Last Wednesday, May 7th, Long Branch residents Mary Jane and Raleigh Adams had a hearing regarding Whymore Coal Company’s broken lease agreement and trespassing on their property.  The Circuit Judge in Leslie County, Judge House, concluded that the lease is still valid and that the couple is restraining from getting on their own land.  The judge is also requiring the Adams family to remove debris from the ditchline where the road was widened on their property.

"We believe we were just run over by the Circuit Judge House in Leslie County and by the coal company lawyers who lied and said that we had said that the lease was valid.  We never said that.  Why would we have spent all of this money to challenge the judge’s conclusion about the lease if we said it was valid?”  Mary Jane asked.

The company stopped paying wheelage owed to the Adams' when the county road had been widened on their property early last year.  The couple contacted the company and then wrote a certified letter voiding the lease.

“We did exactly what was needed to void our lease.  It was very clear what was required in the terms of the agreement, and there was no valid reason why the judge concluded what he did.  He essentially restored the lease.  He’s not for the people; he’s for the coal company.

The judge also concluded that Raleigh had gone against the restraining order which preventing them from interrupting the mining operation on their land.  Since the couple had been restrained, Raleigh had gone on the property when the company wasn’t working to take photos and mark boundary lines for their surveyor.   

“They weren’t even working.  That’s worse than anything.  We can’t get on our own land,” Mary Jane. 

The company also tried to argue that the Adams’ contact with the Department for Natural Resources to request inspection of mining violations was against the restraining order.  At this point the judge determined that the couple is still allowed to do that.

“The company was trying to make it seem like we were contacting the state just to harass them.  We only contacted the state when we had valid complaints, which was twice in the last month.  The state did come out several days in a row; once they got there they must have found more problems.  There were violations, and it’s our right to have areas checked out,” Mary Jane said.

“What can you do to a judge who appears to be above the law?  He sits there and does nothing that is right.  Then the company is saying lies about us, and we couldn’t say anything to object,”

“We now can’t get on our own land, and the mining is going forward without our permission.  They have restrained us from stepping on our property even when no one is around and they aren’t working,” Raleigh concluded.

For the last several election cycles, KFTC has made an effort to contact the candidates in areas where we have a strong membership and ask them questions about the issues that are important to us.  We want to move the debate about candidates beyond their superficial differences and instead focus on the issues that affect us in our daily lives.  We've asked questions about mountaintop removal mining, energy issues, immigration, poverty, health care, and more.  Hopefully these surveys will educate and empower our members to make informed choices at the polls. 

With this year's primary election coming up next Tuesday, May 20th, we've been working hard to compile responses from a variety of candidates in federal, state, and local races.  Last week we mailed our Voter Guides to all of our members and have begun to hand them out at tabling events around the state, but we've also put them online for anyone to read.  You can find it at www.KentuckyElection.org.

So please take some time to familiarize yourself with the candidates, and then spread the word about the website with your friends and family.

Another report is reminding us that Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is not a reasonable solution to our global climate change crisis, and that state officials are not looking out for the best interests of Kentuckians when they throw hundreds of millions of dollars down that hole.

False Hope: Why Carbon Capture and Storage Won’t Save the Climate, released this morning by Greenpeace USA called CCS from coal-fired power plants “unproven and expensive.” The technology “has not been successfully tested at a scale necessary for application to full size power plants." Even coal industry advocates admit that CCS on a commercial scale is at least 20 years away, and Greenpeace cites the year 2030 before potential commercial feasibility. That’s 15 years after 2015, the year the world’s climate experts say greenhouse gas emissions must start showing a decline.

Carbon capture also uses tremendous amounts of energy (as much as a fifth of that which the particular power plant produces) and would raise the cost of electricity from 21% to 90%. Carbon storage is iffy and Greenpeace says if just 1 percent of stored carbon leaks out it will negate the positive effects of CCS.

