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Tenn Tuesday: Energy Savings! Victories!

Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 - posted by jw

…HaslamConnectedLobbyistSellingPublicLandstoCoalCompanies! OH MY!!

Good morning, and welcome to your Tennessee Tuesday, our weekly holler from your Tennessee hills.

Drop us a note in the comments to say hello, let us know a bit about yourself, what you’re interested in and what stories we might be missing. It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Volunteer State in the world of energy, TVA and Congress, so let’s get right to it.

Victories!
Believe it or not, both houses of Congress, with support from both parties, are moving on important pieces of legislation to protect our mountains, and to promote energy efficiency.

As several Appalachian Tennesseans came to Washington, D.C., the bi-partisan Clean Water Protection Act was introduced by Congressmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Dave Reichert (R-WA), and already has more than 50 cosponsors from both parties and from all across the nation. The Clean Water Protection Act is a simple bill that would make it illegal for coal companies to perform the “valley fills” associated with mountaintop removal coal mining. Congressman Cooper (D-TN-05) and Congressman Cohen (D-TN-09) are both original cosponsors of the bill! You can call them using the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 to say “thanks for cosponsoring the Clean Water Protection Act, and for protecting our mountains.”

We had a fantastic victory in the U.S. Senate, where the Senate Energy Committee passed a bipartisan Energy Savings Bill (S 761) by a vote of 19-3. Senator Alexander sits on this panel and voted AYE, and you can call his office at 202-224-4944 to say “thanks for supporting S 761 and promoting energy efficiency for our country.” This bill, introduced by Senators Shaheen (D-NH) and Portman (R-OH), would save energy by improving building codes, while incentivizing industrial energy efficiency and promoting energy savings at federal buildings. That bill now moves on to the Senate floor while the House counterpart (HR 1616) awaits committee action.
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Appalachian Voices and Partners Challenge Kentucky’s Backroom Deal With Coal Company

Friday, May 17th, 2013 - posted by eric

Watercolors by Frasure Creek. State inspector's photos show a variety of colors of water at Frasure Creek mines.

Yesterday, Appalachian Voices and our partner organizations filed a “petition for review”, essentially an appeal of a settlement between Frasure Creek Mining and the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. This settlement lets Frasure Creek off the hook for thousands of water quality violations over the past two years, while doing little to ensure that the company fixes its water quality problems.

Our challenge of this settlement focuses on the way in which it came about. But first, a bit of background.

We have a separate case that is ongoing against Frasure Creek for submitting false water monitoring data (entire reports were duplicated and only the dates were changed). After we uncovered this problem the company began turning in more accurate reports, which for the first time showed lots of pollution problems. We then filed a second suit against Frasure Creek for thousands of these pollution problems (which had been hidden by reporting problems before our first suit). Then the cabinet also filed a complaint for these pollution violations and more like them in state administrative court (a court run by the cabinet itself).

We intervened in that case and became full parties to it, but were then shut out of it completely. In fact the settlement was entered despite our previous objections, and there is no evidence that our objections were even considered. The cabinet and Frasure Creek negotiated a settlement completely without us. The law and common sense both dictate that an agreement is not valid unless all the parties involved agree to it, and that is the basis for our challenge of this settlement yesterday.
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UPDATE: Gina McCarthy Approved by Senate Panel

Thursday, May 16th, 2013 - posted by thom

This afternoon, Gina McCarthy cleared the first hurdle in replacing Lisa Jackson as the next Administrator of the EPA. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted in favor of McCarthy in a 10-8 vote which followed party lines.Gina McCarthy

Republicans on the committee have vowed to continue to oppose her confirmation until she sufficiently responds to a list of questions and demands. John Walke from the Natural Resources Defense Council has an interesting take on those demands which you can read about here.

Next up for McCarthy is a vote on the Senate floor, where she will need support from both Democrats and Republicans to be confirmed. Appalachian Voices continues to urge the Senate to swiftly approve Gina McCarthy for the position.

The Appalachian Citizens Enforcement Project

Thursday, May 16th, 2013 - posted by Erin

Visit www.ace-project.org to learn more about the Appalachian Citizens Enforcement Project and how you can help protect clean water rights.

