining the Obama Administration’s plans for budgeting EPA. Even the Administration seeks to cut EPA’s budget 1.3 billion dollars from its operating budget for the last two years, meaning a loss of at least 200 full-time employees.

While the coal lobby is hard at work locking down their supporters in the Senate, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye is indicating he thinks that these proposals are dead in the water in the Senate:

“It is clear from this proposal that House Republicans are committed to pursuing an ineffective approach to deficit reduction that attempts to balance the budget on the back of domestic discretionary investments, which constitute only a small percentage of overall federal spending. The priorities identified in this proposal for some of the largest cuts ‘ environmental protection, healthcare, energy, science and law enforcement ‘ are essential to the current and future well’being of our economy and communities across the country. Such an approach would knock the legs out from under our nascent economic recovery, kill jobs, and do virtually nothing to address the long’term fiscal crisis facing our country. Try as they might to convince the American people otherwise, it is simply not possible to balance the budget by targeting 15 percent of federal spending ‘ no matter how deep the cuts are.

But why is it so important that we stand up and oppose rolling back citizen protections that could streamline and deregulate mountaintop removal?

Here is an example of the water running through Congressman Morgan Griffith’s district in beautiful southwestern Virginia. As a result of mountaintop removal mining, more than 2000 miles of headwater streams in Appalachia have been buried. As you can see, this horrible water containing arsenic, lead, mercury, selenium, and a host of other heavy metals and chemicals not only affects the incredible Appalachian ecosystems, but it also directly impacts tap water.
SWVA water
kathy

The impact of rules such as EPA’s guidance are simply to ensure that a greater proportion of US coal production comes from mines that do not pollute streams. Regulations are not what are driving Appalachian coal production downward. Coal demand in the US has plummeted over the past two years. In the mean time, the US mining industry is operating at an anemic 75% capacity. In fact, the production from all Central Appalachian surface mines could be replaced if other coal producing regions were operating at 82% capacity instead of 75%.

There are many ways to reduce wasteful spending in an environmentally responsible manner, and campaigns like Green Scissors or reports from groups like Friends of the Earth have attempted to identify ways to limit wasteful federal spending that is harmful for the environment and the people who live in it. While top EIA brass admit that there is no government count of fossil fuel subsidies, many legislators beholden to the coal lobby are using the budget to attempt political theatre unrelated to federal spending, the debt, or the deficit.
Its clear that coal industry doesn’t like to pay its fair share when it could just outsource the impacts of mining onto the backs of Appalachian communities and America’s taxpayers. A new post at CoalTattoo outlinesThe average American pays a higher tax rate than the coal industry.

President Obama does support cutting $418 million from the Office of Fossil Energy, cutting more than $2.6 billion in coal subsidies over the course of the next decade, and putting $8 billion towards the growing clean energy sector. These are all good things. We have all had to make tough decisions regarding our finances in the last two years. Our Representatives in Congress have difficult decisions to make. But one thing is clear.

They must OPPOSE amendments 10, 109, 216, 217, 219, and 220 and look at supporting initiatives that protect public health and well-being such as clean energy investment. Oppose HR 1. After all, we know where Hal Rogers’ leadership would take us.

rogers

Kentuckians Declare Victory

Monday, February 14th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | 1 Comment

Fourteen Protesters Emerge Victorious from Kentucky Governor’s Office Sit-In Protesting Mountaintop Removal Mining

From our friend Jason Howard…

Feb. 14, 2001
12:15 P.M.

FRANKFORT – Fourteen protesters emerged from their four-day occupation of the Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s office in protest of mountaintop removal mining before an exuberant crowd of over 1,000 people on the steps of the state Capitol.

In a statement delivered before the cheering throng of supporters, internationally-known writer Wendell Berry explained, “We came because the land, its forests, and its streams are being destroyed by the surface mining of coal, because the people are suffering intolerable harms to their homes, their health, and their communities.”

The protesters (who also included a retired coal miner, a nurse practitioner who treats miners, community organizers, a graduate student, and others) had been staying in the office since talks between them and Gov. Beshear came to a stalemate on Friday afternoon, when he finally agreed to meet with them after initially refusing to do so that morning. In the meeting, Gov. Beshear continued to express his steadfast support for both mountaintop removal and the coal industry.

