West Virginia Blue
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(Reposted in case you missed it the first time. - promoted by Clem Guttata)
By Clem Guttata
Coal CEOs get political representation, what about the rest of us?
Logan County Commission President Art Kirkendoll requested a meeting and he got it. Michael Browning reported (emphasis mine):
Kirkendoll has asked Gov. Joe Manchin for a meeting with him, commission presidents from Lincoln, Boone, Mingo and Kanawha counties, the EPA, the Division of Environmental Protection, Congressman Nick Rahall, Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, representatives from U.S. senators Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller's offices and officials from the coal industry.
Today at 3 p.m., the group will meet privately in the governor's office to discuss coal's future and the economic impact it has on the state and nation.
"This meeting was way overdue to have all the major coal producers' officials together with the EPA and the DEP, the congressional people and the commission presidents from the five major coal-producing counties that spend the money and try to create activities on coal tax," Kirkendoll said. "Everybody that has a stake in what we do will be there. Instead of each of us writing letters, I wanted to get us all together - the people who are investing their money, who are spending the money, the people who are making laws and making the rules - so that we can ask how do we a qualify permits that are solid and work. I sent the governor a letter and he thought it was a great idea so he put the meeting together."
Kirkendoll doesn't think anyone downstream has a stake in coal mining. He doesn't think it matters that we drink the same water, breath the same air, or--point of fact--actually pay for the electricity that makes that coal valuable.
...the list of expected attendees includes Massey Energy President Don Blankenship, CONSOL Energy CEO Brett Harvey and International Coal Group President Ben Hatfield. Two members of Congress will be there, as will county commissioners from the state's major coal producing counties, and top officials from a dozen or more other coal companies. It's a big deal to get all those folks in the same room, and it seems like the public ought to know what is said.
With enough twists to fill a pretzel factor, Gov. Manchin and his communications director, Matt Turner, said there was no need to invite potential critics of coal mining practices because:
"the meeting is not about environmental regulations." (AP - via)
"This is not about the environment. This is about the economic plight the (coalfield local government officials) are being put in." (source)
The meeting happened this afternoon outside the Governor's Mansion in a party tent literally bought and paid for by coal industry donors, (I kid you not... you couldn't make this stuff up) and was followed by a press conference.
Nov. 10, 2009 - CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Gov. Joe Manchin, joined by West Virginia elected officials: U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Congressman Nick Joe Rahall, Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, House Speaker Rick Thompson and various other state leaders, county commissioners, representatives from the coal industry and labor met to discuss the future of coal in West Virginia during a press conference. Photos by: Steven W. Rotsch
West Virginia political leaders promised Tuesday to speak "with one voice" to clarify the Obama administration's proposals to more strictly regulate mountaintop removal coal mining.
Gov. Joe Manchin, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, and Reps. Nick J. Rahall and Shelley Moore Capito said they would join forces to seek a high-level White House meeting to raise coal industry concerns about tougher permit reviews instituted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"It's about the economy of West Virginia," Manchin said at a news conference after a two-hour, closed-door meeting with industry leaders. "We're just trying to find that balance right now."
I'd like someone to ask Gov. Manchin what it is that he's trying to "balance"? As far as I can tell, "balance" is his code word for stopping any tighter environmental regulation enforcement.
Coal company CEOs have been guaranteed a voice in Washington. The Gov. of West Virginia, Sen. Rockefeller, Rep. Rahall and Rep. Capito stood at a podium this afternoon and promised to speak "with one voice" in Washington, DC on their behalf.
The citizens of West Virginia did not elect these officials to represent coal company executives, they serve to represent us all.
What is good for Don Blankenship is not what is good for all of West Virginia. What is good for CONSOL Energy CEO Brett Harvey is not what is good for all of West Virginia (just ask the residents of the Dunkard Creek watershed). What is good for International Coal Group President Ben Hatfield is not what is good for all of West Virginia.
We need political leaders who will lead for all West Virginians, not political followers catering to the needs of coal company CEOs. We need political leaders who will ask not what they can do for coal, but what they can do for West Virginia. We need political leaders who can honor both our heritage and our future.
The Kentucky Coal Association announced a new general counsel Tuesday: Lloyd Cress, who was the state's commissioner of environmental protection under former Gov. Ernie Fletcher.
