Members meet with presidential candidate John Edwards while on tour of EKY

KFTC members took advantage of Presidential Candidate John Edwards's recent visit to Eastern Kentucky to raise concerns about the issue of Mountaintop Removal and connect it to the Senator's campaign focus on rural poverty.

During the Edwards visit, he was hosted at Appalshop in Whitesburg by local youth involved with the Appalachian Media Institute (AMI), a program that trains young people in media skills such as audio work and filmmaking. Over 100 people attended the event which consisted of three AMI representatives sharing their concerns with Edwards and an open session for local youth to ask the candidate questions or make comments. The youth who spoke repeatedly sited the environmental, economic and community destruction caused by surface mining as a major concern and a barrier to young people staying in the region.

KFTC member Nathan Hall asked Edwards how he plans to create good paying and environmentally friendly jobs in the Appalachian region so that young people like himself don't have to leave. Edwards answered that he supports nationwide carbon caps that would "make the polluters pay" and the development of a "green collar" workforce which he believes could generate over 1 million new jobs nationwide.

Outside the event, KFTC member Carl Shoupe was able to give the Edwards camp copies of KFTC's Missing Mountains and Erik Reece's Lost Mountain along with an invitation to come back to Kentucky to learn more about Mountaintop Removal. KFTC members in attendance tabled the event and had folks sign postcards that were given to Edwards with an anti-MTR message.

To read an article about the event that quotes KFTC member Rully Urias, click here. To hear audio of the youth forum held by AMI, click here.

Here is some other coverage from the day:

• Edwards visits Eastern Kentucky, The Courier Journal


• Edwards pledges to fight poverty, The Appalachian News-Express


• Edwards Ends Poverty Tour by Broadening His Theme, The New York Times