The Front Porch Blog

Dominion Power is Living in the Moment — and We’re Paying the Price

Monday, June 10th, 2013 | Posted by Nathan Jenkins | 3 Comments

Relying on quick returns, Dominion Virginia Power is unable to act in the long-term interests of consumers.

Relying on quick returns, Dominion Virginia Power is unable to act in the long-term interest of consumers.

On June 4, Dominion Virginia Power hosted Appalachian Voices, the Sierra Club, and the Southern Environmental Law Center at the second stakeholder meeting in an ongoing series designed to increase the information shared between the utility and environmental groups.

The meeting was held in downtown Richmond, Va., on the banks of the James River, and adjacent to Belle Isle Park – the urban oasis that offers trails and river recreation for tens of thousands. It was an ironic meeting place for a utility that leaves heaps of toxic coal ash near communities and spews mercury and climate disrupting gases into our air.

We were ushered into a windowless conference room adorned with an expansive painting of power lines and received multiple apologies that we were unable to meet in the sprawling suburbs west of the city. Clearly, we value some things differently, and perhaps that is the purpose of these meetings – not to agree, but to understand.

And maybe I understand them a bit better now.

Dominion appears to believe in the now – not the potential. When the utility asked last year to build natural gas plants, it was because the fuel was cheap. A year later, however, Dominion is asking for a fuel factor rate increase based on its poor foresight of rising natural gas prices, a shift that it presents as being a complete surprise.
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They’re Not Done Yet: After Hard-won Battles, More Blasting in the Coal River Valley

Friday, June 7th, 2013 | Posted by Brian Sewell | 1 Comment

In April, millions of Americans who oppose mountaintop removal celebrated two major court rulings that dealt “major blows” to the coal industry’s use of the destructive practice. But a grim reminder of the work ahead came a week ago, when residents of West Virginia’s Coal River Valley received a letter from Alex Energy, Inc., saying that they’re not done yet.

Shared on Facebook by Coal River Mountain Watch, the terse letter is a soulless script, and very matter-of-factly makes residents aware of the scheduled daily detonations that will likely rattle homes and coat buildings with coal dust. For the next year, residents of Naoma, W.Va., will be reminded of the true cost of our energy policy by air horn blasts and explosions, courtesy of Alex Energy.

More than 150 homes received this letter from Alex Energy, Inc., alerting them of the year of daily detonations ahead. Courtesy of Coal River Mountain Watch.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month upheld a permit for Alpha Natural Resources’ Highland Reylas mountaintop removal mine in Logan County, W.Va., despite the fact that it will destroy two and a half miles of streams. In its ruling, the panel of judges wrote that “with the inability to demonstrate that the [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] failed to take a ‘hard look,’ the [plaintiff’s] arguments are reduced to no more than a substantive disagreement with the Corps.”

While headlines in major news outlets claim “Coal is Dead,” residents of Appalachia rightfully have their doubts. With little recourse available, they are still being asked to accept the systematic destruction of their homeland and heritage as the cost of doing business. Despite recent victories over the coal industry’s use of mountaintop removal, coal is not dead and neither is the most destructive method used to mine it.
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A Legislative Lesson in Taking the Easy Way Out

Wednesday, June 5th, 2013 | Posted by Brian Sewell | No Comments

A North Carolina bill includes proposes allowing groundwater contamination up to a landowner’s property line, a plan supported by Duke Energy, which is being sued for coal ash pollution at its Riverbend Plant. Photo by the Catawba Riverkeeper.

In the midst of allegations against Duke Energy for coal ash pollution at multiple coal-fired plants, a bill in the North Carolina House of Representatives could give polluters a free pass and build a buffer against lawsuits.

Already passed by the N.C. Senate, the Regulatory Reform Act of 2013 (S 612) proposes a “boundary loophole” that would allow groundwater to be contaminated by toxic chemicals such as arsenic, selenium and mercury, as long as it remains inside the owner’s property line. That terrifying prospect is hardly assuaged by the sponsors’ claim that their beyond-polluter-friendly bill seeks to “provide regulatory relief to the citizens of North Carolina.”