"I look forward to assisting Kentucky's coal industry meet the increasing challenges that it confronts in providing the energy, jobs and tax revenue that benefit Kentucky so greatly," Cress said in a prepared statement.
Cress is married to U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell.
Cress' hiring is part of a management makeover at the coal association. Last month, the group hired Bill Bissett, chief of staff and senior vice president at Marshall University in West Virginia, as its president.
It would be great if Cress also looked forward to helping the industry meet its challenge to provide all those wonderful benefits as safely as possible, with as little environmental damage as possible, and in ways that met and exceeded the standards set by every regulating body.
But, maybe that's just not what he's getting paid for.
I was listening to a national radio show this morning (I think it was Marketplace Morning Report but I'm not sure) and Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) was on talking about the 1000 jobs in the Toyota plant near Charleston, many of them "her constituents" and "people she's met."
She went on to say while she's certainly concerned about those jobs, she's more concerned about the safety of her constituents that drive Toyotas on snowy hilly roads. She wants to know Toyota has a safe product.
I think it's great that Capito is embracing the role of government regulation and oversight to ensure that consumers are protected from corporate greed that leads to injury or death. This certainly is a legitimate role for government regulation.
Now, after over a decade in public office with mounting evidence of the detrimental effects of processing and burning coal, and mining coal, when will Capito's concern for her constituents extend to exposure from those hazards?
Surely, Shelley, that's an equally legitimate place for sound government oversight, right?
While coal supporters tout the supposed economic benefits to the state that coal produces, West Virginia's coal counties are a very unhealthy place to live.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Mountaintop-removal mining continues to damage the environment long after regulators sign off that mine sites have been properly reclaimed, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
GAO investigators found that mountaintop removal damages water quality, reforestation efforts need improvement, and mine operators often do not comply with the approximate original contour reclamation requirement.
And in a 68-page report to Congress, the GAO said federal and state regulators could do more to limit the damage and to ensure mine operators are held financially responsible for cleaning up industry messes.
Of course when we weigh the actual costs of mountaintop removal versus the benefits, we see mountaintop removal is disastrous economically and environmentally to the state. Unfortunately too many politicians can't look beyond the next election and be honest with the people of the state so they focus on only the short-term issues. However, mountaintop destruction is destroying the state's long-term viability.
"Since learning about mountaintop removal, I've had a deep ache in the pit of my stomach, a deep yearning for these mountains I know so well and love so much," she said.
[...]
"Everyone is scared, she said. "If my house has turned from a quiet sanctuary into a living nightmare, I am in deep anguish.
"On the other hand, if I have a decent job, and suddenly I'm going to be without a way to provide for my family, I am in deep anguish."
"How do we honor the deep human needs on both sides of this conflict?"
- Stenographer of the Week:Politico. Normally, this award goes to the local media (even though the absence of any real journalism there is no surprise), but the right-leaning national news site really earned this one.
You wouldn't expect them to do a progressive or even down-the-middle story, but the glaring omission in Jonathan Martin's piece,"Republicans mine coal-country anxieties," is still astonishing.
Martin manages to profile disgraced judge Elliot "Spike" Maynard's quest to unseat Rep. Nick Rahall without mentioning the name Don Blankenship even once. (I hear he has something to do with this coal stuff, after all.)
Instead, Spike gets ample space to whine about "liberal Democrats" and break out the fearmongering.
Martin mentions that Maynard is both a former judge and a former Democrat, without explaining exactly how that came about.
Politico leaves their readers to believe that it's the result of some principled stand on the issues, rather than the fact that the Democratic Party booted Maynard out in the primary due to scandal.
Given that Blankenship is the reason "former" precedes Spike's titles, and the fact that The Coalfield Don likely recruited and will be bankrolling Maynard, it's puzzling why such a relevant bit of background info was left out.
But maybe I'm being too hard on Martin. It might simply be an obscure story he didn't hear about. It's not like it resulted in Don Blankenship assaulting and threatening the lives of an ABC News team on national TV or anything.
Today a mixed bag of WV state senators sponsored legislation to create a governor's commission to "Seize the Future of Energy for America." What could have been a step forward for america's energy independence and West Virginia's economy looks to be just another give-away to the extraction industry.
