Kentucky

see  KTY 2 Appalachia 5/17 on 2 americas =AN this is just a book full of puzzles and paradoxes, and Kentucky is one of them. I felt like if I could understand what's happening in Kentucky, I could understand American politics. You go back to as recently as the 1980s, and Kentucky was sending moderate Democrats to Congress, and they included some progressives who were responsible for some really important social and educational social policies. By the 1990s, they begin to send moderate Republicans to Congress. And then, from the mid-'90s to the present, their delegation becomes more and more conservative, so that they're sending Tea Party folks and Freedom Caucus folks to Congress. But at the same time — I have a graph [below] in the book that shows this — the proportion of the average Kentuckian's income that comes from the federal government increases dramatically, from 10 percent in 1970 to 23 percent in 2015.I drill down to the congressional district level. For example, in Kentucky's 6th District, the congressman's name is Andy Barr, and he's one of the proponents of having work requirements and time limits for food stamps. In some counties in his district, 52 percent of the average person's income comes from federal social transfers. This is just mind-boggling.So I tried to learn what I can about this. That philosophy about welfare is probably a factor that comes into play there. I looked at the determinants of those negative attitudes about welfare. There's long been attention to race, and I do find that race is significant, that whites are more likely than people of color to be anti-welfare. But the other factor that is highly significant is income growth. I divided up the respondents into all these subgroups, and each of the middle-income groups had a very negative feeling toward welfare, much more, more so than both low-income people and high-income people.You have people who we been in this long era of rising economic inequality, where for middle-income people and low-income people their wages have been pretty stagnant, or in some occupations deteriorating over time. So I think people have felt like they're not getting ahead, their kids are not having greater opportunities, and the Republican Party in Kentucky has effectively made the case of connecting the dots for them in a way that says the problem is Democrats and their environmental policies which have been detrimental to the coal industry and so on. Now, if you dig down, there's not good evidence for that, but they have managed to command the narrative and gives people an explanation. And while Americans generally like the policies they use, when it comes to these more general principles, they are still very anti-government. I'm sure there's other things that play into it, but those are some of the main things that stood out to me.NEWSER) – Kentucky miners with possible black lung disease, bad news—you may have less chance of getting state compensation, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/03/31/598484688/kentucky-lawmakers-limit-black-lung-claims-reviews-despite-epidemic" target="blank" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; outline: none;">NPR</a> reports. That's because Kentucky lawmakers just passed <a href="http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/18RS/HB2.htm" target="blank" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; outline: none;">House Bill 2</a>, which keeps federally approved radiologists from diagnosing the disease and leaves it mostly to doctors often employed by coal companies. "Throughout the United States, I know of nowhere where radiologists are taken completely out of the evaluation for potential black lung disease," says Brandon Crum, a radiologist who's being excluded. "That's what we're primarily trained in." Kentucky will only allow its federally certified pulmonologists to read those X-rays; the state has six, four of whom are typically hired by coal companies, and one is partly retired.Apparently radiologists tend to side with coal miners and diagnose them with black lung, while Kentucky's pulmonologists diagnose more conservatively. "Obviously we do not have a standardized process so we are trying to standardize it," says Rep. Adam Koenig, a Republican. But critics say House Bill 2 simply sides with coal companies as black lung is becoming more common. A <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2671456?redirect=true" target="blank" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; outline: none;">recent study</a> found that Central Appalachia is suffering from a historic cluster of the disease, which is caused by dust inhalation while coal mining, the <a href="http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article199365009.html" target="blank" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; outline: none;">Lexington Herald Leader</a> reports. New rules are designed to limit permissible mine dust, but many miners worked in the bad old days and are getting sick now. "It's shocking and it shouldn’t be happening," says an author of the study.solar
<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17052018/kentucky-fuel-coal-mining-solar-power-bent-mountain-jim-justice-edf-renewables-berkeley-energy-group">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17052018/kentucky-fuel-coal-mining-solar-power-bent-mountain-jim-justice-edf-renewables-berkeley-energy-group</a>=<a href="https://www.alternet.org/kentucky-gov-matt-bevin-may-destroy-states-public-education-system-charter-schools-scheme">https://www.alternet.org/kentucky-gov-matt-bevin-may-destroy-states-public-education-system-charter-schools-scheme</a>gov bevinhttps://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/even-republicans-are-horrified-kentucky-governors-attack-protesting-teachers = sci supp 3Aug. 21, 2017Statement Regarding National Academies Study on Potential Health Risks of Living in Proximity to Surface Coal Mining Sites in Central AppalachiaWASHINGTON -- In an August 18 letter, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement informed the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that it should cease all work on a <a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=49846" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;">study</a> of the potential health risks for people living near surface coal mine sites in Central Appalachia. The letter states that the Department has begun an agency-wide review of its grants and cooperative agreements in excess of $100,000, largely as a result of the Department’s changing budget situation. The National Academies will go forward with previously scheduled meetings for this project in Kentucky on August 21-23 -- which are allowed to proceed according to the letter -- and encourages the public to attend <a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=8152017&ga=2.222565277.707320120.1503324467-141596223.1486144204" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;">open meetings</a> in Hazard and Lexington on August 21 and 22. The National Academies believes this is an important study and we stand ready to resume it as soon as the Department of the Interior review is completed.  We are grateful to our committee members for their dedication to carrying forward with this study.The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. Contacts: William Kearney, Executive Director Riya V. Anandwala, Media Relations Officer Office of News and Public Information <a href="tel:(202)%20334-2138" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;">202-334-2138</a>; e-mail <a href="mailto:news@nas.edu" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;">news@nas.edu </a><a href="http://national-academies.org/newsroom" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;">national-academies.org/newsroom</a><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><table cellspacing="0" width="100%" cellpadding="0" align="left" border="0" style=""><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="283" border="0"><tbody><tr><td class="hide" align="right"><a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=49846" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;"><img height="11" src="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/images/print.gif" width="15" border="0" style="border-style: none;" /></a></td><td class="hide"><a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=49846" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;"> Printer Friendly Version</a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td width="100%"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" align="left" border="0"><tbody><tr><td align="left">
</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">Project Title: 