The citizens found his position unacceptable, and refused to vacate his office. When they declined to leave, the governor instructed his security team to inform the protesters that they were welcome to stay “as long as they wanted.”

The sit-in, which the protesters dubbed Kentucky Rising, has attracted international attention, with messages of support coming in from Argentina and Germany. Leading environmental figures including Bill McKibben (350.org) and best-selling environmental writers Michael Pollan, Naomi Klein, Terry Tempest Williams, and Wes Jackson issued strong statements of support.

“People across America today…are electrified by what’s going on in Frankfort,” McKibben said. ”It’s about time that people said: ‘No more business as usual, if that means leveling the mountains of southern Appalachia.’”

The citizens say they will hold Gov. Beshear, who is running for reelection this year, to a pledge he made this morning: to travel to eastern Kentucky within thirty days and personally inspect damage caused by mountaintop removal. “This is only the beginning. There’s no going back at the point. The pressure will continue.”

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Contact:

Jason Howard (Media Liaison) 606.224.1208
Silas House (Media Liaison) 606.344.0662
Lora Smith (Media Liaison) 606.524.4074

Kentucky Loves Mountains! Jeff Biggers Interviews Sit-In Participants.

Monday, February 14th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

Happy Kentucky Loves Mountains day! Jeff Biggers has some must-see interviews with Wendell Berry, Stanley Sturgill, Teri Blanton, and many others from the weekend sit-in in the Kentucky Governor’s offices.

Day 3:Live at the KY Capitol on Day 3: Exclusive Video Interviews with Wendell Berry and Sit-in Activists
Day 4: One Love: The Nation Should Watch the Kentucky Rising Sit-in on Valentine’s Day

The live stream can be viewed here.

Below are a few of Jeff’s interviews, but please go check all of them out. History is in the making.

Stanley Sturgill, who spent 40 years working in the coal industry:

Teri Blanton, on how this impacts Kentucky residents

More from our friend Silas House below…
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14 Kentuckians Stay At Governors Mansion Over the Weekend

Saturday, February 12th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

Action will grow with Monday’s “I Love Mountains Day” in Frankfort

I Love Mountains Day 2010 1) Check out the GREAT news on the legal front from our River Keeper team.

2) You can follow a live-feed from the KFTC blog.

3) Our friend Silas House has the following update…

FRANKFORT – Fourteen protestors remain in the office of the Kentucky state governor this weekend in an unprecedented and historic effort to bring attention to mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. Gov. Steve Beshear invited the protesters to stay after they said they would not leave his office until they were either physically removed or until he reconsidered his position on MTR.

The group are now extending an invitation to the Governor and the First Lady to join them and continue the conversation.

All of the protesters are from Kentucky. Those remaining in the governor’s office include Wendell Berry, 76, the acclaimed writer who has been a leader in environmental issues for the past fifty years; Beverly May, 52, a nurse practitioner who was the subject of Deep Down, a documentary about MTR that was shown on PBS; Mickey McCoy, 55, former educator and mayor from Martin County, where more than 300 million gallons of toxic sludge were released into the water supply in 2001; and Stanley Sturgill, 65, a former underground coal miner and former MSHA inspector.

Also in the office are Lisa Abbott, 40, a community organizer and mother of two; Chad Berry, 47, a writer and historian; Teri Blanton, 54, a grandmother of three; Doug Doerrfeld, 60, Kevin Pentz, 38, a community organizer; Herb E. Smith, 58, a documentary filmmaker; Rick Handshoe, 50, a retired Kentucky State Police employee; John Hennen, 59, a history professor at Morehead State University; and Martin Mudd, 28, a grad student at the University of Kentucky, and Tanya Turner, 24, a community organizer.

Two of the protesters, writers Silas House and Jason Howard, who had been acting as media liaisons, left the capitol late last night when it became too difficult to communicate with media from within the office.

