Kentucky Coal Blog » General

Manchin to name Carte Goodwin to fill Byrd’s Senate seat

kentuckycoal — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:08:25 +0000

(CNN) – West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin will name Carte Goodwin to fill the late Sen. Robert Byrd’s seat until an election is held, a senior Democratic source tells CNN.

Goodwin, 36, served as Manchin’s general counsel from 2005 until 2009. He is a lawyer in the Charleston law firm Goodwin & Goodwin.

Manchin to name new senator Friday

kentuckycoal — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:27:10 +0000

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin proposed legislation Tuesday afternoon that would schedule a special primary in August or September and a general election in November to fill the seat left vacant by the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).

Manchin also said in the announcement that he will appoint an interim senator by Friday at 5 PM.

Poll: 70 percent of Americans reject cap-and-trade

kentuckycoal — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:58:00 +0000

By: Barbara Hollingsworth
Local Opinion Editor
07/08/10 12:20 PM EDT

Americans are on to President Obama’s attempt to use the BP oil spill as an excuse to pass his highly unpopular cap-and-trade legislation.

At a recent meeting at the White House, the president told 23 senators that they must put a price tag on carbon emissions. “The president was very clear about putting a price on carbon and limiting greenhouse gas emissions,” said Senator John Kerry, co-sponsor of the Kerry-Lieberman bill that would do just that.

Congressman Hal Rogers floor speech about EPA’s “War on Coal”

kentuckycoal — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:10:13 +0000

http://www.kentuckycoal.com/index.cfm?pageToken=Rogers

KCA’s Bill Bissett Speaks at Arch Coal Public Hearing Against the EPA

kentuckycoal — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:21:20 +0000

http://www.kentuckycoal.com/index.cfm?pageToken=Spruce1

Listen to Kentucky’s Office of Mine Safety and Licensing Executive Director Johnny Greene discuss on NPR Radio Mine Rescue Teams in Emergency Situations

kentuckycoal — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 01:51:51 +0000

To Listen Click Here:

http://www.kentuckycoal.org/documents/safety.mp3

U.S. Senator McConnell on the EPA and Kentucky Coal

kentuckycoal — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:08:43 +0000

For Immediate Release, Thursday, March 25, 2010

Contacts: Don Stewart 202-224-2979, Robert Steurer 202-224-8288,
Jennifer Morris 202-224-6871, Jonathan Samford 202-224-8285

A Threat to Coal-Mining Businesses in Kentucky

The EPA’s “attack on an important Kentucky industry hampers the growth of jobs”

Washington, DC – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement Thursday regarding a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) Minority staff report, which claims the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) coal-mining permit approval process is having a negative impact on coal-mining jobs in Kentucky.

“The EPA has turned the Section 404 permitting process, already a cumbersome process to begin with, into an illegitimate, back-door means of shutting down Kentucky coal mines. This is outside the scope of their authority and the law. It represents a fundamental departure from the permitting process as originally envisioned by Congress,” McConnell said.

“This Senate needs to make it clear to the EPA that they must complete the permit review process in a timely manner, and provide complete transparency along the way to all sides. They cannot continue to impose a back-door ban on mining operations in Kentucky through an illegitimate process,” McConnell added.

The EPW Committee Minority report estimates that roughly 3,500 mining jobs in Kentucky could be in jeopardy if the EPA doesn’t revise its permit approval process.

“Coal is a vital part of my State’s economy, and a vital part of America’s energy portfolio,” McConnell said. “The EPA’s attack on this important Kentucky industry hampers the growth of jobs, and it especially hampers the growth of small business – the greatest engines of job creation.”

The full text of Senator McConnell’s statement is below:

“I rise to sound an alarm about a threat to coal-mining businesses in Kentucky. Coal is a vital part of my State’s economy, and a vital part of America’s energy portfolio. The coal industry creates over 60,000 jobs in Kentucky, including approximately 15,000 coal miners. More than half the country’s electricity is generated by coal, electricity those workers help generate.

“But this important sector of the economy now faces a back-door attempt to restrict coal mining, one that was implemented without a hearing or a vote by this administration’s Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA is overstepping its authority by using an approval process meant to assess the environmental impact of mining operations as a means to halt those mining operations altogether.

“According to one study by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, it could be estimated that roughly 3,500 mining jobs in Kentucky are in jeopardy if the EPA does not let go its stranglehold on the growth of that industry. And mining industry jobs are not the only jobs lost thanks to this wrongheaded, bureaucratic over-regulation. For every coal-mining job, 11 other jobs are dependent on it. That means up to 38,500 jobs in my State alone could be affected.