If you’ve been paying attention to the recent exploits of the N.C. General Assembly, you’d assume that the bill goes beyond creating a boundary loophole. You’d be right. The entirely anti-environmental bill includes provisions to fast-track the permitting process for certain environmental permits and to prevent local environmental rules from being stricter than state or federal statutes or regulations.

The legislature already passed a reform bill forbidding new state rules from being more stringent than federal standards last year. Of course, like most of the ill-conceived crusades being waged in Raleigh, that’s easier said than done.
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TN Representative Gloria Johnson Calls Out the Coal Lobby

Wednesday, June 5th, 2013 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

Tennessee State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) went on WBIR this week to discuss her efforts in the legislature to protect our mountains. Representative Johnson mentions the fact that Tennessee coal is not used in Tennessee, popular support for her Scenic Vistas Protection Act legislation, and how the coal lobby is standing in the way of protecting Tennessee mountains.

If you have any thoughts on the piece, you can call Representative Johnson at 615-741-2031 or visit her website and let her know you support her efforts to protect Tennessee’s mountains.

Tenn. Tuesday: Haslam Pumps up Coal! Whitewater Industrial Complex! Cashing in on Efficiency!

Tuesday, June 4th, 2013 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

Welcome to Tennessee Tuesday, where Governor Haslam Refuses to Meet with Mountain Advocates, TVA Stays the Same More than it Changes, and our New Energy Secretary is Totally into the World’s Premier Spallation Neutron Source!

Governor Bill Haslam is generally not aligned with the plentiful far-right fringe voices in the state of Tennessee. His business background and family ties have led him to deliberately cultivate an image as “cerebral” on policy, while being a competent manager rather than a fire-breathing gut-speaking revolutionary — although it’s a little humorous to imagine what might have been had he chosen the latter.

Opinion is fluid, of course, as to how successful he has been in living up to his preferred billing as Mr. Manager. Rumors that Haslam is interested in national office are swirling and he’s being called everything from “The GOP Star You’ve Never Heard of to an “amiable squish,” as people seem unsure what to make of this sometimes unsure governor.

Consider the issue of mountaintop removal, where he has been of two minds. First, as a candidate, Gov. Haslam opposed mountaintop removal. Buuuuuut, now he ignores the voices of affected citizens and he pays un-disclosed amounts to consultants who are also coal industry lobbyists, advocating to let Tennessee sell off our protected public lands to private coal companies. So, theres that.

It was perhaps little surprise then, when Haslam was out last week touting the fact that “ coal keeps businesses in Tennessee running!”

It reminded me of the soon-to-be-immortal words of former Presidential speechwriter Jon Lovett’s commencement speech at Pitzer College where he opined: “We are drowning in partisan rhetoric that is just true enough not to be a lie.”

Is Haslam wrong? Well, no. But Haslam’s lofted platitudes towards what is left of the Tennessee coal industry are just true enough. We’ve been very kind, and very patient with the Governor, and will remain so for at least the next one, maybe two paragaphs.
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Welcoming Our New Energy Savings Program

Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 | Posted by Tom Cormons | No Comments

Dear friends and members,

Fighting the bad stuff isn’t enough. As Appalachia begins to transition away from destructive sources of energy like mountaintop removal coal, we need to work toward a future where our energy comes from clean sources and Appalachian communities prosper with jobs that respect our natural heritage.

We waste an astonishing amount of electricity in this country. The Southeast has the largest untapped energy-efficiency resource of any region, with 29 percent of the nation’s total potential. With homes and businesses that are less energy-efficient than average, the largely rural area of Appalachia holds an abundance of wasted energy.

Consider some of the benefits of energy efficiency. A recent report from the Appalachian Regional Commission found that energy savings programs could create more than 77,000 jobs throughout Appalachia, including energy auditors and weatherization experts. Energy efficiency also saves money for consumers, keeps more money at the local level creating a ripple effect in the economy, and reduces the tremendous environmental harm associated with fossil fuels — including mountaintop removal.