Closer to home, Kentuckians know what happens when attempts are made to regulate the coal industry — it doesn’t work. Given the industry’s history, no one could reasonably expect that CCS could be done in a way that would actually protect people instead of expose us to more harm.

The Climate Security Act now before the U.S. Senate would give a half trillion dollars for CCS experimentation. A better path toward a sustainable and survivable energy future would be to "invest in the technology that’s already there for the production of power on a large scale with solar, geo-thermal, water and wind," said KFTC's Mary Love. "The technology for renewables is there and proven; we should invest in something that has been proven."

She reminded us that this issue is an economic one for Kentucky and many coalfield communities, not just an environmental one. "We should be investing now in the new energy economy so that we are prepared to make the transition rather than being caught totally unprepared. It’s a matter of economic survival.”

Read the full Greenpeace report here.

Sponsored by Sustainable Berea, the Berea Rain Barrel Festival proved to be a huge success last Saturday, with approximately 2,500 people coming out to Memorial Park to learn about water conservation, enjoy local food and live music, and to look at more than 60 rain barrels painted by various artists, non-profit organizations, clubs, schools, youth groups, and churches. The Festival was designed to not only raise awareness about water conservation, but also to serve as a venue where anyone could be an artist and paint a barrel.

Among the barrel artists were Toby and Harold Wilcher, along with their daughter Zoe Wilcher, and their grandchildren, Cloe and Magnolia Clark, and Lenore Fisher, who together painted the rain barrel representing the KFTC Madison County chapter. The KFTC barrel was sold for $95 in a silent auction, with Krista and Randall Carter placing the winning bid. After learning whose barrel she and her husband had purchased, Krista said that their fourth-grade daughter had taken part in a school field trip to Frankfort in January that was hosted by KFTC and that she was glad to know she bought a barrel supporting a good cause.

Because the KFTC barrel sold in the silent auction, 100% of the proceeds will go back to the organization. For the live auction, 75% of the proceeds will go to the group or person who painted the barrel, with 25% going to help cover costs of the event. In addition to painted barrels, there were 72 unpainted barrels sold by Sustainable Berea, and 119 people placed themselves on a waiting list to purchase a barrel.

Rain barrels are designed with a screen on top for the gutter pipe to drain into. Water that comes from the roof and is captured in gutters during rainfalls then drains into the barrel, providing a free source of water for gardens and other outdoor water needs. Using rain barrels not only promotes water conservation, but also serves as a good way to save money and as a source of water during a drought.

While the rain barrels were the main attraction, several organizations set up booths at the Festival to promote other sustainability and environmental issues. Madison County KFTC members tabled at the Festival and had more than 50 people fill out postcards about mountaintop removal to send to Gov. Steve Beshear. Members also gave out dozens of newsletters and were busy talking to interested folks who stopped by. Three new members joined KFTC at the Festival, and $150 was raised through donations and sales of t-shirts.

KFTC members Carl Shoupe and Teri Blanton were part of a group of coalfield citizens who attended the shareholders meeting for the Bank of America today to help expose the company's role in financing mountaintop removal coal mining operations.

I came all the way from Kentucky because I am trying to save my homeland from the total destruction caused by Mountaintop Removal (MTR) Coal Mining, which Bank of America is a leading financier of. The southern Appalachian Mountains have some of the most biodiverse forests in the world; MTR coal producers, funded by Bank of America, are exploding the tops off these mountains, and off our culture. This is not just about saving the climate, but also about the survival of our culture for our grandchildren and future generations.

-Carl Shoupe, a third generation coal miner and Benham city council member

The action was coordinated by the Rainforest Action Network and you can read an account of the meeting, including what Teri Blanton had to say, at their web site.

Thanks to one of our members for pointing us toward this interesting narrated photo essay on mountaintop removal mining on the Washington Post's website.  The piece introduces the issue to people living in DC whose power comes from coal mined in West Virginia.  It is a nice introduction to the issue with some really well-shot photos.

You can view the photo essay here.