“Let me give a concrete example of how what the EPA is doing directly affects jobs. Out of 49 Kentucky applicants for permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, only one application—that’s right, one—is actually under review. One out of 49. Actually, that should be one out of 42, Mr. President, because seven applicants were kept waiting so long by the EPA’s foot-dragging tactic that they had no choice but to withdraw their applications.

“After all, during this whole length of time that the EPA unfairly prolongs the process, mine operators must still spend resources to keep their mines ready to operate. Eventually paying these costs while earning no profit in return forces many of these businesses to just give up.

“While the rest of the permits are technically pending a review, Mr. President, in reality, they are in limbo and essentially dead as long as the EPA refuses to even begin its official review process. This “run out the clock” tactic is bad news for Kentucky’s economy.

“I know I don’t have to tell my colleagues we are in a recession. Unemployment is higher than any of us would like it to be. In Kentucky it is 10.5 percent, higher than the national average. My highest priority as the Senator from Kentucky is to help everyone from my State who wants a job to find one.

“That’s why I must speak out against what the EPA is doing. Their attack on an important Kentucky industry hampers the growth of jobs, and it especially hampers the growth of small businesses—the greatest engines of job creation.

“Let me add one more thing. The Section 404 permit review process is only one aspect of the EPA’s war on coal. They are also seeking to impose a back-door national energy tax by regulating carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants under the Clean Air Act, which will hurt our economy and endanger millions of jobs across the country. The Senate will have an opportunity to vote on the EPA’s actions in that regard in the near future.”

UN climate chief resigns

kentuckycoal — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:00:12 +0000

By Moises Velasquez-Manoff / February 18, 2010

The head of the UN body tasked with hammering out an international agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions and therefore curb their effect on Earth’s climate, is stepping down.

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since September 2006, announced his resignation Thursday. It will become effective July 1.

“It was a difficult decision to make,” he said in a statement. “But I believe the time is ripe for me to take on a new challenge, working on climate and sustainability with the private sector and academia.” Mr. De Boer will join KPMG, a consultancy group, as global advisor on climate and sustainability.

De Boer’s resignation wasn’t a surprise to many familiar with the UNFCCC process, and especially those who attended the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) this past December.

For many agitating for an international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions, the COP15 meeting fell far short. “Copenhagen took a personal and physical toll on him,” says Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington.

For more info, click here:http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2010/0218/UN-climate-chief-resigns

Five ways to lose the Senate majority…….

kentuckycoal — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:28:23 +0000

By: David Catanese
February 16, 2010 04:48 AM EST

Sen. Evan Bayh’s stunning decision Monday to pass on a reelection campaign in Indiana is the latest blow to a Senate Democratic majority that is suddenly within striking distance for the GOP.While the retirements of Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) had a clear political logic to them—both involved vulnerable incumbents badly trailing their prospective opponents, according to publicly released polling—Bayh’s calculus was less obvious since he had a comfortable double-digit cushion and a nearly $13 million head start.

Either way, the two-term senator’s departure now places 10 Democratic-held Senate seats at risk—if all are swept under by a November GOP wave, Republicans are back in control of the Senate.

The lesson of the tumultuous last 45 days is that the contours of the political landscape can change in an instant—and a death, a retirement, or a top candidate’s decision not to run can wreak havoc on the best laid political plans.

With that in mind, here’s a list of 5 developments that would make the Democratic hold on the Senate even more tenuous:

The situation in Arkansas continues to deteriorate

By most measures, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln is checking all the boxes as she gears up to run for a third term. She’s made staffing additions to the campaign squad, boasts a healthy $5 million dollar war chest, and a spokeswoman reports the senator is planning a headquarters grand opening on the same day she files for re-election in two weeks.

While Lincoln’s office dismisses speculation that she will be the next incumbent to drop, Bayh’s unexpected bombshell is a reminder that the act of gearing up for a campaign doesn’t necessarily guarantee an incumbent will run again.

Unlike in Bayh’s case, however, it’s not entirely clear whether Lincoln’s retirement would help or hinder the cause. Her standing in the polls seems near terminal: a recent Public Policy Polling survey had her trailing Republican Rep. John Boozman by a jaw-dropping 23 points. Other automated polls have shown her trailing lesser-known GOP foes.