The Appalachian Citizens Enforcement Project (ACE Project) is a new citizen water monitoring program being launched by The Alliance for Appalachia this summer. Appalachian Voices’ own Appalachian Water Watch team has been working with several Alliance partner organizations over the last two years to recruit and train volunteers to monitor and report water quality data in their area. Now our program is joining this greater water monitoring effort through partnerships in the ACE Project.

In 2011, Appalachian Water Watch launched community-based water testing in eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia. Through partnerships with Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, we recruited over 50 water monitoring volunteers. Now, the ACE Project will expand water monitoring even farther, into Tennessee and West Virginia. Coal River Mountain Watch and United Mountain Defense have already submitted additional data from West Virginia and Tennessee, more than doubling the amount of data collected.
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EPA’s Benefits Greatly Outweigh Costs, According to OMB Report

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 - posted by Davis Wax

A new report shows the EPA's rules, especially on air pollution, are saving money and lives.

During their push to abolish, obstruct and stymie the Environmental Protection Agency over the past few years, House Republicans have beleaguered the agency for regulatory measures they consider “job-killing” or “anti-industry,” hoping to revert federal environmental regulation to state control or make protections obsolete altogether.

Those in favor of federal rules have argued that national standards allow for the most effective and consistent protections and, as a result, will lead to reduced costs in health care directly associated with air and water pollution.

A new report from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget makes a clear case for why the country needs the EPA. The report includes an analysis of the costs and benefits of a number of federal regulations over the past decade and shows EPA rules, especially those pertaining to air protection, to be the most costly among all the rules evaluated but also the most beneficial.

The budget office estimates that the EPA’s rules account for 58 to 80 percent of the monetized benefits of all federal rules, but 44 to 54 percent of the total costs. Out of these benefits, close to 99 percent come from rules that seek to improve air quality. The report claims that the large estimated benefits of the EPA rules following the arrival of the Clean Air Act stem mostly from the reduction of a single air pollutant: fine particulate matter.
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A Must-Read Report, Another Reminder It’s Time to Build Something New in Central Appalachia

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 - posted by brian

An updated and expanded report is a potent reminder that coal's decline isn't going away and policymakers should accept the challenges, just as many people already have. Click through to read the report's key findings.

The litany of voices pointing to the writing on the wall for the Central Appalachian coal industry continues to grow. They’re saying the same thing in almost every way imaginable, and have been for some time.

Watching coal production decline and demand shift as other energy sources out-compete coal domestically, it is vital that policymakers in Central Appalachia begin implementing policies and investments aimed at building a foundation for economic alternatives in coal-producing counties. A report released this morning by the consulting firm Downstream Strategies is a pretty good reminder why.

“The Continuing Decline in Demand for Central Appalachian Coal: Market and Regulatory Influences” expands on a January 2010 study and provides a detailed look at the challenges Central Appalachia faces, further making the case for the urgent need to act.

As the report’s lead author, Rory McIlmoil, who recently joined Appalachian Voices’ staff as energy policy director, points out:

Numerous factors influence demand for Central Appalachian coal, each of which has had — and will continue to have — a significant impact on the local economies where the coal is mined. In 2010, we recommended that state and local leaders take immediate steps to help diversify coalfield economies. To a large extent, that has not happened. However, it is vital that public officials begin making the political and financial investments necessary to build the foundation for new economic development opportunities in coal-producing counties.

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Tending to Appalachia’s Bright Future

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 - posted by Cat

A word cloud created from workshops and panel sessions at the conference show the prevalence of positive thinking and themes. Courtesy of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth

I had never been to Harlan County. Sure, I’ve heard the songs, seen the movie, and know the stories, but nothing compares to being there, driving the Kentucky back roads, stopping in local shops, talking to folks.

It’s beautiful country, especially in April with the redbuds blooming and the bright greens of spring blushing up the mountainsides. It’s a friendly place – people went out of their way to make me feel welcome.