“We call upon Gov. Beshear to lead by ending mountaintop removal, by beginning a sincere public dialogue about creating sustainable jobs for our hard-working miners, by putting the vital interests of ordinary Kentuckians above the special interests of an abusive industry,” the group said in a joint statement.

All of those remaining spent the night sleeping on the floor. A donation of pillows managed to get into the Capitol before the doors were locked at 4:30 on Friday afternoon.

This is the first sit-in of its kind in the state’s history.

People across the nation have been sending support to the group via the Internet. A couple from Florida sent the group six pizzas, which the Kentucky State Police guarding the capitol allowed to be delivered. Gifts—including artwork and coffee—have also begun to arrive at the capitol. The group shared their pizza with Kentucky State Police officers and the late-night custodial staff.

MTR is a controversial form of coal mining that has gained more attention over the last several years. The EPA has recently started to crack down on permits for MTR, which led Kentucky Gov. Beshear to recently tell the EPA to “get off our backs” in his State of the Commonwealth address earlier this month. Beshear has filed a lawsuit against the EPA.

The group has been incorrectly identified as being “anti-coal” but say they are there to protest MTR. The group is an independent coalition of citizens—most of them from the coalfields—and do not represent any particular organization.

An unrelated MTR protest that had already been planned is being staged on the capitol steps on Monday at noon. The annual event, I Love Mountains Day, will include a mile-long march and a rally featuring Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-D). Previous speakers at the event include actress Ashley Judd and country music singer Kathy Mattea.

Gov. Beshear met with the group for about twenty minutes and declared that he would continue his lawsuit against the EPA and made no commitments to do anything about MTR. The governor did, however, agree to visit Eastern Kentucky at an undetermined time. The protestors remain committed to holding him to this promise and are extending an invitation to the governor and the first lady to join them in the office.
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Contact: Lisa Abbott 859.200.5159 (inside the Governor’s Office)
Silas House 606.344.0662 (media liaison)
Jason Howard 606.224.1208 (media liaison)
Chad Berry 859.779.1594 (inside the Governor’s Office)
Lora Smith 606.524.4074 (media liaison)

Kentuckians Confront Governor Beshear

Friday, February 11th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | 5 Comments

Update: Great news!

Press Release: Fourteen Kentuckians Will Remain in Governor’s Office Over the Weekend in Protest of Mountaintop Removal Mining

Contact: Silas House/Jason Howard 606.224.1208

FRANKFORT – At least fourteen Kentuckians have decided to remain in Gov. Steve Beshear’s office over the weekend at the invitation of the governor himself.

Among those remaining in the governor’s office include Wendell Berry, 76, the acclaimed writer who has decried mining abuses for the past fifty years; Beverly May, 52, a nurse practitioner from Floyd County; Mickey McCoy, 55, former educator and mayor of Inez; Teri Blanton, 54, a grassroots activist from Harlan County; Stanley Sturgill, 65, a former underground coal miner of Harlan County; Rick Handshoe, 50, a retired Kentucky State Police radio technician of Floyd County; John Hennen, 59, a history professor at Morehead State University; and Martin Mudd, 28, an environmental activist.

“We have resolved to stay while Gov. Beshear reconsiders his position on mountaintop removal mining,” the group said in a joint statement. “As we are just steps away from the Governor’s Mansion, we invite the governor to join us at the Capitol—the People’s House—for more conversations over the weekend.”

The group is staying in the governor’s office in anticipation of I Love Mountains Day on Monday, an annual rally held to draw attention to mountaintop removal and the Stream Saver Bill, which has languished for six years in the House Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Gooch (D-Providence), a longtime supporter of the coal industry.

“We invite our fellow Kentuckians to join us in solidarity on the steps of the Capitol on Monday,” said the group. A march to the Capitol from the Kentucky River Bridge will commence at 11:30 a.m. The rally at the Capitol will begin at 12:15 p.m.

They expressed disappointment in today’s meeting with Gov. Beshear. “There are times when our elected officials must choose between being a leader and being a politician. This is one of those times. We call upon Gov. Beshear to lead by ending mountaintop removal, by beginning a sincere public dialogue about creating sustainable jobs for our hard-working miners, by putting the vital interests of ordinary Kentuckians above the special interests of an abusive industry.”