</td><td valign="top">Potential Human Health Effects of Surface Coal Mining Operations in Central Appalachia</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">PIN:</td><td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap">DELS-BESR-16-03         

</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">Major Unit: 

</td><td valign="top"><a href="http://dels.nas.edu/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">Division on Earth and Life Studies</a>
<a href="http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">Health and Medicine Division</a>

</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">Sub Unit:</td><td valign="top"><a href="http://dels.nas.edu/besr" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">Board on Earth Sciences & Resources</a>
<a href="http://dels.nas.edu/best/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">Board on Environmental Studies & Toxicology</a>
<a href="http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">Board on Health Sciences Policy</a>

</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">RSO:</td><td valign="top">Glickson, Deborah 

</td></tr><tr><td valign="top" nowrap="" width="150">Subject/Focus Area:</td><td valign="top">Earth Sciences; Engineering and Technology; Environment and Environmental Studies; Health and Medicine 

</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><div style="padding-bottom: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);"><img height="1" src="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/images/spacer.gif" width="100%" style="border-style: none;" /></div></td></tr><tr><td>
Project Scope</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3" width="100%">An ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will conduct a study to examine the potential relationship between increased health risks and living in proximity to sites that have been or are being mined or reclaimed for surface coal deposits. The study will focus on four states in Central Appalachia.  In particular, the study will 

1.    Identify and briefly describe the main types of coal deposits in Central Appalachia that are extracted using surface mining techniques.  Descriptions will include geologic and geochemical characteristics, mining and reclamation operations, and waste management approaches. 

2.    Summarize the state and federal regulatory frameworks for surface coal mining operations, including coal preparation plants and the associated coarse coal refuse facilities and slurry impoundments. 

3.    Systematically search and screen literature to identify relevant scientific publications on the potential human health effects related to surface coal mining operations. The committee will use the selected literature to accomplish the following: 

a.    Identify effects from surface coal mining operations on air, surface water, ground-water, and drinking water quality and on ecologic communities and soil that could potentially lead to human health concerns. 

b.    Evaluate the potential for short-term and long-term human health effects, which will include consideration of potential exposure pathways and relevant environmental contaminants and other stressors. 

c.    Assess the scientific and methodologic quality, rigor, and sufficiency of the scientific research. 

4.    Identify baseline data and approaches necessary to monitor environmental and human health indicators that may be affected by surface coal mining operations. 

5.    Identify gaps in research and needs for additional research that may assist in the development of new approaches to safeguard the health of residents living near these types of coal mining operations.  

As this study is focused on human health effects for those living in close proximity to surface coal mine operations, the committee will not consider the occupational health aspects of workers at these mines. 