I am pleased to announce Appalachian Voices’ new program, Energy Savings for Appalachia, which aims to tap into this rich potential for improving the quality of life for citizens in the region. To head up the program, we’re delighted to welcome Rory McIlmoil, who brings a wealth of experience, insight, and good vibes to this exciting endeavor.

For the mountains,

Tom Cormons
Executive Director

Tenn. Tuesday: Energy Savings! Victories!

Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 | Posted by JW Randolph | 1 Comment

…HaslamConnectedLobbyistSellingPublicLandstoCoalCompanies! OH MY!!

Good morning, and welcome to your Tennessee Tuesday, our weekly holler from your Tennessee hills.

Dozers push coal in front of what looks to me like a head-of-hollow fill near the Claiborne-Campbell County line. Drop us a note in the comments to say hello, let us know a bit about yourself, what you’re interested in and what stories we might be missing. It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Volunteer State in the world of energy, TVA and Congress, so let’s get right to it.

Victories!
Believe it or not, both houses of Congress, with support from both parties, are moving on important pieces of legislation to protect our mountains, and to promote energy efficiency.

As several Appalachian Tennesseans came to Washington, D.C., the bi-partisan Clean Water Protection Act was introduced by Congressmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Dave Reichert (R-WA), and already has more than 50 cosponsors from both parties and from all across the nation. The Clean Water Protection Act is a simple bill that would make it illegal for coal companies to perform the “valley fills” associated with mountaintop removal coal mining. Congressman Cooper (D-TN-05) and Congressman Cohen (D-TN-09) are both original cosponsors of the bill! You can call them using the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 to say “thanks for cosponsoring the Clean Water Protection Act, and for protecting our mountains.”

We had a fantastic victory in the U.S. Senate, where the Senate Energy Committee passed a bipartisan Energy Savings Bill (S 761) by a vote of 19-3. Senator Alexander sits on this panel and voted AYE, and you can call his office at 202-224-4944 to say “thanks for supporting S 761 and promoting energy efficiency for our country.” This bill, introduced by Senators Shaheen (D-NH) and Portman (R-OH), would save energy by improving building codes, while incentivizing industrial energy efficiency and promoting energy savings at federal buildings. That bill now moves on to the Senate floor while the House counterpart (HR 1616) awaits committee action.
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Appalachian Voices and Partners Challenge Kentucky’s Backroom Deal With Coal Company

Friday, May 17th, 2013 | Posted by Eric Chance | No Comments

Watercolors by Frasure Creek. State inspector's photos show a variety of colors of water at Frasure Creek mines.

Yesterday, Appalachian Voices and our partner organizations filed a “petition for review”, essentially an appeal of a settlement between Frasure Creek Mining and the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. This settlement lets Frasure Creek off the hook for thousands of water quality violations over the past two years, while doing little to ensure that the company fixes its water quality problems.

Our challenge of this settlement focuses on the way in which it came about. But first, a bit of background.

We have a separate case that is ongoing against Frasure Creek for submitting false water monitoring data (entire reports were duplicated and only the dates were changed). After we uncovered this problem the company began turning in more accurate reports, which for the first time showed lots of pollution problems. We then filed a second suit against Frasure Creek for thousands of these pollution problems (which had been hidden by reporting problems before our first suit). Then the cabinet also filed a complaint for these pollution violations and more like them in state administrative court (a court run by the cabinet itself).

We intervened in that case and became full parties to it, but were then shut out of it completely. In fact the settlement was entered despite our previous objections, and there is no evidence that our objections were even considered. The cabinet and Frasure Creek negotiated a settlement completely without us. The law and common sense both dictate that an agreement is not valid unless all the parties involved agree to it, and that is the basis for our challenge of this settlement yesterday.
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UPDATE: Gina McCarthy Approved by Senate Panel

Thursday, May 16th, 2013 | Posted by Thom Kay | No Comments

This afternoon, Gina McCarthy cleared the first hurdle in replacing Lisa Jackson as the next Administrator of the EPA. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted in favor of McCarthy in a 10-8 vote which followed party lines.