—————————————-
A message from our brothers and sisters in Kentucky – jw
—

Contact: Silas House/Jason Howard 606.224.1208

FRANKFORT – A group of twenty Kentuckians has gathered at the state Capitol in an attempt to meet with Gov. Steve Beshear to discuss the issue of mountaintop removal mining. They plan to remain in his office until the governor agrees to stop the poisoning of Kentucky’s land, water, and people by mountaintop removal; or until he chooses to have the citizens physically removed.

Among the group are Wendell Berry, 76, the acclaimed writer who has decried mining abuses for the past fifty years; Beverly May, 52, a nurse practitioner from Floyd County; Erik Reece, 43, who has written extensively about the coal industry; Patty Wallace, 80, a grandmother from Louisa; Mickey McCoy, 55, former educator and mayor of Inez; Teri Blanton, 54, a grassroots activist from Harlan County; Stanley Sturgill, 65, a former underground coal miner of Harlan County; Rick Handshoe, 50, a retired Kentucky State Police radio technician of Floyd County; John Hennen, 59, a history professor at Morehead State University; and Martin Mudd, 28, an environmental activist.

While these Kentuckians realize they are risking arrest by refusing to leave the governor’s office, they say they have repeatedly petitioned Gov. Beshear for help, yet their pleas have been ignored. This action is a last resort to seek protections for their health, land, and water.

In a letter to Gov. Beshear, the citizens expressed their desire to communicate “respectfully and effectively” with the governor about the urgent need to stop the destruction of mountaintop removal mining. Among their requests were the following:

§ Accept a long-standing invitation to view the devastation in eastern Kentucky caused by mountaintop removal mining

§ Foster a sincere, public discussion about the urgent need for a sustainable economic transition for coal workers and mountain communities

§ Withdraw from the October 2010 lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, in which the Beshear administration partnered with the coal industry to oppose the EPA’s efforts to protect the health and water of coalfield residents

“The office of the governor must be held accountable,” they citizens explained in a joint statement. “We are once again asking Gov. Beshear for help.”

Hal Rogers district in eastern Kentucky (KY-05) has been the victim of more mountaintop removal than any other district or even state, for that matter. Out of 435 Congressional districts, it is #1 in destruction of mountains and streams, and yet it ranks:

– 435th in physical health (dead last)
– 435th in overall well-being (dead last)
– 435th in emotional health (dead last)
– 435th in life expectancy (dead last) (although it switches back and forth with Rahall’s district WV-03, depending on whose data you go by)

As a state Kentucky ranks dead last in healthy behavior, and 49th in overall well-being, emotional health, and physical health (behind WV of course). More mountaintop removal will only make these problems with the health of Appalachian people even worse. Its hard to get worse than worst, but many Kentucky Representatives are trying. Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends at the state house.

We stand in solidarity with Kentucky Rising, a group who entered the office of Gov. Beshear at 10 AM asking for a real discussion about stopping MTR and creating economic stability for the region.

If you’d like to help.
1) Call the Governor’s office and demand he meet with his constituents. 502-564-2611

2) Consider joining 100s of Kentuckians for “I Love Mountains Day” at the state Capitol on February 14th.

As always, Jeff Biggers has much, much more.

Virginia General Assembly’s Vote will Weaken State’s Enforcement of Clean Water Act

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | 1 Comment

News from our good friends at the Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition.

Virginia General Assembly Vote will Weaken State Enforcement of Clean Water Act
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Appalachian Voices Tom Cormons (301) 910-8973
Southern Environmental Law Center Marirose Pratt (434) 977-4090
Sierra Club, Virginia Chapter JR Tolbert (706) 594-5487
Chesapeake Climate Action Network Jamie Nolan (240) 396-2022
Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards Jane Branham (276) 679-7505
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The Virginia Senate today passed legislation (SB 1025) that will severely restrict state regulators’ ability to protect public health and the environment from pollution from surface coal mines under the Clean Water Act. An identical bill (HB 2123) passed in the House of Delegates last month, and Governor Bob McDonnell is expected to sign the legislation into law.