</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><div style="padding-bottom: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);"><img height="1" src="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/images/spacer.gif" width="100%" style="border-style: none;" /></div></td></tr><tr><td> </td></tr><tr><td valign="bottom">Project Duration:</td><td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap">24 months    </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><a href="http://www.alternet.org/human-rights/root-problem-american-health-care">http://www.alternet.org/human-rights/root-problem-american-health-care</a><a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/black-lung-disease-deadlier-than-ever-before-180963303/">http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/black-lung-disease-deadlier-than-ever-before-180963303/</a>...Michael “Flip” Wilson had a very different journey into coal than McCool. The first coal miner in his family, Wilson entered the mines when he was 18 years old. It was 1974, and he was seeking his fortune in what was then a booming industry in Kentucky.Wilson spent 41 years toiling down dark, winding tunnels in search of coal seams—layers of valuable fuel sandwiched between rock. For most of that time he operated what’s known as the “continuous miner,” a machine that carves away the mine’s walls and breaks apart massive seams into bite-sized hunks. Unlike McCool, however, he rarely used a facemask.The masks were burdensome, he says. Dust would collect over the filters, clogging them up and requiring frequent changes. “You just couldn’t breathe through them,” he says. So Wilson foraged ahead with the continuous miner, clouds of inky black dust billowing in its wake.Three years ago, Wilson was diagnosed with black lung. Not using a facemask may certainly be one way that coal dust found its way into his lungs. But Wilson is also among a new generation of miners working without the safety net of mine unionization, which <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/001979391306600104" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">research suggests</a> helps protect workers from unsafe conditions and company dishonesty.Miners at non-union mines often don't report safety violations for fear of losing their jobs, Addington explains. Dust, in particular, has faded to the background. “Miners are more likely to put up with excessive dust because it doesn’t threaten them and the bigger stir that they cause the more likely they are to lose their job,” says Addington, who also files lawsuits against companies for unjust treatment of workers who speak up. “It’s much more difficult for miners to complain about excessive dust than other safety and heath issues at a coal mine.”“I always did what the coal company wanted me to do, if it was right or if it was wrong,” Wilson recalls. “I should have known better, but at the time I needed the job.”Armstrong Coal did not respond to repeated requests for comment.Unions became popular among miners during the late 1800s, with today’s largest organization, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), founded in 1890. The UMWA has been instrumental in improving conditions for miners, from shorter work hours to safer working conditions. It was also a driving force in drawing attention to the issue of respiratory disease during the early 1900s, a time when “strenuous denial of the existence or extent” of black lung was still rampant, according to a 1991 article in the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1827571" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">American Journal of Public Health</a>.Measuring the effects these unions have had on overall mine safety has been difficult, in part due to confounding factors like mine size and the fact that unionized mines tend to report more injuries than non-unionized ones. But a <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/001979391306600104" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Stanford Law School study</a> published in the journal Industrial and Labor Relations Review in 2013 found that unionization had resulted in a “substantial and significant decline” in both fatalities and traumatic injuries.Today, however, mine unions have declined along with mining jobs. Union representation has fallen by over 50 percent in the last decades—from <a href="https://www.bls.gov/cps/aa1998/CPSAAT42.PDF" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">14 percent</a> in 1997 to just <a href="https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat42.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">6 percent</a> in 2016. In Kentucky, where some of the highest rates of black lung are being reported, the last unionized mine shuttered its doors <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/miner-black-lung-disease_us_5751bf08e4b0ed593f143fd9" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">in 2015.</a>Experts reason that longer work days may also contribute to the current surge in black lung. Fewer breaks give workers less time to flush their lungs with clean air, says Cohen, which can rid their lungs of particulate that has not yet taken root. Wilson estimates that he worked an average of 70 to 80 hours per week while at Armstrong Coal. “A lot of the time I would come in on day shift,” he says. “I worked 10 [or] 11 hours that day, then I would go home and sleep three or four hours. And then I'll go back on third shift.”There’s yet another reason for the rise. Many researchers believe the disease’s new intensity stems in part from the size of the coal seams being mined. These days, coal companies have plundered most of the thick seams of pure coal and now seek thinner and thinner veins. That means miners are taking out more rock along with the coal using heavy machinery. As a result, the clouds of black dust have grown increasingly muddled with silica, <a href="http://oem.bmj.com/content/early/2010/08/26/oem.2009.047126" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">a much more potent lung irritant</a>.Coal mine dust <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12071347" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">isn’t just coal</a>; it’s a mix of coal, silica and other elements like iron. Silica’s toxicity comes from a variety of chemical properties, including electrostatic charge—the same force that makes your hair stand on end when rubbed with a balloon—and what is known as “reactive oxygen species” (ROS). When these highly reactive particles make their way deep into the respiratory system, they can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1637684/pdf/envhper00313-0074.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">lance the lung cells</a>, resulting in a flood of damaging enzymes that harm the tissue....
