A Letter from Silas House

I received this forwarded letter from Silas this afternoon. Great stuff. Let me make one factual correction: the bill will not be voted on on Monday, but Tuesday if everyone is present at the Appropriations and Revenue committee meeting. This date was just changed yesterday evening.

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From: Silas House
Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 13:08:47 -0500
Subject: The Fight Heats Up

I sent the following editorial to the Lexington Herald Leader this morning, but am not sure if they'll be able to get it in on-time or not (the next vote is on Monday, so it'll be useless after that). If you can use it in any way, please do so; feel free to pass it on to anyone you'd like (but please copy and paste to cut out email address). I'm also typing in the text of the letter from the coal industry being given out at stores and such. Yours, Silas

Going Through the Emotions
by Silas House

Is it possible to be a proud Appalachian and to also be against mountaintop removal mining? I think so. In fact, it seems to me that if you really love Eastern Kentucky, you'll want to find a way for it to not be destroyed. Not the other way around.

The coal industry would have us believe otherwise, of course. Knowing of our regional pride, they want us to believe that good Appalachians will always put the coal industry's success first—even over our own success. Otherwise the coal industry won't be in charge. And they can't have that. Oh, no.

When the Stream Saver Bill finally got put before the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee last week, after languishing for three years, the coal industry started running scared immediately. Although it looked like the bill might actually be voted on, three members of the committee were absent, putting the vote off a week and giving the industry time to get its ducks in a row.

The industry started strengthening itself the way they only do when they are taking drastic measures. Whereas the anti-mountaintop removal camp has always been grassroots, going straight to the people first and giving them the power, the coal industry only goes to the people last, when they're desperate. Otherwise why fool with the plebeians? The industry hired people to go out to the stores, hollers, and gas stations of Eastern Kentucky to pass out petitions and spout propaganda. Many of their representatives were spouting lies, too.

The petitions going around contained information that was so misleading they were downright laughable. For one, they claimed that passage of the Stream Saver Bill would end mountaintop removal mining. The Bill only calls for the elimination of dumping waste irresponsibly (the bill can be read at www.lrc.ky.gov/record/08RS/HB164.htm).

This won't take coal miners' jobs away. It will only make it more expensive for the coal company to do mountaintop removal mining because it will require them to be more responsible.

They're going to mine this coal no matter what—there's too much money to be made—but they'd have us believe they'll quit if they don't get to do it exactly the way they want to. They won't.

If I decide I'm tired of my old house and tear it down, I'm not allowed to just throw the remnants of my first house in the road (or push it in the creek) where its nails will flatten the tires of my neighbors, where its discarded gas-lines and such will be a hazard to other people. I'm required to dispose of that waste properly. Sure, it'd be easier and cheaper for me to just throw it in the road, but I am required—not only by law but by common human decency—to clean up my mess properly.

Right now the coal companies are not required to do that and they're not going to do it voluntarily, even though it's the right thing to do. When morals collapse, laws must be enacted.

They also claim that only 7% of Appalachia will ever be impacted by surface mining. I would venture to say that all of Appalachia is already impacted by it. All of Kentucky is being impacted. All of the nation.

I live thirty minutes away from a mountaintop removal site—much farther than many people—yet I am impacted by it everyday: by the trucks that are overloaded to keep up with the high production rates by this quick and cheap way of mining, trucks that are owned by hardworking local people who shouldn't be forced by the company to overload, yet the state gives the company that right, not the driver. I am impacted by the waste that goes into my headwaters. I'm impacted by the feeling of worthlessness that invades your life when you live in state-sanctioned destruction all the time. I'm impacted by the fact that big business is given a free pass while normal, hard-working citizens have to pay the price, trying to clean up the streams and patch the roads and just get by the best way they can.

There are so many lies being circulated by the papers and rumors being passed around Eastern Kentucky that I could never tackle them all here. But the biggest lie being told—in writing, no less, on a paper that coal industry reps are asking people to sign so they can be presented to the legislature—is that there are only eight active MTR mines in Eastern Kentucky. Anyone who has ever driven across Hwy 80 has seen more active MTR sites than that, and the vast majority of sites can't even be seen, tucked way back where no one can see them (and certainly where no one will ever go to those malls or golf courses that the industry is always bragging about).

I had already heard about the circulating papers when I went to the store to buy some pre-blizzard milk and bread. A woman approached me, asking me to sign one of the anti-bill papers. Much to her chagrin, I took it with me. The letter ends this way: "Don't let your common sense be swayed by broad-brush emotional statements. This is about the future of eastern Kentucky, not about remembrances of the past."

Well, I couldn't have said it better myself. The coal industry thinks it can sway our common sense so easily because they think that Eastern Kentuckians are stupid. We're not, and it's time we stand up and let them know that by supporting a bill that won't do anything except protect our waterways.

The industry wants to keep talking about how emotional the anti-MTR camp is, but they should take a look in the mirror. They're the ones who are being emotional and playing on people's fears. And if we're worried about the future of this region, we need to start making sure that it isn't polluted, that it's a safe place for our children, that we're not under the thumb of a multi-billion dollar industry that gives back very little, if anything.

We have to stand up together and let them know that we're not buying their big, whiny lies any more.

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The following is the letter people are being asked to sign at stores, stations, etc.

TO: Honorable members of the Kentucky House of Representatives and Senate

House Bill 164, the Stream Saver Bill, will seriously impact surface and
underground mining in Kentucky by not allowing excess rock to be placed in
streams that only flow when it is raining.

Why focus only on coal? Our fills are no different than those needed for
highway construction, real estate development, commercial development, other
mineral extraction, and farming.

People living in the flatlands take level land for granted. There is no
level land outside the floodplain in Appalachia that hasn't been created by
man. We need this land for our future economy.

* Only a small percentage, 7%, of the Appalachian coal fields will be
impacted by surface mining.

* You cannot surface mine without the surface owner's permission. The
surface owner must agree on the post-mining reclamation.

* There are only eight active mountaintop removal permits in Kentucky.
Only two mountaintop removal permits have been issued since 2005.

* In the 24 eastern Kentucky coal-producing counties:
--6,055 surface miners mine 45.5 million tons of coal
--$354,629,000 is paid in direct wages
--23,000 trickle down or extra jobs
--$1.9 billion in gross sales of coal (79.5% is exported out of Kentucky)
--$1.5 billion brought back to eastern Kentucky where 85 cents on each
dollar stays and circulates
--$87 million paid in severance taxes ($43 million back to 24 coal counties)

Coal provides high paying jobs and delivers cheap, dependable electricity.
Kentucky has the 4th lowest electrical rate in the U.S., which is critical
not only for attracting businesses like aluminum plants and auto
manufacturing plants but also for our low income and elderly residents.

The elimination of surface mining will end future farms, airports, housing
subdivisions, industrial parks, recreational areas, commercial sites, golf
courses, and a host of other actual uses of reclaimed coal mine lands.

Don't let your common sense be swayed by broad-brush, emotional statements.
This is about the future of eastern Kentucky, not about remembrances of the
past.