Today is the last day to register to vote for the May Primary Election in Kentucky.  If you're not registered, you can visit your local county clerk today before they close, or print out a registration card from Here -  and get it postmarked today. 

For more information on Kentucky's voting rules, visit our blog entry below.

A Lexington Herald-Leader story on Sunday documented real conflicts-of-interest for 31 state legislators, ranging from Rep. Rocky Adkins, who, as House Majority Floor Leader, protects the coal industry for whom he works, to Sen. Damon Thayer who helps the horse industry get what it wants.

It's dismaying that conflicts of interest are so widespread and widely accepted at the Capitol, the newspaper quoted Truman Hurt, who lobbied with KFTC for community causes during the past two sessions.

"When you serve in Frankfort, your job is supposed to be serving the people fairly," said Hurt, who lives in Perry County. "You shouldn't be worrying about your other job until you go home. If you can't draw that line, you shouldn't be there."

Most legislators denied that their conflict of interest clouded their judgement when representing the public's best interest in Frankfort.

Read the whole story here.

A group of young artists from Maine are working on a graphic banner project that will tell the story of coalfield resistance to MTR and the role every consumer in the United States plays in the destruction of Appalachian mountains and streams. The Beehive Collective is an internationally known design group who's work takes on pressing social justice issues.

The group's previous projects have focused on large banners that tell the story of oppression in Latin America and a critique of the Free Trade Agreement.  Now the Hive are focusing their energy on an issue closer to home. 

A representation of Plan Colombia by the Beehive Collective

For their first design to ever  take on a movement  that is U.S.-based, the Bees are making a banner about coal with an emphasis on mountaintop removal.  Nine artists from the collective have been staying in Harlan County and visiting with KFTC members to collaborate on designing a banner that will tell the story of resistance to the industry and MTR in the coalfields and offer a vision of hope for the future.

"Even though it's going to be a challenging experience to capture the scope of devastation in our area, from what I know about their work, it's going to be a very informative and powerful project," said Carl Shoupe who recently met with artists from the Beehive Collective in Harlan County.  The poster is expected to be done by this Fall and KFTC will have access to a banner and will be able to sell posters of the design as well as use it as an educational and organizing tool.  The artists from Beehive are also designing educational materials on coal that will supplement their artwork. To learn more about The Beehive Collective  and view some of their work you can visit them online at: www.beehivecollective.org.

It feels like we've had an active University of Kentucky KFTC group forever at this point, but in fact, they've just wrapped up their first academic year together.

Highlights for the first year include:
- Massive student voter registration drives resulting in over 700 registrations
- Several dozen community tabling events
- Two large Restoration of Voting Rights for Former Felons events to raise awareness
- Great leadership development
- Great membership recruitment to help KFTC hit its goal of reaching 5,000 members
- Well-planned and fun Concert For The Commonwealth last Fall
- Great ally work
- Great work in the Legislative Session to bring students to Frankfort and otherwise
- Strong supporting role on the Robinson Forest campaign
- Great Voter Empowerment work around the UK Student Government Elections, launching a website with survey results from 40 candidates and 4,600 web visits to see them.

Kudos to Joe Gallenstein, Danny Cotton, John Ghaelian, Katie Goldey, Alise Marshall, Matt Harmin, Chuck Clenney, Watson Harding, Charlie Denison, Kim Hoffmeister, Hunter Palmer, Patrick Nally, Joan Braun, Kyle Randall, Rob Reyes, Sarah Kyser, Jessica Bookout, Phillip Gravatte, Rachel Lewis, and sooo many others who made UK KFTC's first year a success. 

The UK crew are going to gather one last time in the semester Tuesday at 8pm in Student Center room 106 to go out to dinner and celebrate the year.  Feel free to join them.

On April 21st at noon, UK KFTC is also organizing a Voter Empowerment event, encouraging UK students registered on campus but from elsewhere to vote early if they'll be out of the city on Election Day (after finals).  Come by and walk with us to the County Clerk's office downtown to cast your ballot early.