<a href="http://www.alternet.org/labor/kentuckys-attack-unions-provides-glimpse-gops-impending-war-workers">http://www.alternet.org/labor/kentuckys-attack-unions-provides-glimpse-gops-impending-war-workers</a>...For 95 years—all the way back to 1921, when Warren G. Harding was president—Kentucky Democrats had maintained control of the state House of Representatives.When Tea Party darling Matt Bevin, who ran as the “right-to-work” candidate, rode the national GOP wave and succeeded Democratic Governor Steve Beshear in 2014, the Kentucky House became the sole bulwark blocking the implementation of his anti-union agenda. Naturally, heading into the 2016 elections, the right wing turned all its firepower against the Democrats’ six-seat house majority. It worked—<a href="http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article113464563.html" style="text-decoration: none;">and it wasn’t even close</a>. Republicans won an astounding 13 seats to gain a commanding 64-36 majority, making Kentucky one of 25 states with GOP trifecta-control.It didn’t take long for Republican legislators to introduce their stable of anti-union measures: a right-to-work bill that bans unions from requiring mandatory dues for all workers covered by their contracts; a repeal of the state’s prevailing wage law, meaning that public construction projects would no longer be required to pay their workers based on a community survey (usually meaning a union pay-scale); and banning public-employee unions from striking and from using member dues for political contributions.It’s also the first of many attacks on unions that will materialize during the Trump presidency.With Democrats completely out of power, unions had little recourse—beyond workers protesting in the chambers—to combat the legislative onslaught. Over the weekend, <a href="http://www.whas11.com/news/bevin-new-laws-will-be-in-effect-by-monday/383510069" style="text-decoration: none;">Republicans passed all three bills</a> (in addition to a 20-week abortion ban) with emergency clauses ensuring they would be implemented immediately after Bevin signs them into law. Kentucky is now the 27th right-to-work state, and the last state in the South to pass such a law. “It’s an attack on the working people,” Chris Kendall, a member of a Kentucky Plumbers and Steamfitters Union local <a href="http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article125140549.html" style="text-decoration: none;">told the Lexington Herald-Leader</a> as he protested right-to-work at the state capitol in Frankfort on Saturday. “It’s almost like we’re the enemy somehow, that it’s the politicians against us. And all we’re trying to do is earn an honest day’s wage.”In public, conservatives argue that right-to-work is about ensuring freedom in the workplace by using fear-mongering rhetoric about mandatory union membership. But they fail to mention that, by law, union membership can’t be mandatory; it’s the payment of union dues for collective bargaining services—which benefit all workers in unionized shops—that is required with union security clauses. The reality, as <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/right-to-work-states-have-lower-wages/" style="text-decoration: none;">research consistently shows</a>, is that, on average, workers make less—about 3.1 percent—in states with right-to-work laws compared with states without those laws. Right-to-work’s other effect is to create a “free rider” problem for unions, which are forced to provide services for all workers in union shops without any compensation from the non-members they bargain for and represent in disputes with management.Conservatives also argue that prevailing wage laws are a leading cause of bloated government spending. What surveys have shown, however, is that <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/bp215/" style="text-decoration: none;">there are no adverse affects</a> associated with government projects that pay a prevailing wage.Attacking unions is a top GOP priority not because of actual concern for workers or public services. Rather, it’s about undermining the left’s most effective tool for convincing working people to vote for more pro-worker candidates, who are almost invariably Democratic, and curtailing unions’ ability to finance Democratic candidates. Right-to-work laws and bans on political contributions from dues are primarily about draining unions’ coffers and breaking up concentrated worker power. Kentucky was once a union stronghold, thanks to strong membership density in the state’s heavy-industry sectors like coal mining and manufacturing. But, as those types of jobs have disappeared and the GOP’s war on unions ramped up, Kentucky’s union membership dramatically eroded—a trend that has played out across the country. The state’s union membership <a href="https://www.bls.gov/regions/southeast/news-release/2016/pdf/unionmembership_kentucky_20160226.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;">reached its peak</a> in 1989, but has fallen since then. In 2015, 11 percent of Kentucky’s workforce— about 187,000 workers—was unionized, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Right-to-work will only further accelerate that decline.With Trump’s win and the GOP’s continuing majorities in the House and Senate, the party now has unified federal control for the first time since 2006—and in those 10 years, the party’s anti-union strain has become even more mainstream and vitriolic. Republicans in the House and Senate will soon begin pushing for a national right-to-work law and a repeal of the Davis Bacon Act (the federal prevailing wage), bringing to the national stage what has for the past decade been limited to state-level fights. Trump has already <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-i-like-right-to-work-better/article/2583977" style="text-decoration: none;">indicated his support</a> for a national right-to-work law and his top allies, from Vice President-elect Mike Pence on down, have close ties to the Kochs’ anti-union political crusade in the states.The Bevin-led attack on Kentucky workers comes straight out of the right-wing playbook for states. Since the 2010 elections, Republicans, with ample funding from the Koch brothers, have pushed through right-to-work and prevailing wage repeals in such former union strongholds as Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. With statehouse gains in 2016, Republicans are also expected to pass right-to-work measures in Missouri and New Hampshire. But that’s not all.The challenge for unions in a right-to-work landscape becomes a battle for relevance—and convincing members that the services unions provide are still important. Whether they can do that in Kentucky, and soon, nationwide, is a question that looms large for the future of the labor movement. <div wibbitz="embed-main-player" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="bio-new body_story" style="width: 630px; font-style: italic; line-height: 22px; height: auto; border-top: 3px solid rgb(223, 223, 218); clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="author-bio"> Justin Miller is a writing fellow for The American Prospect.</div></div>== Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi -- supported a resolution by Sen. James Inhofe,  on mercury and air st'ds