You know, I'm not surprised when I see misleading information in constituent emails from Rep. Shelley Moore Capito. Take this section from last week's letter (the first sentence alone gets two things wrong: one minor, one major):
WVU Report on Cap-and-Trade
Also on the topic of energy - this week, professors at West Virginia University released a report on the full-impact of cap-and-trade. In highlighting the prospect of severe job loss and population decline, their view is a bit different than the President's.
Of particular note, Dr. Randall A. Childs and the university's Bureau of Business and Economic Research suggest that the state could lose more than 20,000 jobs over the next few decades and see a $1.8 billion decline in state domestic product. These are troubling numbers and we must remember them as the conversation continues.
So, I went, looked, and found where a report authored by Dr. Childs was released (it is available for download; warning, large PDF). This report is such a hit, at Gov. Manchin's request the West Virginia legislature has even written some of its findings into law:
Whereas, The Act calls for the establishment of a national cap and trade program that, if effected, would reduce West Virginia's gross domestic product by an estimated $750 million by 2020 and by an estimated $1.75 billion by 2030; and
Whereas, West Virginia would lose up to 10,000 jobs by 2020 and up to 22,000 jobs by 2030 if the proposed cap and trade program is enacted;
Amazingly, Rep. Capito's newsletter is more accurate than the legislature's resolution! (There's a sentence I never thought I'd write.) Rep. Capito at least says "could" whereas the resolution says "would".
I share Rep. Capito's view that these numbers are troubling--but not for the same reasons.
Talking about Change
Now, before I go into details about the report itself, I want to remind you about a diary I posted a few days ago on talking about change. Here's a key chart:
What about that WVU BBER study?
Okay, fine... what's that got to do with the WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) study? Well, as it turns out, Childs' study focuses exclusively on just half of the decision making picture.
It says West Virginia has some good stuff right now--mainly, coal mining jobs and revenue along with electricity rates below the national average. Then it calculates how much less of the "usual" good stuff we would have if the House bill become law without any further changes and if we assume we were going to have all the same good stuff in 2030 as we have now.
In other words, it only looks at the stuff in the Resistance to Change column. No wonder the folks who like the status quo--the most resistance to change--have fully embraced this study.
What the report doesn't include
The WVU BBER report does not note that global climate change is a problem that needs to be addressed. (In fact, in the first footnote of the study, it gives credence to debunked claims of climate change denialists).
The WVU BBER report does not say what the costs of doing nothing are (it ignores the bad stuff now and in the future)--the significant costs to West Virginia of climate change. (To be fair, neither do the national government studies it relies on for much of it data.)
The WVU BBER report assumes that West Virginia's current relative electricity costs advantages will remain constant in the absence of climate change legislation. This is a difficult assumption to justify.
We're already seeing West Virginia utilities ask for large rate increases due to the drop in state industrial demand and a drop in out-of-state demand for coal-generated electricity. Multiple forecasts show a drop in Appalachian coal production in the next 20 years. Nearby states are making aggressive investments in alternative energy. Projecting the "usual" good stuff forever is an unrealistically optimistic comparison case.
Also, the WVU BBER report does not include any of the different good stuff that will result from addressing climate change. Quoting from the study itself:
The provisions excluded from EIA's analysis include: Clean Energy Deployment Program; Strategic Allowance Reserve; regulations covering HFC emissions; GHG standards for activities not covered by cap and trade; allowances to coal merchant plants; efficiency standards for transportation equipment; and, investment in energy research and development. The omitted programs and regulations, while albeit important, are not likely to significantly change the underlying results of this study.
Investments in conservation, efficiency, and alternative energy all provide benefits to the West Virginia economy. These benefits are not included in the study.
Finally, the WVU BBER report makes no attempt to include less bad stuff. A more thorough study would include the positive impacts of reduced coal usage (something that the MACED and Dr. Hendryx studies both provide a reasonable starting point to estimate).
In other words, when Rep. Capito says this is a "a report on the full-impact of cap-and-trade," that's just not true. It's a report on some of the impacts of cap-and-trade with an almost exclusive focus on the most negative impacts.
