Charleston Gazette - November 10, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A group of music figures has begun a campaign against mountaintop coal removal.

The campaign, Music Saves Mountains, is sponsored by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Gibson Foundation. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a senior attorney with the council, addressed those attending a meeting Monday night.

Those at the gathering included Emmylou Harris, Randy Travis, Big Kenny Alphin, Dierks Bentley, Delbert McClinton, Kid Rock and J.D. Souther.

Harris said protection is needed for the Appalachian mountains, where country music was born and is celebrated in song.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin will lead a panel discussion on the impact that federal energy legislation has on Southern states Friday during the national meeting of The Council of State Governments in La Quinta, Calif.

More than 600 state policy makers and guests from around the country will be attending CSG’s annual meeting Thursday through Saturday. Manchin is the organizations 2009 president.

The session, “Securing the South’s Energy Future”, will also feature Kentucky State Rep. Rocky Adkins; Kenneth J. Nemeth, secretary and executive director of the Southern States Energy Board; Chris Hamilton, senior vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association and Rodney Andrews, director of the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research.

The focus of the session will be the future role fossil fuels and renewable energy sources will play in southern states. Other topics will include cellulosic ethanol production, lithium-ion batteries and coal-to-liquid technology.

The panel discussion will be one of more than 30 policy-related workshops and panels that will be held during the three-day CSG meeting on topics ranging from health care reform to education. For more information on this sessions and the others visit www.csg.org.

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The Council of State Governments is our nation’s only organization serving all three branches of state government. CSG is a region-based forum that fosters the exchange of insights and ideas to help state officials shape public policy. This offers unparalleled regional, national and international opportunities to network, develop leaders, collaborate and create problem-solving partnerships.

In the wake of a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to subject 79 coal mining permit applications – twenty-three of which are in West Virginia – to further review, Speaker of the House Rick Thompson called on the EPA to speed up its permitting process and to work with coal operators to help them to comply with the Clean Water Act.

“It’s my understanding,” Thompson said, “that at least one of these permits has been under review for 10 years and will now be subject to even further study to determine if the project can go forward. I know that the EPA has an important job to do – but there’s an old and respected principal of law that states ‘justice delayed is justice denied.’ These coal companies – and the thousands of employees who work for them – deserve a process that is measured in days rather than decades and standards that all sides can follow and understand.”

Speaker Thompson praised Governor Joe Manchin’s leadership on this issues saying, “I support Governor Manchin’s efforts to get this process moving and to obtain clear-cut direction from the EPA. That is the right and fair thing to do.”

“The uncertainty and ambiguity that these companies are forced to contend with through the regulatory process are difficult in the best of times – but are simply unjustifiable and untenable in the midst of the worst economic recession we’ve experienced since the great depression” added Thompson. “We’re not saying that there should be no standards – we’re saying that the standards should be clear, unambiguous and attainable,” said Thompson.

“We all want, deserve and expect clean drinking water and a clean environment” said Speaker Thompson, “but we also want, deserve and expect the light, warmth and power provided by West Virginia coal. Energy and electricity are not luxuries – they’re a necessity. West Virginia coal companies and their hard working employees deserve a permitting process that operates more swiftly and less capriciously.”

Tactics Doom Cap and Trade in Senate 
 
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) today rammed a major energy-rationing bill through the committee, without the presence of any Republicans on her committee. (See news story)
 
Under Senate committee rules and precedent, two members of the minority are customarily required to make a quorum for marking up a bill. But Republicans balked at Democratic efforts to pass the energy tax-and-ration bill before a complete analysis of its economic impacts had been done by EPA.  The bill, S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Security Act, was introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.).  The chief co-sponsor is Chairman Boxer.
 

Wayne Towner
 
PARKERSBURG - In recent years, West Virginia has made progress in becoming a more business-friendly state but officials need to remain on course and continue making policy changes that improve the state's business climate, a statewide business group recommends.
The West Virginia Business and Industry Council (BIC) is holding regional meetings this week in Parkersburg and around the state to talk with business owners and state legislators about what has been done in the past and what still needs to be done.