In Connecticut, Democrats vastly improved their chances in November when Sen. Christopher Dodd decided not to seek reelection and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal stepped into his shoes. Blumenthal now holds commanding leads over the same Republicans who were shown to be trouncing Dodd.

There is a potential Arkansas Democratic candidate with statewide elected experience who could fit the bill: Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. But Halter is no Blumenthal—the outside-the-state progressive forces that are already clamoring for Halter to challenge Lincoln in a primary may not be an asset to him in a general election in conservative-minded Arkansas.

Romanoff roughs up Bennet in Colorado

Appointed Sen. Michael Bennet‘s (D-Colo.) allies argue that his Democratic primary opponent, former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to become a serious threat in the primary.

But Romanoff’s keen political antennae, coupled with Bennet’s inexperience on the campaign trail, could produce a messy August primary that leaves little time for the party to reunite behind the victor.

Romanoff has cannily framed himself as “an outsider,” while at the same time racking up endorsements from dozens of state lawmakers and labor groups. And Bennet’s soft polling numbers are also allowing Romanoff to claim the electability card.

“Despite being outspent 10-to-1, I do as well against any of the Republicans,” Romanoff told POLITICO last week, citing an early February Rasmussen Reports poll that put him just seven points behind Republican frontrunner Jane Norton.

While Bennet, who carries President Obama’s backing, would have to be labeled the primary frontrunner, Democrats can already envision a nightmarish set of circumstances where Bennet gets bloodied by Romanoff and staggers into the fall homestretch against the GOP nominee.

Colorado’s precinct caucuses, which begin next month, are already fertile ground for Romanoff, a favorite of progressives who tend to turn out for such an activist-oriented event. A worst case scenario for the Democratic establishment: Romanoff edges out Bennet at the Colorado Democratic State Assembly in May.

But whether Romanoff accomplishes that, or easily surpasses the 30 percent necessary to qualify for the August ballot, it could be just the momentum his campaign needs to fight Bennet through the summer.

A Gillibrand challenge gels in New York

Democrat Harold Ford is the latest in a parade of prospective candidates to float their interest in challenging appointed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

If he ends up passing on a run for the U.S. Senate in New York, it will go down as just another Big Apple political sideshow—and a welcome break for Democrats who desperately want to put an end to worries that the vulnerable rookie senator could get waylaid by a family feud.

But recent comments from Gillibrand and the former Tennessee congressman suggest the diversion might continue on for some time, though Ford has said he’ll let his intentions be known in the coming weeks.

If it’s a go, buckle up—New York’s primary doesn’t take place until Sept. 14th, which leaves months of potential bloodletting before a nominee is chosen. The New York GOP is probably too weak to capitalize in any event, but that could change if a Republican with immediate stature saw an opportunity—someone like former Gov. George Pataki.

Third time’s a charm for Rossi in Washington

Sen. Patty Murray’s (D-Wash.) high-water mark in three races is 58 percent—hardly the stuff of an untouchable incumbent.

If the GOP can reel in a big fish who can connect with suburbanites and dominate in eastern Washington—not a heavy lift since Murray lost every county east of the Cascades in 2004—this seemingly sleepy seat could be in play.

The polling data demonstrates that Republican Dino Rossi could be that candidate. Sure, he’s a two-time loser to Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire — in 2004 by a mere 129 votes and in 2008 by six points — but a recent Rasmussen Reports survey had Rossi leading the three-term Democratic senator 48 percent to 46 percent, including an 8-point advantage with independents.

It marked the first time a public poll showed Murray behind this cycle. And while saying he has “no plans to run for any office,” Rossi wasn’t exactly Shermanesque in a recent interview with POLITICO.

“Never say never,” he added.

Rep. Dave Reichert, who has held a Democratic-leaning suburban Seattle seat during a dismal period for the GOP, also might make an attractive opponent to Murray, though he isn’t likely to run, close associates say.

The Republicans already in the field, including state Sen. Don Benton and former NFL tight end Clint Didier, at the moment don’t appear to have the standing or fundraising ability necessary to seriously challenge Murray.

So it might all come down to Rossi. “He’s got a good narrative, he’s got good statewide ID. The environment on the ground is vastly improved. I know he’s receiving the full-court press to run,” said Republican strategist Rick Wilson.

Meanwhile, Murray’s sending up the warning flares — she recently wrote supporters in a fundraising e-mail that after the Massachusetts Senate special election in January, Republicans “are emboldened like perhaps never before and their thirst for victory is unquenchable.”