This legislation limits the ability of state regulators to use water quality testing to make permitting and enforcement decisions involving pollution discharges from coal strip mines. In addition, the bills revoke the citizen State Water Control Board’s primary authority for administering the Clean Water Act’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for surface mining discharges, transferring this authority to the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.

Senators Ticer, Whipple, McEachin, Petersen, and Marsden stood up for clean water and opposed the Senate bill in committee on Monday.

“Stream monitoring and testing for toxic discharges are indispensable tools for enforcing clean water laws, and that is precisely why Big Coal is going all out to curtail their use,” said Tom Cormons, Virginia Director for Appalachian Voices. “What’s astounding is that the General Assembly has passed this coal industry bill, tying our own state regulators’ hands by restricting their ability to use standard water testing.”

There is also serious concern about potential legal repercussions for the state as a result of this legislation. “By hamstringing the Director’s ability to adequately test water quality, this bill removes safeguards for clean water,” said Marirose Pratt, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “It conflicts with Virginia’s longstanding agreement with EPA and places Virginia in jeopardy of losing authority to administer our own Clean Water Act program.”

Pollution discharges from strip mines pose a major threat to downstream waterways. Discharges from mountaintop removal mining operations, which are prevalent in the state, are of particular concern. Strip mining – including mountaintop removal – is more widespread in Southwest Virginia’s Wise County than all but one other county in Appalachia.

More than 150 miles of headwater streams in the state have been eliminated by the practice and downstream waterways are also severely impacted.

“Our waterways are already so toxic, it’s hard to believe the state is taking tools away from those charged with safeguarding them,” says Jane Branham of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards. “Many of our streams are already loaded with black sediment from these mines and are void of life.” The reputable journal Science cited Virginia in a peer-reviewed paper last year on mountaintop mining impacts. The paper describes declines in stream life and high levels of toxic metals below mine sites, as well as elevated rates of human mortality, and heart, lung, and kidney disease in the vicinity of mountaintop removal operations.

“Big Coal wants to operate above the law,” said Chelsea Harnish, Virginia policy coordinator for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “The coal industry is already fighting clean air regulations at the federal level, and now here in Virginia the industry is close to being granted its own loophole allowing coal mining to pollute our waterways, completely unchecked.”

“Clean water and clean air have been assaulted from day one of this General Assembly session. Whether it’s loopholes in the permitting process for coal mines, or extending coal subsidies in Virginia, this General Assembly has done all they can to create a safety net for the coal industry,” said J.R. Tolbert, assistant director of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club. “If we didn’t know any better, you’d think Virginia had become a corporate welfare state.”

Virginia General Assembly Proposes Dangerous Clean Water Act Rewrite

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | 6 Comments

Update: SB 1025passed the Senate this afternoon. The Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition has something to say about that.

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The Coal Lobby Fights Back by Making it Illegal to Test for Water Pollution Unless…They’ve Already Found Water Pollution

Before we talk about SB 1025 in Virginia, and the coal lobby’s radical attempt to completely grease the skids for the dumping of toxic waste into Virginia’s waterways, let’s begin with a all-too-common coal lobby sentiment on protecting water from Fenway Pollack, lawyer for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), when asked what would happen if the state actually enforced water quality standards.

Taken to its logical conclusion, [enforcing water quality violations] would mean no one gets renewals. We’d just shut down mining.

It’s a little disturbing isn’t it? The Clean Water Act is perhaps the most popular piece of federal legislation ever passed. Because of the Clean Water Act, millions of Americans are able to actually use the “waters of the United States” for activities from recreation to quenching thirst. The Clean Water Act was signed into law on the simple principle that every human being deserves the right to clean drinking water. In the most prosperous country on earth, it makes sense that we should not have a problem providing American citizens with a sip of clean drinking water. Beyond the intangible benefits to public health ad well-being, the Clean Water Act is estimated to bring in more than $11 billion in economic benefits every year. We all drink water, and we all think it is better when it is clean. Right?!

