Rowan County | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

Chapter: Rowan County

If you believe “what we do to the land, we do to the people,” then you’ll find friends in KFTC’s Rowan County chapter.

Members from Rowan and surrounding counties work together to address problems and have a say in policies and actions affecting the land and people here in our own communities and throughout the state. We raise awareness about mountaintop removal, air quality, water quality, tax fairness, clean and affordable energy, and other issues important to our members.

Our monthly chapter meeting is a great way to learn about our local and statewide work, share your own ideas and get involved.

 

Recent Activities

Growing Appalachia On WMMT

Growing Appalachia Mt. TalkOn Monday, members of the Growing Appalachia planning committee appeared on WMMT's Mountain Talk- a weekly program that covers a wide range of topics pertaining to life in the mountains. Knott County member Fern Nafziger and Rowan County member Cody Montgomery appeared as in-studio guests on the show hosted by Sylvia Ryerson and Mimi Pickering. The show also featured call-in guests Paul Wiedeger of Au Naturel Farms and Will Bowling from Old Homeplace Farm both of which are presenters at Growing Appalachia this Saturday. The guests gave listeners a preview of the workshops they can attend on Saturday and had a great discussion about local food systems, season extension, foraging and more. You can listen to the podcast by visiting WMMT's website.

Growing Appalachia is an event sponsored by the Floyd County chapter and offers a day of free workshops around do-it-yourself energy efficiency, small-scale farming, beginning organic gardening and food preservation. Join us this Saturday, March 9th at the Jenny Wiley Convention Center in Prestonsburg. Lunch will be offered and is locally sourced. You can register for Growing Appalachia by going to kftc.org/growing. You can also join the conversation on Facebook. You don't want to miss this!

Rowan members setting the record straight on coal use and highway alternatives

The Rowan County chapter has been raising public awareness about the debt the coal industry owes to eastern Kentucky and the voice citizens should have in making decisions that affect local residents.

On February 26, members of the chapter had published two substantial commentaries in The Morehead News that urged residents to take control of the resources and processes that are rightfully theirs.

Responding to an editorial that erroneously claimed that “Kentucky coal has taken a beating from the federal government and environmentalists and, as a result, statewide production is down sharply,” Sue Tallichet rightly countered that the production of relatively cheap natural gas, the depletion of “‘economically recoverable’ coal in central Appalachia,” and the abundance of “surface-mined coal from the West’s Powder River Basin” have all “resulted in a sharp decline in the  demand for central Appalachian thermal coal used for generating electricity."

Instead of worrying how the “last gasp of eastern Kentucky’s coal mining” benefits the industry and its “friends,” Tallichet argued, we should be focusing on the people and the land that will remain long after the companies have gone.

KFTC members get the Blue Ribbon!

Last night's marathon Public Input meeting marked the end of this important stage of the Blue Ribbon Tax Commission's process for recommending state tax reforms. Although a few good folks had to leave before they could deliver their statement – the meeting ran more than an hour over time – the call for progressive tax reforms and adequate revenue for health, education, and environmental protection and clean energy was loud and clear. Sixteen of the speakers lined up were KFTC members, some coming as concerned Kentuckians and some wearing the hat of an ally organization.

Rowan County chapter members brave fierce weather to raise funds and have fun

KFTC Members Participate in Rural Electric Cooperative Public Forum

"This has been a great meeting and an opportunity for me to learn some things I didn't know," said KFTC member John Harrod to the group gathered in Morehead on the evening of April 9 for the Rural Electric Cooperative Public Forum. "I am encouraged and optimistic about our prospects for moving forward with energy saving ideas and more use of renewable energy sources."


The Public Forum was held as part of the Clean Energy Collaborative, in which KFTC participates along with other public interest groups, the local rural electric co-ops, and the East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC). The mission of the Collaborative is to review and recommend energy efficiency and renewable energy actions to EKPC, and to promote collaboration among all the parties in implementation of these ideas.

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Regular Meetings:

St. Alban's Episcopal Church
145 E. 5th St
Morehead, KY 40351
Monthly chapter meeting:

Third Thursday of the month, 6:00 p.m.

Chapter Organizer:

Morehead, KY 40351
859-278-8644