New Energy and Transition News | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

New Energy and Transition News

Appalachian water crisis demands new revenue streams, stronger oversight

December 15, 2018
Lexington Herald Leader
Just Transition, Big Sandy, Just Transition, Cumberland, Just Transition, Harlan County, Just Transition, Perry County

Personal stories of families collecting rainwater, going without laundry or bathing, and keeping children out of school seem like the stuff of a hurricane aftermath or other weather emergency — not routine life in America.

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Black lung disease is still killing miners. The coal industry doesn't want to hear it

December 13, 2018
The Guardian

Today’s black lung rates are higher than 50 years ago, affecting men as young as their 30s, and in Kentucky their right to decent health care is being curtailed.

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Protesters disrupt US panel's fossil fuels pitch at climate talks

December 10, 2018
The Guardian

A Trump administration presentation extolling the virtues of fossil fuels at the UN climate talks in Poland has been met with guffaws of laughter and chants of “Shame on you”.

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Mitch McConnell owes coal miners an answer as clock runs out on tax for black lung victims

November 30, 2018
Lexington Herald Leader
Just Transition, Big Sandy, Just Transition, Cumberland, Just Transition, Harlan County, Just Transition, Perry County, Just Transition, Southern Kentucky, Just Transition, Western Kentucky

Kentuckians bringing a plea for victims of black lung to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will have a hard time being heard above the clamor of coal industry money — more than $2 million poured into federal races in the last two years by Alliance Resources CEO

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KFTC members continue to build New Power through the Power House workshops

November 9, 2018 at 03:54pm
Energy Democracy, , Just Transition, , Sustainable Energy, Cumberland, Energy Democracy, , Just Transition, , Sustainable Energy, Rowan County

Since April of this year, KFTC members across eastern Kentucky have helped host energy efficiency workshops in their communities, as part of our ongoing Power House Project.

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Sen. McConnell Hints at Support for Black Lung Disability Trust Fund

October 24, 2018
Ohio Valley Resource
Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Big Sandy

At a public meeting in Pikeville, Sen McConnell was asked whether he would support strengthening funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. Currently, the fund is running out of money because more miners are getting sick and more coal companies are going bankrupt.

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Fixing What's Broke: why Congress must support a Just Transition for miners with black lung and communities

October 21, 2018 at 06:00pm
Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Big Sandy, Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Cumberland, Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Harlan County, Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Perry County, Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Rowan County, Just Transition, , Community Science & Public Health, , Energy Democracy, , Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, , Sustainable Energy, Western Kentucky

A new report from KFTC describes ways Kentuckians are organizing to demand action from Congress – and especially from Senator Mitch McConnell – in support of a Just Transition for miners with black lung disease, retired and laid off miners, and their communities.

To build a new economy in coal communities, the report says Congress should start by "fixing what's broke," including strengthening funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, passing the RECLAIM Act, and protecting miners' pensions.

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Local black lung resolution is picking up steam

October 16, 2018 at 11:22am
Just Transition, , Communities Taking Action, , Energy Democracy, , Sustainable Energy, Big Sandy, Just Transition, , Communities Taking Action, , Energy Democracy, , Sustainable Energy, Cumberland, Just Transition, , Communities Taking Action, , Energy Democracy, , Sustainable Energy, Harlan County, Just Transition, , Communities Taking Action, , Energy Democracy, , Sustainable Energy, Perry County, Just Transition, , Communities Taking Action, , Energy Democracy, , Sustainable Energy, Rowan County

Most recent update as of Jan 2, 2019: Sixteen local governments in Kentucky have passed local resolutions in 2018 calling on Senator McConnell and other members of Congress to do right by our miners and communities by passing the RECLAIM Act, strengthening funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, and protecting miners' pensions. 

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The resolution was first adopted by the City of Benham in Harlan County in September 2018. That action was followed quickly by local governments in the cities of Jackson, Morehead and Whitesburg, and in Breathitt, Knott, Letcher, Rowan and Pike counties. 

Knott, Letcher, Rowan and Pike counties became the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th local governments in eastern Kentucky to pass a local resolution calling on members of Congress to pass several bills needed to help sick, disabled, retired and unemployed coal miners and their communities. The fiscal courts in Letcher and Knott counties took the unanimous action at their respective monthly meetings on October 15, and Pike and Rowan counties acted the next day.

Update 11.30.2018: The Floyd County Fiscal Court became the 10th Kentucky community to pass the resolution on October 18. Magoffin County quickly became the 11th, followed by Ohio County, in Western Kentucky, Knox County, and the City of Lynch in Harlan County. 

Update 12.10.2018: Johnson County's Fiscal Court passed the 15th resolution in Kentucky by local governments calling on Senator McConnell and other members of Congress to do right by our miners and coal communities!

Update in late December: Harlan County's Fiscal Court passed the 16th resolution urging Congress to pass the RECLAIM Act, strengthen the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, and protect miners' pensions. 

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Benham & Jackson are first Kentucky cities to pass a local resolution supporting miners and communities

September 15, 2018 at 09:59am
Just Transition, Harlan County

The Benham City Council in Harlan County and Jackson City Council in Breathitt County are the first local governments in Kentucky to pass a local resolution calling on members of Congress to pass three bills needed to help sick, disabled, retired and unemployed coal workers and their families and communities. Benham’s city government took the unanimous action at its monthly meeting on September 13. Jackson's city government adopted the resolution one week later on September 20, 2018.

Advocates hope other local governments may soon follow their example. A similar resolution was adopted several weeks ago in Virginia by the City of Big Stone Gap.

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KFTC members are taking part in a week of climate action in California

September 9, 2018 at 05:18pm

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Seven members and two staff of KFTC are in San Francisco right now, participating in a week of climate actions called Solidarity to Solutions (Sol2Sol for short), aimed at bringing grassroots voices and solutions to the forefront during a major global climate summit that is being hosted by California Governor Jerry Brown and attended by many corporate and state leaders. The Kentuckians are among 500 grassroots delegates organized by It Takes Roots, a collection of four important networks, including the Climate Justice Alliance, Right To The City, Grassroots Global Justice, and the Indigenous Environmental Network.

The Sol2Sol week has been planned with the following goals: "To serve and be in solidarity with the leadership of communities in the Bay Area, across the state, and around the world; to challenge, expose and stop the massive subsidies being handed to multi-national corporations that are violating and destroying our families, ecosystems, and climate; to move public funds to repair, restore and protect Mother Earth and all her peoples; to end the epidemic of disaster capitalism, and redirect stolen wealth to the service, solidarity, and support of communities who are developing place-based solutions to address the root causes of climate change, poverty, and the crisis of democracy."

On Saturday, the nine KFTC members joined with more than 30,000 others in a large and boisterous march in downtown San Francisco, organized by the People's Climate Movement. 

"I'm honored to be here," said Alexa Hatcher from Bowling Green. "Yesterday was about connecting to one another. Everyone was taking care of each other. We were marching with a single purpose and that's to build solidarity where corporations and government powers have historically worked to keep us apart. We are not fighting against each other for scarce resources anymore. We're coming together against a common enemy that has worked to keep us silent and dependent to build a better future for us all."

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