It also has more than its share of economic troubles. This is coal country, after all, where big companies haul out the black rock and most of the profits along with it. Harlan County and most of the surrounding counties have a poverty rate in the range of 20 to 28 percent.

This is not news to people living here. They know it, they live it, and they are looking at a million different ways to change it, to create Appalachia’s Bright Future. This was the name of the three-day conference in Harlan, hosted by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth a few weeks ago. It brought together more than 200 people from eastern Kentucky and beyond for an extended conversation about creating a just economy in the region. There was much discussion about what that even means, and while attendees each had a slight variation, several common themes emerged:

1. There is no silver bullet. There is no single industry or company that will turn it all around. Which is a good thing, most agreed, because a root cause of the region’s woes is being too dependent for too long on one industry.

2. There is no magic wand. No one is going to come in “from the outside” to rescue Harlan, or the rest of Appalachia’s’ coal country.

3. It’s about “leadership in place.” The future lies in nurturing home-grown entrepreneurship. Unlike a generation or two ago, young people today want to stay here, and many people who moved away want to return. This profound sense of homeplace was evident throughout the conference.

4. It’s about community and resilience, improving the quality of life and opportunity for everyone, collaborating with neighbors down the street or two counties over so that all can benefit.

5. It’s also about honoring coal miners and their families, those who have sacrificed in untold ways to help build our nation and power our modern lives, who deserve all the opportunity and benefit of a “just economy” as well.
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Pro Mountaintop Removal Amendments Sneaking Through the Senate

Monday, May 13th, 2013 - posted by Melanie

UPDATE: Both amendments proposed by Sen. Joe Manchin to the Water Resources Development Act did not make it into the bill. S.AMDT 846 and 850 would have prolonged the use of mountaintop removal by stripping the EPA’s authority to veto permits under the Clean Water Act while rolling back years of progress made to force coal operators to pay more for their pollution of Appalachia water. Thanks to everyone who called their senator yesterday and this morning for standing up for the right to clean water.

Call Your Senators Now!

The most recent assault in the “war on water” comes to us in the form of the EPA Fair Play Act (S.830). This bill is not fair play for Appalachian communities, as it would strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its ability to stop valley fill permits for mountaintop removal mines. The bill was introduced at the end of April by Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV). Sen. Manchin Getting Calls

Just last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld EPA’s authority to veto the Spruce Mine permit, saying that “The Congress made plain its intent to grant the [EPA] administrator authority to prohibit/deny/restrict/withdraw a specification at any time.” Sen. Manchin’s bill would nullify the court’s decision because it is retroactive back to 1972, meaning that mountaintop mining operations currently stayed by an EPA veto, including Spruce Mine, could move forward immediately.

Sen. Manchin’s first ever bill in the Senate attacked EPA permit veto authority, and as governor of West Virginia, he sued the EPA over the same issue.

The good news is that this bill, a model of destructive efficiency, is only one page long. As such, its pernicious intent has nowhere to hide, and is unlikely to pass on its own.

The bad news is that Sen. Manchin has hidden the same EPA attack in an amendment on a “must-pass” bill. He’s attempting to attach the bad amendment, S.AMDT 846, to the Water Resources Development Act (S.601), a large bill passed every two years to authorize necessary water projects such as harbor dredging and dam repair.

S.AMDT 846 is not the only threat to clean water found in this year’s WRDA. Sen. Manchin has attached another amendment, S.AMDT 850, the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2013, known unofficially as the “Dirty Water Act.” This bill would gut the Clean Water Act by giving states, rather than the EPA, the ultimate decision-making authority over our nation’s water quality standards. We believe that water, unconstrained as it is by state boundaries, is the best argument for a federal approach. When this bill was introduced almost two years ago, President Obama threatened to veto it, and the bill never came to a vote.

Another bad amendment to WRDA is S.AMDT 809, Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. A pet project of Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), this bill would require congressional approval for any major new rules issued by executive agencies, including the EPA. This would allow just one chamber of Congress to block any regulation, environmental or otherwise.

If passed, these amendments would roll back years of progress toward stopping the wholesale destruction of Appalachian mountains, streams, and communities by mountaintop removal coal mining.