so mcconnell,

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<a href="http://www.alternet.org/environment/exposed-secret-settlement-deal-between-kentucky-state-government-and-oil-company">http://www.alternet.org/environment/exposed-secret-settlement-deal-between-kentucky-state-government-and-oil-company</a>

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hal rogers pork http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53686.html

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<a href="http://www.alternet.org/week-religion-kentucky-govt-finally-cuts-subsidies-noahs-ark-museum"> http://www.alternet.org/week-religion-kentucky-govt-finally-cuts-subsidies-noahs-ark-museum</a>

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* The worst dioxin polluter in 2010 was Westlake Vinyls in Calvert City, Ky., which reported releasing over 14,000 grams -- more than 31 pounds -- of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds to surface waters in 2010 alone. Calvert City, located on a heavily industrialized section of the Tennessee River, has been <a href="http://www.greens.org/s-r/12/12-13.html">called</a> a "national sacrifice area" by environmental justice advocates because of its unusually heavy concentration of polluting industry.

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Kentucky

In 2010, the Kentucky state legislature proposed H.B. 397, the Kentucky Science Education and Intellectual Freedom Act, a bill that eventually failed to pass.

The bill was co-sponsored by two members of the Kentucky House of Representatives who were not members of ALEC, but one of whom, Tim Moore (R-26), took $3,000 from the oil and gas industry in the 2008 and 2010 campaign cycles combined, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

ALEC Model vs. HB 397

Two key provisions of the H.B. 397 "encourage local district teachers and administrators to foster an environment promoting objective discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of scientific theories" and "allow teachers to use, as permitted by the local board of education, materials in addition to state-approved texts and instructional materials for discussion of scientific theories including…global warming…"

This bill mirrors major provisions of the ALEC model bill that say teachers should "provide instruction in critical thinking so that students will be able to fairly and objectively evaluate scientific…controversies," and mandates that "balanced and objective environmental education materials and programs will…be used."

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Democrat Andy Beshear and Republican Whitney Westerfield are the men publicly running to be Kentucky's next attorney general. But behind the scenes, scores of corporations, wealthy businessmen, lawyers, lobbyists and labor unions have given several million dollars to two independent groups loosely affiliated with the Democratic and Republican parties, which are spending that money on a barrage of attack ads meant to influence voters.

Many donors hedge their bets, not knowing who will win. Among those giving heavily to independent groups on both sides of the attorney general's race — simultaneously underwriting attacks on Beshear and Westerfield — are 21st Century Fox, the American Gaming Association, Golden Living nursing homes, Duke Energy, distiller Brown-Forman, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, the American Petroleum Institute, eBay, the American Beverage Association, discount cigarette maker XCaliber International, brewer Anheuser Busch and Monster Energy caffeine drinks.

The deep-pocketed donors, mostly from outside Kentucky, have an interest in not getting sued or prosecuted by attorneys general representing the 50 states. This fall, they can focus their efforts on the three states choosing a top lawyer in this off-year election: Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Golden Living, for instance, based in Plano, Texas, gave $25,000 each this year to both of the independent groups involved in Kentucky's attorney general's race. The company is no stranger to statehouse legal problems. Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is targeting its nursing homes in her state for allegedly failing to provide basic services to elderly residents, a charge the company denies. In 2013, the company agreed to pay $613,300 to settle claims of "inadequate and worthless wound care services to residents" brought by the state of Georgia and the U.S. Department of Justice.

"Golden Living fraudulently billed Medicaid for nursing services which were substandard and, tragically, resulted in harm to patients," Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens said at that time.

Money flows from these contributors to two national groups, neither of which is allowed by law to coordinate with its favored candidate.