Unfortunately, there is one exception. Since its passage, the Clean Water Act has been attacked by polluting industries who would prefer to dump their poison directly into our taps and have us pick up the tab for the toxic waste that they’d rather not deal with. Suits them just fine, but the Clean Water Act has ensured that those industries have had to clean up their own mess and play by the same rules as everybody else. Meanwhile those same industries have relentlessly attacked citizen protections in the courts, in federal and state legislative houses, and through the regulatory process. However, recent events have made it clear. Absolutely nobody hates the Clean Water Act like the coal lobby does, and they have made perfectly clear that they have no intention of preserving the right to clean water that every American deserves. The coal lobby has waged a longstanding, nationwide “War on Water,” threatening much more than just the coal-bearing communities of Central Appalachia. Just over 40 years ago, The Cuyahoga River in Ohio was repeatedly catching on fire, all over the country people were piping their raw sewage into waterways upstream of communities and industrial waste was being wantonly dumped into American lakes and rivers. By passing the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 1972, and the Clean Water Act in 1977, Congress set to address problems like these, and preserve our ability to use our precious water resources.

In 2002 the coal lobby got themselves a special carveout when – without Congressional approval – the Bush Administration rewrote the regulatory definition of “fill material” to include the toxic waste that comes from mountaintop removal sites. The “valleyfills” associated with mountaintop removal sites have buried and polluted more than 2000 miles of headwater streams with arsenic, lead, mercury, chromium, selenium, cadmium and a whole host of toxic heavy metals and chemicals. The states that have been most impacted are Kentucky (730 miles of streams lost as of 2002), West Virginia (307 miles), Virginia (151 miles), and Tennessee (20 miles). State regulatory agencies are often openly antagonistic to the thought of having the coal industry properly dispose of its waste, and some federal elected officials are no help. The dumping of this toxic waste needs to stop, which is why Appalachian Voices and many others are pushing for the passage of federal legislation such as the Clean Water Protection Act (House) and Appalachia Restoration Act (Senate).

But rather than working with citizens to protect our waterways, the coal lobby escalated its war on water yesterday in Virginia. A new piece of legislation cleared committee in the Virginia General Assembly that is a direct attack on the protections of the Clean Water Act. Senate Bill 1025 – otherwise known as the What-You-Don’t-Look-For-Can’t-Hurt-You Law – does not stop the dumping of coal mining waste into streams. It doesn’t help identify how to protect our wells and water supplies from these toxic chemicals. Instead, this piece of legislation would compel state officials to ignore information that the coal industry doesn’t want you to know about what they put into our water. In a twisted Catch 22, SB 1025 would prevent state officials from testing water unless it is somehow already known to be hazardous to life. To put it another way, the state’s hands are now tied in determining if water from a stream below a toxic mining dump is unsafe, because they would not be allowed to test waterways that are not already considered toxic. This would be like the TSA requiring that bomb sniffing dogs at airports to only sniff bags that the TSA already knows have explosives in them. The bill makes it impossible for the state to even attempt to determine if a coal company is egregiously violating the Clean Water Act and endangering the ecology and people of communities downstream. If it passes, this bill sets a powerful and dangerous precedent for all Americans who want to know exactly what their industrially polluting neighbors are dumping into their river.

My colleague Tom Cormons, the Virginia Director for Appalachian Voices says:

Stream monitoring and effluent toxicity testing are indispensable tools for enforcing the law when it comes to water pollution, and that is precisely why big coal is trying to curtail their use. What’s astounding is that the General Assembly has passed this coal industry bill tying our own state regulators’ hands by restricting their ability to use standard water testing.

So, in other words:

Why doesn’t the coal industry want you to know what they are putting in your water? Well, it’s because their dumping of toxic waste into streams has been shown to have a well-documented, well-known, and peer-reviewed negative impact on human health and life expectancy. Even the pro-MTR Secretary of the WVDEP, Randy Huffman, has been caught off guard admitting that the impacts are real.