Tell your senators to oppose S.AMDT 846, S.AMDT 850, and S.AMDT 809.

VICTORY: Senate Committee Passes Energy Savings Act

Thursday, May 9th, 2013 - posted by jw

With Overwhelming Bipartisan Support, the U.S. Senate Yesterday Began Moving a Common Sense Energy Efficiency Bill. Here’s Why We’re Celebrating.

Well, the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and Appalachian Voices all agree — it’s time for America to move forward with energy efficiency.

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources passed the Shaheen-Portman Energy Savings Act (S 761) by a vote of 19-3. This legislation focuses on improving building codes, while increasing energy efficiency at the industrial level and for federal government facilities.

There was some very encouraging discussion on the bill (starting at 30:35-41:10, and picking up again at 42 minutes).

Democratic Chairman Sen. Ron Ryden of Oregon and Ranking Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski were among those speaking in favor of the measure. Appalachia’s senators all voted AYE, including Republican bill sponsor Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, Tennessee’s senior Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander and West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin. Appalachian Voices applauds these members in their pursuit to increase energy efficiency in our region.

Below is Appalachian Voices’ statement on passage of the bill, followed by the full vote count:

On behalf of our members, Appalachian Voices strongly supports the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act (S. 761). Since much of the region’s economy depends on the manufacturing and industrial sectors, this Act will provide significant benefits for Appalachian businesses, communities and local economies. These benefits include reduced energy costs, increased competitiveness, economic development and job creation, and healthier communities. As we expand our recently-launched Energy Savings for Appalachia program, our goal will be to serve as a partner to state and local governments who would benefit from the opportunities provided by this Act.

Appalachian Voices applauds the collaborative, bi-partisan nature of this legislation. For too long, partisan conflict has negatively impacted our ability to maximize our nation’s economic potential. That potential is directly tied to the efficient use of resources and energy. In addition, impacts to the environment and to the health of our citizens resulting from the extraction and consumption of fossil-fuels have a direct negative impact on the economy. Therefore, it is refreshing to know that our elected representatives have found common ground with the understanding that a strong economy is an efficient economy.

The requirements and models laid out in the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act provide a strong boost for energy efficiency, which has long been promoted as the “low-hanging fruit” for energy development. As recognized by the Act, energy-efficient technologies are already available, and are extremely cost-effective, paying for themselves over a short period of time. The Act also recognizes that strengthening our economy through improvements in energy efficiency is also a long-term investment, one that requires research and development, workforce training, and strong financial incentives for businesses.

While we fully support the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act as currently written, Appalachian Voices believes that the bill could be strengthened in the following ways:
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Permit to Mine one of America’s “Most Endangered Mountains” Denied

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013 - posted by brian

Ison Rock Ridge was one of the "most endangered mountains" in America, that is, until the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy denied a permit that would have obliterated nearly 1,300 acres of mountainous terrain.

Appalachian residents in Virginia are breathing a sigh of relief with the news yesterday that the state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy has denied a permit for a massive strip mine on Ison Rock Ridge in Wise County.

Although the coal company, A&G Coal Corp., has appealed the decision (no surprise there), local citizens and opponents of mountaintop removal stand ready to continue defending Ison Rock Ridge, and the citizens of Wise County.

“Preserving our clean mountain water, protecting our productive forests and making this a place businesses want to move to is a key part of building an economy built to last the next 100 years. Stopping the destruction of Ison Rock Ridge is an important first step,” said Sam Broach, president of Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS), a Wise County-based group of local citizens, including former miners.

A&G had proposed a 1,200-acre mountaintop removal coal mine on the ridgetop, behind the town of Appalachia. The mine would have buried about 14,000 feet of streams with more than 11 million cubic yards of rock and dirt in nine separate valley fills, posing tremendous harm to the citizens and the environment.

The good news about the permit denial is due to the passion and perseverance of SAMS, Sierra Club and Appalachian Mountain Advocates. These groups have fought the project for going on five years now. (See this post from Sierra Club with a press release from SAMS.)
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