The Republican Attorneys General Association is running ads that say Beshear would do the bidding of his "special-interest" campaign donors and Democratic President Barack Obama, who is hugely unpopular in Kentucky. The Bluegrass Alliance for Consumer Rights — largely funded by the Democratic Attorneys General Association — is airing a commercial that shows a man in a bathrobe, supposedly Westerfield, enjoying a pedicure and a facial at a spa instead of doing his duty prosecuting criminals.

Beshear and Westerfield have complained about the accuracy of attacks made by the independent groups, while each insists he has no control over the independent group assailing his opponent.

The Democratic group said it bought $630,000 of television air time on Oct. 5. The Republican group reported spending $2.2 million in Kentucky as of Oct. 2. More money could come in the campaign's final weeks.

Most of the donors give $10,000 to $50,000 per contribution, with some giving multiple times. In exchange, donors get to meet the state attorneys general and their top legal aides at private conferences organized by the independent groups throughout the year.

Last June, for example, the Republican Attorneys General Association hosted its summer meeting at a luxury oceanfront resort in San Diego, according to conference documents available online. Eighteen attorneys general and seven candidates for attorney general spent the weekend golfing, dining, holding campaign fund-raisers and attending business-friendly panel discussions. They were joined by hundreds of executives from banks, payday lenders, tobacco companies, health insurers and technology firms, among many others who paid the RAGA for the access.

For $10,000, "gold sponsor" donors were promised admission to "the private appreciation dinner" with attorneys general at last year's three national RAGA meetings. For $50,000, donors got that same deal, plus admission to even more intimate "host committee dinners" at national meetings, and an "annual opportunity to lead private briefings with Republican attorneys general."

The two attorneys general groups did not return calls last week seeking comment on their Kentucky efforts.

Several U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 2010 allow donors, including corporations and unions, to make unlimited payments to such independent groups. Much of this can be passed along anonymously as "dark money" by organizations that can conceal who funds them. For instance, the conservative group Judicial Crisis Network gave $100,000 on June 1 to the RAGA; because of the way it's organized, it does not have to explain its funding.

"We're seeing these outside groups getting involved more and more in state races, even in down-ticket state races and state legislative races," said Jordan Libowitz of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

"It's particularly bad with an attorney general's race, because then you've got these conflict-of-interest concerns given the very nature of what an attorney general does," Libowitz said. "He's supposed to be the attorney for the people. But these same corporations who get to do back-door lobbying with the attorney general with big campaign donations often have business before the attorney general's office."

oct 2015

http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article42644670.html

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Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article42644670.html#storylink=cpy</div>

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<h1 class="title-news">Kentucky Climate Deniers: Fitz Steele, Stan Lee Say Climate Change Not In Humans' Control</h1>

The Huffington Post  |  By <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nick-visser" rel="author">Nick Visser</a> Posted: 07/12/2013 12:51 pm EDT

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Climate change denial is getting some bipartisan support in the Kentucky Legislature following President Barack Obama's landmark <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/obama-climate-change-2013_n_3497151.html" target="_hplink">climate change speech</a> last month.

During a committee meeting on natural resources and the environment on Tuesday, the <a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2013/07/09/2709263/kentucky-official-warns-of-higher.html" target="hplink">state's leading energy official warned</a> that Obama's climate change plans could mean higher energy prices. Several state lawmakers seized the opportunity to criticize <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-zeller-jr/climate-change-study_b_3285245.html" target="hplink">the widely accepted and scientifically proven environmental changes</a>, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

"The climate's always going to change," <a href="http://www.lrc.ky.gov/legislator/h045.htm" target="_hplink">Republican state Rep. Stan Lee</a> said. "We're not in control of this world. ... There is one who is in control but it ain't any of us. And to think that we can change what he created I think is short-sighted and foolish."

Kentucky has been a major U.S. coal producer for decades and was the <a href="http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=KY" target="hplink">third largest in the country in 2011</a>, according to the most recent data from the Energy Information Administration. But earlier this year the <a href="http://energy.ky.gov/Coal%20Facts%20Library/Kentucky%20Coal%20Production%20Update%202012.pdf" target="hplink">number of jobs in Kentucky coal mines</a> dropped to the <a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2013/05/21/2648551/kentucky-coal-jobs-at-lowest-level.html" target="_hplink">lowest levels seen</a> since the state started counting in 1950.

"We're not blind. We know there is a war on coal," <a href="http://www.lrc.ky.gov/legislator/h084.htm" target="_hplink">Democratic state Rep. Fitz Steele</a> said. "There has been climate change since the beginning of time," he added. "There is not but one fellow that can control it ... It's going to change no matter what."