Our opposition [to EPA’s permit reviews] has been more about the process than it has been about the science. There is a lot of validity to the concerns about the downstream impacts. I think that’s the change in direction everyone is going to have to make to meet the downstream water quality requirements. I don’t see any choice but to reduce the impacts. – Randy Huffman, WVDEP Secretary, 1-06-2010, speaking with the Charleston Gazette on West Virginia’s new state policy on valleyfills

This new state law in Virginia is a STEAL for the coal lobby. By taking away the ability to test waterways for toxic heavy metals and chemicals, they are preempting the documentation of their inevitable violations of the Clean Water Act. Meanwhile, they are continually burying thousands of miles of streams under toxic mining waste. Everybody wins except everybody!

How much are we as people worth to the coal lobby, or to Virginia’s elected officials for that matter? Here’s a good indication. Recently, EPA made a heroic and well publicized veto of the Spruce #1 mountaintop removal mine, which would have been the largest mountaintop removal site in West Virginia history. The original Spruce Mine permit would have buried more than 8 miles of headwater streams – an immense and unnecessary impact. During negotiations with Arch Coal, EPA brought forth an alternate permitting plan which would have reduced the impacts on water quality and human health by half, but Arch coal walked away because it would have cost them a grand total of 55 cents more per ton of coal. With Central Appalachian coal currently selling at $77.70/ton, this would represent an increase of 0.7% in order to protect human heath and water quality for this generation and the next.

Our headwater streams and our public health are certainly worth 55 cents to me, and I would wager to say most Virginians. I want that security for myself and for my family. The coal lobby has made it clear that they would prefer that our families not be protected from their toxic waste. Is this radical act by the Virginia General Assembly the beginning of the end of the Clean Water Act? Anyone who enjoys a tall cool glass of water had better hope that the Virginia State Senate gets ahold of itself before the final vote, expected later today.

America Says: Keep Your Dirty Hands Off My Clean Water Act!

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | 1 Comment

Senator Manchin, Reps. McKinley and Young: Taking the Clean out of the Clean Water Act

Some members of Congress have started a war on the Clean Water Act by attempting to revoke a vital resource that allows the EPA do its job to better protect our nation’s waterways.

Congressman McKinley (R-WV01) recently introduced legislation (HR 457) for consideration United States House of Representatives that would remove EPA’s ability to veto Clean Water Act permits under Section 404(c) if the permit has already been approved by the Army Corps of Engineers. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has promised to introduced similar legislation in the US Senate. These bills might have the unintended affect of encouraging the Army Corps to approve permits quickly. Congressman Don Young (R-AK)‘s bill, H.R. 517 cuts even deeper by entirely removing EPA’s veto authority.

In the entire existence of the Clean Water Act (1972), the EPA has only exercised this prerogative 13 times.

The EPA recently used this long-standing though seldom-used tool to veto the Spruce Mine No. 1 permit, which would have been the largest single permitted mine in West Virginia history, because of the massive negative impacts to water quality. Mountaintop removal mines have already buried over 2000 miles of Appalachian headwater streams in a witch’s brew of heavy metals and chemicals such as arsenic, lead, chromium, mercury, and selenium.

The coal industry is attempting to nationalize this recent veto, claiming the EPA’s recent decision creates regulatory uncertainty across all industries. The truth is that Arch Coal, the company who had applied for the permit, refused to work with the EPA on modifications that would have made the mine more than likely immune to a veto.

contaminated water from Wise County, VA
Furthemore, Big Coal doesn’t seem to be too concerned about “regulatory certainty” when it comes to industries that depend on a strong Clean Water Act, like fisheries, outdoor recreation and tourism. Studies have shown that the annual financial benefits of the 1972 Clean Water Act are somewhere in the realm of $11 billion.

However HR 457 and 517, however, truly do have national implications for communities’ basic right to clean water. The EPA would lose their ability to intervene in projects that would have serious impacts to water quality, environmental and human health across the entire nation.

Appalachian Voices stands with national, regional, community, human health organizations and fisherman prepared to fight this perilous political theatre from Representatives McKinley, Young and Senator Manchin.

The Clean Water Act was put into place in the 70s, at a time when corporate pollution was virtually unregulated and a national consciousness grew that without clean water, our nation could not prosper and grow. Attempts at weakening the Clean Water should be taken seriously, because there are parts of American history that do not bear repeating.

Our children don’t need to find themselves back to a time where major rivers catch on fire. Remember the Cuyahoga!

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