Time-sensitive information
and calls to action.

Help Defend, Improve & Pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES)

June 26, 2009

On Friday, June 26th the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

While imperfect, this historic legislation will put the U.S. on the path to slash the carbon emissions that cause global warming 80 percent by 2050, a signal accomplishment necessary to preserve the planet for future generations.

Now we must work to improve the bill as it goes on to the Senate and then comes back to the House for reconciliation. Before the President signs this bill into law, it must:

* include a mechanism for cleaning up the oldest and dirtiest coal plants,

* boost investments in energy efficiency,

* hasten our transition toward clean energy sources like wind and solar,

* and steer more of the bill's investments toward the public benefit—not polluters.

TAKE ACTION:

Find out how your Congressman voted on this bill in the House and send him a message asking him to make every effort to strengthen the bill before it reaches the President's desk to be signed into law:

More info: bill information, how you can help, sample phone message...

Mountaintop Removal Forum Listserv

Our Chapter has a very active Mountaintop Removal (MTR) task force working hard on this issue in Kentucky - and we need all the help and involvement of our members that we can get.
 
If you would like to learn more about MTR, ask questions, participate in the MTR discussion, get involved in some of the activities with which we need assistance, or simply listen in as a way of staying up to date on what's happening around this issue - we'd like to invite you to join our Cumberland Chapter MTR Forum listserv.

Click the tab below for instructions on how to subscribe:

Kentucky News Connection
The Cumberland Chapter has joined with several other public interest, non-profit organizations to bring the Public News Service (PNS) to Kentucky. Our contract with PNS will help us improve our public education and outreach via radio.

As part of the launch process for the Kentucky News Connection, PNS has started the search for a Kentucky based reporter.
View job description, application instructions

Please take time to sign this petition on the national website. This petition shows that you oppose the practice of mountaintop removal mining and other forms of steep-slope mining.

To learn more about this issue or to view Dave Cooper's Mountaintop Removal Roadshow calendar, visit our Mountaintop Removal page.

Sierra Club “Cool Cities” Campaign:
Solving Global Warming One City at a Time

Mayors of the Kentucky cities of Louisville, Lexington, Villa Hills, and Owensboro have signed the "U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement," joining hundreds of mayors across the nation in a pledge to reduce global warming carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution in their cities to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012!

Go to our Cool Cities page to find out how you can help your city become a Cool City.

Position papers and documents available
for viewing and download.

Highlights of a few of our upcoming chapter events. For a full list, visit our EVENTS page.

Ongoing - 2009
Mountain Top Removal Roadshow
Engagements nation wide

To help educate Americans about the tragedy of mountaintop removal, the Cumberland Chapter is sponsoring The Mountaintop Removal Roadshow. This travelling presentation, developed and led by Chapter member Dave Cooper, teaches people about the true costs of our nation's addiction to "cheap energy" from coal-fired power plants. Visit our Mountain Top Removal page to learn more about this issue, book a presentation in your community, or view Dave's roadshow calendar.

Gourmet Canoe Trip
July 11-12, 2009.
Licking River
Butler, KY

Join us for the 23rd Annual “Licking Your Chops on the Licking” Gourmet Canoe Trip. The dam-fed Licking River is runnable throughout the summer, even when most other streams have gone dry. The vehicle access to the campsite means you can forget about freeze-dried food and Sierra cups. So get out your crystal and do it up right!

Just contact the trip leader to sign up for this outing!

Kentucky Students - it's time to register for SSC Sprogs!

The SSC's Student Environmental Leadership Trainings, are week-long peer-to-peer programs led by the nation's top youth organizers. Develop your grassroots organizing and leadership skills, network and bond with fellow students, engage in fun activities and enjoy tasty vegetarian cooking.

Most sites allow you to enjoy activities like spending time in the woods, swimming, hanging out around a campfire, etc. Not only will you come away changed, you'll have the skills and confidence to be a FORCE for CHANGE!

The training sites closest to Kentucky are Illinois (July 6-13) and Virginia (July 5-12)

Scholarships are available!

Get details at www.ssc.org/sprog/

General news and information.

June 29, 2009

Washington, D.C.--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released information regarding the locations of 44 "high hazard potential" coal combustion waste facilities (or coal ash impoundments), previously kept a secret from the public. On June 19, 2009, Sierra Club and its allies filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to force EPA to make these sites known to the public.

Coal ash impoundments were placed on the list based on the potential for harm to surrounding communities in the event of an accident, but at the request of the Department of Homeland Security and the Army Corps of Engineers, EPA previously refused to release the information.

Read the full Sierra Club press release.

View the full list of high hazard sites here.

7 high hazard sites are located in Kentucky, in the cities of Harrodsburg, Ghent, Louisville, and Louisa.

June 29, 2009

Study: Kentucky Coal Costs Outweigh the Benefits

BEREA, Ky. - The cost of coal mining to the state of Kentucky outweighs the benefits, according to a new study from the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED), which finds that in 2006 coal mining cost the state $115 million dollars more in subsidies and expenditures than was collected in taxes and fees.

The president of MACED, Justin Maxson, says the findings are cause for concern, given the historic decline in coal-mining employment and the future challenges of a clean-energy economy.

"Coal is expensive to the state, we spend a lot of money supporting it, and we have got to think differently in the future as the cost of coal goes up, the cost of energy goes up; we need to invest more in renewable energy and energy alternatives."

Read the full story

Download the MACED Report

Some scientific data

The Cumberland Chapter is approaching the energy challenge from two angles: we are directly challenging proposed new coal fired power plants, and we are working to improve energy efficiency and clean power availability.

Currently, we have legal challenges in various phases against five proposed coal fired generation stations. These are located in Muhlenburg, Trimble, Mason, Clark, and Henderson counties.

On the innovation side, your fellow members are in talks with the state’s energy utilities on how to restructure the way they bill so that both the consumer and the utility benefit financially when the utility helps the consumer reduce energy consumption. Other members are pressuring the utilities to make clean, renewable energy available to you and their other customers.