The Courier Journal, based in Louisville, responded to the committee meeting <a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130711/OPINION01/307110016/Editorial-Pray-Kentucky-legislators-enlightened-about-global-climate-change">with an editorial titled</a>, "Pray Kentucky legislators are enlightened about global climate change." The piece lambasted the legislators' comments, as well as those by committee co-chairman <a href="http://www.lrc.ky.gov/legislator/h012.htm" target="hplink">Jim Gooch</a>, a Democrat, who asked why <a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130709/GREEN/307090043/Lawmakers-disagree-about-climate-change?nclick_check=1" target="hplink">all of the carbon dioxide exhalations</a> of the planet's seven billion people weren't also contributing to "so-called global warming."

The lawmakers aren't the first to use religion to attack climate science. <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/03/09/441515/inhofe-god-says-global-warming-is-a-hoax/" target="hplink">Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe (R)</a> has been vocal about his belief that climate change is a "hoax," <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EKd6UJPghUs" target="hplink">criticizing the "arrogance"</a> of those who think they can change God's plans for the planet while promoting his book last year.

more:

FRANKFORT, KY. — Kentucky lawmakers Tuesday expressed deep reservations about President Barack Obama’s new climate action plan, which targets coal, with some denying humans play a role in global warming.

“Climate is always going to change,” said Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington. “We are not in control of this world. Anybody in this room who thinks we are is just kidding their selves.

“There is one that is in control but it isn’t any of us. To think we can change what He created is shortsighted and foolish.”

But Len Peters, secretary of the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, told members of the interim joint Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment that climate change was real.

“When you look at the overwhelming evidence, and factor everything into consideration, and there are hundreds and thousands of scientists looking at various aspects of this, there is indication that global change is in fact occurring,” said Peters, a former chemical engineering professor and academic administrator at Virginia Tech and the University of Kentucky.

He warned the lawmakers that greenhouse gas regulations were coming, laying out the president’s timetable in the next three years.

The meeting was the committee’s first since Obama last month directed the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from all power plants, among other actions.

That effort will likely reduce reliance on coal-fired plants and encourage the increased use of natural gas, wind and other sources of power. It also would continue the push for more fuel-efficient vehicles and energy-efficient homes and appliances.

Electricity generation was responsible for 40 percent of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency. And coal accounted for 79 percent of those emissions.

But in Kentucky, where coal has long powered the state’s economy — more than 90 percent of its electricity comes from coal, much of it mined here — many lawmakers in both political parties have been hostile or indifferent to concerns about climate change.

Tuesday’s meeting reflected a continuation of those concerns, but Peters used his time to brief lawmakers on what to expect.

“Whether we like it or not, we are not going to be 90 percent dependent on coal 15 years from now,” he said. “Nevertheless, we don’t want to be zero-dependent on coal, either.”

Peters predicted electricity rates will increase but said it’s too soon to say by how much because the Obama administration hasn’t released its proposed rules yet. But because Kentucky has a big, energy intensive manufacturing base, the state’s economy is at risk, he warned.

“I think we are going to have to push as hard as we can to get the flexibility that is really going to enable us to do what needs to be done,” he said.

He noted that part of the president’s plan calls for $8 billion in loan guarantees for new, cleaner fossil-fuel technologies. He said they may be able to help Kentucky continue to burn coal.

Some lawmakers said local economies, especially in Eastern Kentucky, are already on the skids, where the coal industry has shed several thousand jobs. State officials say employment at Kentucky coal mines decreased by more than 22 percent last year, from 18,111 to 14,083.

“What’s going to happen in Eastern Kentucky? How do we get out of this quagmire, this quicksand?” asked Rep. Keith Hall, D-Phelps, who owns all or part of several coal-related businesses.

A shift to cleaner-burning natural gas is already taking place, brought on by new, cheaper domestic supplies. But some lawmakers said they doubted that natural gas’ price advantage would remain as demand for it increases.

Others asked Peters technical questions about natural gas production and the future of coal exports, while some continued to express doubts about climate science.

Committee co-chairman Jim Gooch, D-Providence, referring to “so-called global warming,” asked why the collective carbon dioxide exhalations of 7 billion people on the plant wasn’t also a problem.

Peters said breathing by humans is “pretty much” carbon neutral. While we exhale carbon, we also take a lot in, he said.

George Siemens, vice president for external affairs for LG&E and KU Energy, said he had little to say because now the president has only presented “a plan to plan.

“But we ask for two things: flexibility and time.”

Gooch, who represents Western Kentucky coal mining communities, said after the meeting that Kentucky will need to fight back.

“We can’t just sit back and roll over and play dead,” he said. “We have to challenge these things in court.”