Republicans on the committee have vowed to continue to oppose her confirmation until she sufficiently responds to a list of questions and demands. John Walke from the Natural Resources Defense Council has an interesting take on those demands which you can read about here.

Next up for McCarthy is a vote on the Senate floor, where she will need support from both Democrats and Republicans to be confirmed. Appalachian Voices continues to urge the Senate to swiftly approve Gina McCarthy for the position.

The Appalachian Citizens Enforcement Project

Thursday, May 16th, 2013 | Posted by Erin Savage | No Comments

Visit www.ace-project.org to learn more about the Appalachian Citizens Enforcement Project and how you can help protect clean water rights.

The Appalachian Citizens Enforcement Project (ACE Project) is a new citizen water monitoring program being launched by The Alliance for Appalachia this summer. Appalachian Voices’ own Appalachian Water Watch team has been working with several Alliance partner organizations over the last two years to recruit and train volunteers to monitor and report water quality data in their area. Now our program is joining this greater water monitoring effort through partnerships in the ACE Project.

In 2011, Appalachian Water Watch launched community-based water testing in eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia. Through partnerships with Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, we recruited over 50 water monitoring volunteers. Now, the ACE Project will expand water monitoring even farther, into Tennessee and West Virginia. Coal River Mountain Watch and United Mountain Defense have already submitted additional data from West Virginia and Tennessee, more than doubling the amount of data collected.
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EPA’s Benefits Greatly Outweigh Costs, According to OMB Report

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | No Comments

By Davis Wax
Editorial assistant, Spring/Summer 2013

A new report shows the EPA's rules, especially on air pollution, are saving money and lives.

During their push to abolish, obstruct and stymie the Environmental Protection Agency over the past few years, House Republicans have beleaguered the agency for regulatory measures they consider “job-killing” or “anti-industry,” hoping to revert federal environmental regulation to state control or make protections obsolete altogether.

Those in favor of federal rules have argued that national standards allow for the most effective and consistent protections and, as a result, will lead to reduced costs in health care directly associated with air and water pollution.

A new report from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget makes a clear case for why the country needs the EPA. The report includes an analysis of the costs and benefits of a number of federal regulations over the past decade and shows EPA rules, especially those pertaining to air protection, to be the most costly among all the rules evaluated but also the most beneficial.

The budget office estimates that the EPA’s rules account for 58 to 80 percent of the monetized benefits of all federal rules, but 44 to 54 percent of the total costs. Out of these benefits, close to 99 percent come from rules that seek to improve air quality. The report claims that the large estimated benefits of the EPA rules following the arrival of the Clean Air Act stem mostly from the reduction of a single air pollutant: fine particulate matter.
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A Must-Read Report, Another Reminder It’s Time to Build Something New in Central Appalachia

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 | Posted by Brian Sewell | No Comments

An updated and expanded report is a potent reminder that coal's decline isn't going away and policymakers should accept the challenges, just as many people already have. Click through to read the report's key findings.

The litany of voices pointing to the writing on the wall for the Central Appalachian coal industry continues to grow. They’re saying the same thing in almost every way imaginable, and have been for some time.

Watching coal production decline and demand shift as other energy sources out-compete coal domestically, it is vital that policymakers in Central Appalachia begin implementing policies and investments aimed at building a foundation for economic alternatives in coal-producing counties. A report released this morning by the consulting firm Downstream Strategies is a pretty good reminder why.

“The Continuing Decline in Demand for Central Appalachian Coal: Market and Regulatory Influences” expands on a January 2010 study and provides a detailed look at the challenges Central Appalachia faces, further making the case for the urgent need to act.

As the report’s lead author, Rory McIlmoil, who recently joined Appalachian Voices’ staff as energy policy director, points out:

Numerous factors influence demand for Central Appalachian coal, each of which has had — and will continue to have — a significant impact on the local economies where the coal is mined. In 2010, we recommended that state and local leaders take immediate steps to help diversify coalfield economies. To a large extent, that has not happened. However, it is vital that public officials begin making the political and financial investments necessary to build the foundation for new economic development opportunities in coal-producing counties.

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