Another GOP advantage: The relatively late filing deadline of June 11 means prospective candidates have ample time to make up their minds.

Specter’s campaign trail vigor in Pennsylvania

Pols don’t get any tougher, or more resilient, than Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the five-term Democratic incumbent who switched parties last year.

In recent years he’s dealt with a brain tumor and Hodgkin’s disease and even wrote a book—titled “Never Give In”—about his experience battling cancer while serving in the Senate.

But as he confronts a stiff primary challenge, followed by an equally tough general election contest, the delicate issue of his age and health remains a widespread, though rarely publicly aired, topic of discussion among Pennsylvania political insiders. A single, well-publicized gaffe or stumble could suddenly insert the issue into the public conversation in a race where Specter has little room for error.

Specter, who turned 80 years old last week, doesn’t have to look far to find examples of campaigns where a senator’s advanced age played a key role in determining the outcome.

Specter is now older than former GOP Sen. William Roth of Delaware, the popular late incumbent who lost re-election in 2000 at the age of 79 after several campaign trail incidents reminded voters of his age—and underscored the relative youth and vigor of his Democratic opponent, Tom Carper.

Across the border in New Jersey, there’s another example: Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg (himself now 86) also first won his seat in 1982 by questioning the “fitness” of septuagenarian Sen. Millicent Fenwick.

Jonathan Martin and Josh Kraushaar contributed to this report.

Republicans mine coal-country anxieties

kentuckycoal — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:14:50 +0000

By JONATHAN MARTIN | 2/15/10 4:51 AM EST

Republicans believe there are three words so powerful that they might reshape the political order in an economically beleaguered corner of the country: War on coal.

With Democrats holding total control of the federal government and a cap-and-trade bill still looming, the GOP is fanning widespread coal country fears that the national Democratic Party is hostile to the coal mining industry, if not outright committed to its demise.

Those efforts are putting a group of coal state Democrats at risk as Republicans leverage the tremendous economic anxieties surrounding the future of an industry that is a vital part of their states’ economies.

In West Virginia and Kentucky, longtime Democratic House incumbents with solid records on the issue are taking heavy flak. Across the border in Virginia, a veteran Democrat could face his most serious challenge yet in part because of his support of cap and trade. Two junior lawmakers from Ohio are facing threats for the same reason.

The issue may loom largest in West Virginia, where coal mining is an integral part of the culture and makes up a full quarter of the state’s revenues.

A well-known former state supreme court judge switched his party registration to run against 17-term incumbent Rep. Nick Rahall in the state’s coal-heavy south and wasted little time in raising the issue.

“West Virginians deserve a congressman who will fight to end this war on coal instead of standing by idly as thousands of local jobs are threatened,” said Elliott “Spike” Maynard in launching his campaign last month.

In an interview with POLITICO, Maynard said: “Our part of the world and way of life is threatened by liberal Democrats in Washington.”

He pointed out that some environmentalists want to stop all surface mining, the above-ground technique that happens to account for about 40 percent of the state’s coal jobs.

His message, he said, was simple: “If you vote for Spike Maynard, you’re voting for your job and to mine coal. If you’re against me, you’re voting against your job and against mining coal.”

In the state’s north, a region less Democratic than the United Mine Workers-dominated south, 14-term Rep. Alan Mollohan is facing a primary from a state senator and has a host of Republicans vying to take him on in the general election.

One of those Republicans, former state Del. David McKinley, warns that cap and trade would “cripple the economy of West Virginia.”

Part of the challenge Republicans will have in the two districts is that both Rahall and Mollohan voted against the energy bill on the House floor last year.

But Maynard and McKinley claim that the incumbents opposed it only because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had secured the necessary votes to pass the legislation.

While the votes by Mollohan and Rahall make the messaging tougher for the Republicans, Mollohan’s suggestion last month that he could support the bill if concessions were made to the coal industry softens him up — and, of the two veterans, he seems to be the more vulnerable.

The veteran Democratic incumbents’ fates, however, may be out of their hands thanks to GOP efforts. While both have have worked diligently over decades for the coal industry, especially when it comes to delivering federal infrastructure dollars, Republicans are working to convince conservative and moderate voters to overlook that and send a message to such national party figures as President Obama and Pelosi, both of whom are unpopular in coal country.