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<h1 class="print-title">Pushback Against Privatization Across the Country</h1>

<div class="meta">by <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/users/35275/brendan-fischer" title="View user profile.">Brendan Fischer</a> [1] — June 28, 2013 - 8:17am</div>

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<li class="vocabulary-2">Topics: <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/topics/corporations">Corporations</a> [2], <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/topics/democracy">Democracy</a> [3]</li>

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The decades-long effort to privatize public services and assets is hitting some bumps, with state and local governments reconsidering whether for-profit companies should be allowed to indiscriminately profit off of taxpayer dollars with limited accountability.

In New Jersey, legislation to ensure that public services won't be privatized unless it will result in actual savings for taxpayers has passed both chambers of the legislature. In Texas, a bipartisan coalition is fighting against a private prison in Montgomery County, and Kentucky is rejecting private prisons altogether. And in Fresno, California, voters rejected a proposal backed by the city's popular mayor to privatize trash collection services.

“The fact is, when taxpayers see what they lose by handing over control of their roads, prisons and other services, they don’t want anything to do with outsourcing," says Donald Cohen, chair of In The Public Interest, a resource center on privatization. "We hope that what we’re seeing in places like New Jersey, Texas, Kentucky and Fresno is part of a trend to restore control of services to American taxpayers.”

<h2>New Jersey Could Curb Privatization Abuses</h2>

The New Jersey bill, if signed by Governor Chris Christie, might be the first of its kind in the nation. The legislation would prohibit privatization contracts that achieve "cost savings" by cutting services or raising rates, and also require that the company provide its workers comparable wages and benefits. This would thwart efforts by corporate interests to provide the veneer of cost savings by replacing middle-class public employees with low-wage workers.

The bill would also require for-profit corporations to actually stand by their promises: their performance would be subject to audit, which could lead to penalties or the loss of a contract if they fail to produce the promised cost savings.

Not surprisingly, the bill is opposed by groups like the Chamber of Commerce, who will likely urge Christie to veto it. And Gov. Christie is no stranger to privatization: at the same time the bill was moving through the legislature, Gov. Christie entered a contract to privatize the state's lottery system. Whether he will sign this latest bill to guarantee accountability for privatizers remains to be seen.

<h2>Tea Party and Others Raising Voices Against Private Prisons</h2>

Although the New Jersey proposal tracks a Republican-Democrat divide, in Texas, opposition to prison privatization is crossing party lines.

GEO Group is seeking to purchase a second prison in Montgomery County, but Tea Party groups and others are rallying against it.

Jon Bauman, vice president of the Texas Patriots PAC of The Woodlands, says the first correctional facility in the county -- which was constructed with $45 million in tax-exempt bonds -- ended up being primarily run as a federal institution rather than holding county inmates, as originally promised.

“This idea that they were building a jail for us was bogus, it was a fraud” he said. “They weren’t building a jail for us, they were building a jail for an industry.”

GEO Group is becoming familiar with rejection: earlier this year, for example, its effort to spend $6 million for naming rights on a Florida Atlantic University stadium was met with protests from students and faculty, causing the company to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/sports/ncaafootball/stadium-wont-be-named-for-private-prison-company.html?ref=geogroupinc&r=0" target="blank">withdraw its</a> [5] offer.

Other private prison operators are also feeling the heat. Kentucky is <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-06-25/ky-dot-to-walk-away-from-last-private-prison" target="_blank">not renewing its contract</a> [6] with Corrections Corporation of America, ending its three decade experiment on letting outside companies incarcerate inmates for the state. This is the fifth contract cancellation for CCA in a month.

<h2>In Fresno, "The People's Voice is Being Heard"</h2>

In Fresno, voters this month <a href="http://wasterecyclingnews.com/article/20130612/NEWS08/130619968/fresno-voters-decide-to-stick-with-city-collections" target="blank">rejected an effort</a> [7] <a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/06/08/3334755/power-shift-possible-at-city-hall.html" target="blank">backed by </a>[8]Mayor Ashley Swearengin to outsource trash service for the city's 500,000 residents to a private company (and cut pay for its workers), in order to make up for budget shortfalls. Lawmakers narrowly passed the privatization plan in December, but it was sent to voters for approval after opponents collected 40,000 petition signatures.

Pro-privatization forces <a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/06/22/3356451/trash-vote-excites-local-left.html" target="_blank">outspent opponents nearly 3-to-1</a> [9], but voters nonetheless voted to reject the Mayor's plan and keep trash collection in public hands.

Council Member Sal Quintero<a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/06/08/3334755/power-shift-possible-at-city-hall.html#storylink=cpy" target="_blank"> said of the vote</a> [10]:

"The people's voice (against privatization) is being heard."

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