Resistance to Change
If you set out to create the most pessimistic view possible of addressing West Virginia climate change you might well end up with a study quite similar to this one. I have no reason to believe Dr. Childs' started his report with that idea in mind, but the end result is the same.
It's no wonder that Rep. Capito and Gov. Manchin are trumpeting these figures to justify their resistance to change. This is a disservice to all West Virginians.
Head in the sand on climate change. The WVU BBER report assumes the West Virginia economy will feel no effects from global climate change if it goes unaddressed. This is a reckless view to perpetuate.
All pain, no gain. The WVU BBER report assumes that West Virginia will get no benefits from the House climate bill. No new clean energy jobs. No new coal carbon-capture and storage R&D jobs (with associated increased coal demand). No retraining, tax credits, or other directed benefits to aid Appalachia in moving beyond coal.
"Good" stuff forever. The WVU BBER report assumes the status quo of coal today will be here forever. That's at odds with what the coal industry itself is saying. A real public service would be to create a more realistic baseline scenario based on all known information about coal supply.
Bad stuff never. The WVU BBER report completely ignores the documented negative externalities of the coal economy. Reductions in coal mining, processing, and burning will also have positive effects on West Virginia GDP and population numbers (along with numerous quality of life indicators).
In summary, the WVU BBER paints an unrealistic set of scary figures.
A silver lining?
As incomplete as this study is, there may be one small silver lining. While I think the WVU BBER study is misleading and inaccurate, it does demonstrate the necessity for West Virginians to constructively engage in the legislative process regarding energy and environmental policy.
It is important that climate change legislation aids West Virginians and other Appalachians who face disproportionate impacts in moving to a post-carbon economy. West Virginia political leadership--our Congresspeople and those in the state house--ought to quit demagoguing these issues and start offering real solutions.
Mining and burning the small amount of coal remaining in West Virginia even faster is not a solution to climate change in West Virginia and it doesn't address the long-term challenges our state faces to replace our dwindling coal-based wealth.
-Jeff Friedrich on the end of Climate Ground Zero's 9-day treesit: "Lies Don Blankenship Told Me: Why Climate Activists Are Heading To The West Virginian Coal Fields."
- Nitchman and Blevins still in jail. Total bail at $9,624.00.
- Logan Banner managing editor Michael Browning asks why we should care about celebrities' views on coal mining - unless, of course, they're named Ted Nugent or Hank Williams Jr and get a check from Blankenship for a rally that the Banner helped promote.
- Blankenship political operative Roman Stauffer would probably have a good idea what the schedule of disgraced judge Elliott "Spike" Maynard looks like. Stauffer, who's been pushing for a Maynard challenge to Rep. Rahall, says Spike is going to talk to John Raese's mouthpiece, Hoppy Kercheval, Monday at 10:00 a.m. Will Don's pal announce a coal owner-funded run?
- Mollohan and Rahall joined Capito's coal caucus.
- And President Obama took time from his smackdown of the House GOP at their Baltimore retreat to take a question from Capito.
CHARLESTON, WV - Responding to national pressure over the treatment of tree sitters on Coal River Mountain, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin asked Climate Ground Zero for an emergency meeting. This morning Roland Micklem, 81, and other group members told the Governor that the civil-disobedience campaign won't stop until mountaintop removal does. They reminded the governor that the campaign is strictly non-violent, and asked the governor to protect activists from threats of violence by Massey Energy and other coal companies.
"The governor attempted to steer the conversation away from the more massive crime of MTR," said Micklem. "We are here to oppose mountaintop removal mining, which is a crime. Massey Energy has committed any number of illegalities. We will continue non-violent civil disobedience in order to stop it."
Today is the eighth day that Eric Blevins, 28, and Amber Nitchman, 19, continue to peacefully occupy trees to prevent blasting near Massey Energy's Bee Tree strip mine on Coal River Mountain. They are preventing Massey from blasting near a sludge dam that endangers downstream communities.
The sitters have faced constant harassment from Massey Security in the form of air horns, bright lights and violent threats. The meeting resulted in a temporary moratorium on the use of the air horns and flood lights, but the sitters remain worried about the possibility of other, more dangerous, methods of harassment.
