Black Lung
Madison County members take action at Andy Barr event
On August 27, the Berea Chamber of Commerce invited U.S. Rep. Andy Barr to an annual luncheon and legislative discussion. However, this year, local constituents responded to Barr’s presence with questions and concerns. Joining others from the community, KFTC members took the opportunity to demonstrate publicly.
Those present advocated for various issues, causes and pursuits. Some present, such as KFTC member Maggie Park, lifted up health care as a major concern. According to Park, “he doesn’t fight for what Kentucky needs, like health care.”
KFTC members are taking part in a week of climate action in California
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."
A Kentucky conversation about ways to help pass the RECLAIM Act and strengthen the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund
You are invited to join a video conference call at 7 pm ET on Monday, August 20, to learn ways Kentuckians can help pass several bills in Congress that are needed to assist disabled, sick, and laid off coal miners and their families and communities.
Kentucky just put doctor shopping into law to help coal companies avoid paying for black lung
On July 14, the coal industry’s doctor-shopping was enshrined in Kentucky law as a spate of new laws took effect.
Page