The difference now, as compared to past election cycles, is that Republicans weren’t able to run against “Obama and his very liberal, very aggressive social agenda,” said McKinley.

Nick Casey, chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party, said he wasn’t concerned about the line of attack — but still had a ready response to rebut the charge.

“Not having them there is the threat to coal,” said Casey of Rahall and Mollohan. “Because of their strength, because of their chairmanships, they’re the ones that act as advocates of coal and to some degree a restraint with others [in the party] who may not have warm and fuzzy feelings about coal.”

Rahall is the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and Mollohan serves as a senior member and a “cardinal” on the Appropriations Committee.

And, Casey added, local Democrats in a state with a popular Democratic governor and two Democratic senators remain well positioned even as West Virginia has drifted toward the GOP on the national level (something Casey chalks up to Republicans tapping into fears on “God, guns and gays — welcome to West Virginia.”)

The GOP’s coal country strategy may carry more resonance in those districts where the Democrats actually supported cap and trade.

In Kentucky, one of Rep. Ben Chandler’s Republican rivals is already tagging him for not standing up for coal.

Mike Templeman, a recently retired coal company CEO, is, like Maynard in West Virginia, a converted Democrat. And also like Maynard, he’s already on the attack over what he frames as an assault on a major industry in the Bluegrass State.

Templeman dropped a mail piece earlier this month that read, “He strongly opposes the Obama Administration’s war on coal, which hurts Kentucky’s economy.”

Al Cross, a veteran Kentucky political analyst, said Chandler’s vote on the energy legislation was what spurred the coal man into the race.

“I don’t think Mike Templeman would be running if Ben Chandler didn’t vote for cap and trade,” said Cross.

But Chandler, in a statement to POLITICO, said he’s been a champion of the industry.

“I helped secure $60 billion dollars in the energy bill for clean coal technology, and recently joined other members of the Kentucky delegation to support a power plant to produce electricity by converting coal to synthetic natural gas, capturing up to 75 percent of its carbon dioxide emissions,” he said. “Although it remains to be seen who the Republican nominee will be, my reelection campaign is off to a good start with nearly $1.6 million dollars cash on hand, and we are full speed ahead.”

In Virginia’s coal fields, longtime Rep. Rick Boucher may have the toughest race of his career, or at least since his first reelection in 1984, because of his support for the legislation.

A political survivor who has locked down a competitive district — known locally as the “Bloody Ninth” — Boucher has easily dispatched a stream of mediocre Republicans in a district that, like Rahall’s, is culturally conservative but retains a strong labor presence.

But with the 14-termer having shepherded cap and trade through the Energy and Commerce Committee, of which he is a senior member, a trio of heavyweights from the state Legislature are now considering challenges: state Sen. William Wampler, and Dels. Terry Kilgore and Morgan Griffith.

One mitigating factor might be that Boucher used his committee position to insert $1 billion annually over 10 years for “clean coal” research — money he said at the time would make it possible for coal-fired plants to meet the legislation’s long-term emissions standards.

And in Ohio, freshman Rep. John Boccieri and second-term Rep. Zack Space, both Democrats from eastern Ohio, are facing threats because of their support for cap and trade.

After they voted for the bill, the Ohio Coal Association purchased billboards in the state portraying Pelosi dangling Boccieri and Space with strings. The image, the sign said, was from “the thousands of hard-working coal industry workers in the district.”

The trade organization has already purchased radio ads targeting them the duo for their votes and the group’s president, Mike Carey, promises they will do even more.

“You vote for cap and trade, you vote against coal — period, dot, end of story,” said Carey. (He wouldn’t expound when asked, but the Supreme Court decision last month lifting regulations on direct corporate spending might free coal interests to spend unprecedented sums to take out the two Democrats).

With a more GOP-leaning district — it was previously held by former Republican Rep. Bob Ney — Space may have the tougher race of the two. But Boccieri is seen as facing a more formidable Republican field.

Jessica Kershaw, Boccieri’s spokeswoman, said she didn’t think the congressman imperiled his re-election by his vote on the bill.

Kershaw said her boss had concerns about the House legislation and worked to include an “impact amendment” in the final version that would offer assistance to those energy companies affected by the new restrictions on carbon emissions.

And ultimately, Kershaw said, Boccieri supported cap and trade because of its longterm benefit for the country.

“He knows the key to our economic security and national security is energy independence,” she said.

For now, though, it may be the job security of Boccieri and his coal state colleagues that is in question.