Governor Manchin recently came out against violence between the opponents and proponents of mountaintop removal mining after a meeting with coalfield residents about the effects of that type of mining.
In response to news of the harassment, hundreds of people from all over the country called Massey Energy, and then Governor Manchin to express their displeasure with his continued support of mountaintop removal mining, and to pressure him to stop the auditory abuse of the tree sitters. "The massive call-ins to the Governor and Massey Energy this week came from all over the country; mountaintop removal is a national issue with national consequences - the coal companies cannot continue to treat central Appalachia like their own personal playground," said David Aaron Smith, one of the sitters who had to come down Monday.
Today Manchin stated: "Even if we disagree, I believe we can walk away respecting each other but everyone-including activists and property owners-must do so within the letter of the law." Activists acknowledge that they are taking part in civil disobedience in response to legal violations committed by mining companies. In the debate with Robert Kennedy Jr last week, Massey CEO Don Blankenship said "I doubt it's possible [to do mountaintop removal] without having a single violation at a single time."
Federal mine safety officials are looking into a comment by one of its Kentucky-based inspectors on the social networking site, Facebook, that proclaimed, "Hang a tree-hugger today."
[...]
David Cooper, an activist who opposes mountaintop removal coal mining, circulated via email the comment by Terry Phillips, who Louviere identified as a mine inspector based in Pikeville, on the Facebook page for the pro-coal Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security. Both that page, and a copy of Phillip's public page on Facebook, were published on this environmental website.
A man who identified himself as Phillips returned my call and said he was sorry. "I was kidding around," Phillips said. "It's caused me a lot of problems. I wished I had never done it."
Will Vicki Smith of the AP still try to pretend that the nutty rhetoric is coming equally from both sides?
Since their first night in the trees Massey has been harassing the sitters using sleep deprivation tactics; this is harming the hearing of both the security and the sitters. Security personnel are perpetually shining bright lights and employing the noise-making machines. A few hours ago Eric Blevins took action by calling the state police and reporting a noise violation. Quite soon after he called the noise machines turned off but they have since been turned back on. In a similar vein of harassment, Massey security has tied a rope to a smaller tree next to Amber's platform. They are pulling and releasing the rope so that the sapling smacks the bottom of her platform, hoping that she will feel unsafe and come down.
- Governor Manchin will meet with Bo Webb and other coalfields residents today.
- The stenographer of the week award goes to Bill Archer of The Bluefield Daily Telegraph for covering FACES of Coal.
- Big Laurel Coal is cited for ignoring dangers that contributed to a Virginia mine electrician's death.
-and Friends of Coal: The coloring book. really.
First off, here's all the important logistical details:
WHAT: The University of Charleston will present a public conversation between Waterkeeper Alliance President and environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Massey Energy Chairman and CEO Don Blankenship titled the Forum on the Future of Energy. The event will advance the national discussion about U.S. energy policy and its impact on jobs, the environment, the economy, and national security.
WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010, at 6:15 pm
WHO: Don Blankenship - Chairman and CEO, Massey Energy Co.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. - President, Waterkeeper Alliance
Dr. Edwin H. Welch - President, University of Charleston, event moderator
WHERE: University of Charleston's Geary Auditorium; live remote broadcast in Eddie King Gymnasium
If you want to attend in person, the tickets for the auditorium are "sold out" (they were never available for sale to the public), but free admission is available for the remote broadcast in the Eddie King Gymnasium.
The Forum has generated considerable interest and demand for tickets has exceeded the auditorium capacity. Event organizers will distribute tickets in advance, and no additional seats will be available. For all others, the forum will be broadcast live in Eddie King Gymnasium on the university's campus.
To accommodate television coverage, the University of Charleston requests that the audience be seated prior to 6:15 p.m. Those holding tickets will be seated in their respective sections, on a first-come, first-served basis, with early arrivals seated at the front. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m. and entry into the event will be through the Keenan lot entrance of Riggleman Hall only.
All interested parties are invited to submit questions for the participants in advance. Dr. Welch, as moderator, will ask the participants a balance of representative, challenging questions chosen from those submitted.
There's a lot of national interest in the debate and the fact that it is happening at all is significant. It is one more sign that folks are starting to take planning for West Virginia's post-carbon future a little more seriously.
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