West Virginia Blue
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I worked on Capitol Hill for a long time, and I do not consider myself naive about the inner workings of Washington. But even I was surprised by two revelations this week exposing the amount of money the oil industry is spending to buy political influence.
The first eye-opener came from recently released lobbying numbers. The OpenSecrets blog reported that the oil and gas industry poured $174 million into the political system in 2009. That's eight times more than the green groups.
What did the oil and gas industry get for its money? A handful of Senators who blocked all attempts by the Senate to pass a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill that would have made fossil fuel industries start cleaning up their global warming pollution.
This week's second revelation made that difference abundantly clear. Jane Mayer wrote an investigative piece in the New Yorker about the brothers David and Charles Koch who run Koch Industries -- the biggest corporation you've never heard of -- and who have spent more than $100 million on anti-government causes.
Koch Industries owns oil refineries and 4,000 miles of pipeline, and was named one of the top 10 air polluters in the nation in a 2010 UMass-Amherst report. The Kochs' political donations are often aimed at promoting their libertarian views, but they also directly benefit their own profit margins. They have donated millions of dollars to nonprofit groups that fight environmental regulation and seed doubt about climate science. In fact, a Greenpeace report called them a "kingpin of climate science denial." And though green groups tend to paint ExxonMobil as the worst of the worst when it comes to lobbying against climate legislation, Koch outspent even ExxonMobil.
One of David Koch's pet projects is the group Americans for Prosperity, a group he founded and funds but positions as a grassroots movement. An ad for one of its training sessions for Tea Party activists says, "The voices of average Americans are being drowned out by lobbyists and special interests. But you can do something about it."
But when Americans for Prosperity hosts at least 80 events protesting climate legislation, is it really acting in the interest of average Americans or the interest of oil industry donors?
When it funds an attack ad against Representative Betsey Markey from Colorado because she supported climate legislation last summer that would have brought 30,000 jobs to her state, who is it benefiting?
And when the group pledges to spend an additional $45 million before the midterm elections, is that money really coming from grassroots activists, or from deep corporate pockets? These fat cats pretend to fraternize with the ordinary folks who dangle tea bags from their tri-cornered hats, but, in fact, they are just using activists to put a populist face on their industry agenda.
Manipulating other people's fears about the economy when you are a billionaire -- I would call that the depth of cynicism. But considering those billionaires are getting in the way of climate solutions, clean energy and green jobs in America; I have to instead call it dangerous.
The average income tax refund is up nearly 10% from a year ago, reflecting tax credits included in last year's economic stimulus package, according to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman.
Vice President Biden is expected to announce the increase Monday as part of a month-long effort to promote tax benefits available through the Recovery Act of 2009.
Through March 12, the average tax refund was a record $3,036, up $266 from the same period a year earlier, Shulman said in a statement.
"The Recovery Act is a major factor behind these larger, record refunds," Shulman said. "About half of all Americans haven't filed their taxes yet, so we urge them to look carefully at these Recovery provisions." Some 69 million individual tax returns were filed through March 13, according to the IRS.
Via mcjoan, more details from Citizens for Tax Justice:
According to a recent CBS News/New York Times poll, the vast majority of Americans do not perceive that they have received a tax cut from President Obama. Asked if the President "has already raised taxes this past year," 53 percent of those polled said that the President has "kept taxes the same," and 24 percent think that the President has "raised taxes." A mere 12 percent believe that the President has cut their taxes.
This is an astonishing level of misunderstanding. The truth is that the major tax cuts enacted in the 2009 economic stimulus bill actually reduced federal income taxes for tax year 2009 for 98 percent of all working families and individuals. These tax cuts saved working families and individuals an average of $1,158 on the tax returns they will file by April 15. (The median tax cut was approximately $600.) [emphasis in original]
As mcjoan concluded:
An astonishing level of people believe any lie the Republican party tells them. A sizable chunk of them probably still believe that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Turning around the "tax and spend" stereotype for Democrats is going to take a long time to dislodge.
Facts are stubborn thing. The Obama administration and the Democrats in Congress are indeed helping working Americans (and those still looking for work) in ways that just don't happen when Republicans are in charge.
The Senate approved $140 billion in extended tax breaks and unemployment benefits on Wednesday in a largely partisan vote.
The bill was approved on a 62-36 vote, with six Republicans joining most Democrats in backing it.
Senate Democrats are calling the measure a jobs bill, though it includes tax breaks extended by Congress on a near-annual basis as well as a fix to Medicare payments for doctors that lawmakers also have previously extended.
It's the second package of legislation that Senate Democrats have labeled as a jobs bill this year, joining a $15 billion measure approved by the Senate last week.
GOP Sens. Kit Bond (Mo.), Susan Collins (Maine), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), David Vitter (La.) and George Voinovich (Ohio) voted for the bill.
We're a long way off from an economic recovery that puts everyone back to work who wants to work.
Thank you for continuing to provide relief to those who need it in this time of great need.
Pelosi, in an e-mail from spokesman Nadeam Elshami, pointed out Thursday that the legislation gave 282,000 of Minority Whip Eric Cantor's constituents tax cuts, in addition to providing tax breaks to Republican Reps. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Scott Garrett of New Jersey and Tom Rooney of Florida.
and:
Pelosi on Wednesday pointed out that Republicans have been to "ribbon cuttings" related to stimulus projects.
As this site and others have pointed out, Capito has tried to take credit for projects funded by the same recovery act that she opposed in lockstep with the House GOP.
This is the Holiday which, as far as I can tell, is designed for Car Dealers more than it is to revere the men who made our country great.
When I was growing up we had separate holidays for Washington's Birthday and Lincoln's Birthday. The first honored the man who was our first President and who led us through the military activities of the Revolution. We also remembered every year that he voluntarily stepped down after two terms when he could easily have become a lifetime American King. The second holiday honored the man who kept our nation together, freed the slaves and suffered assassination.
Several folks have posted about the exchange between Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito and Pres. Obama and the GOP retreat last week (h/t JB). If you haven't watched the video, here it is.
Here's how I look at this exchange. The basic assumption in Capito's question is in this part:
I represent the state of West Virginia. We're resource rich. We have a lot of coal and a lot of natural gas.
Towards the end of his response President Obama reminds her that's not the full picture.
So what I want to do is with West Virginia to figure out how we can seize that future. But to do that, that means there's going to have to be some transition. ... what does that industry look like in the next hundred years?
How would you answer the question for West Virginia--what does coal mining look like in the next 100 years?
The first thing I think about is, 100 years from now--probably just 50 years from now--there's not going to any coal mining to speak of going on in West Virginia--all the coal will be gone. Just looking out 30 years from now, there's a whole lot less coal mining than today. So, what about 20... or 10 years from today?
This is the twilight of coal wealth for West Virginia... its heyday is in the past... we're in the final lap. The President is responding to Capito--West Virginia doesn't have 100 years worth of coal--and reminds us all we need to do even more to prepare for what comes next.
Stripped to its essence, it's the most pressing question I take away from the Q&A between Capito and Obama.
To prepare for the next 100 years: what economic development do we as a state want to promote that is not coal-related?
New Report Warns of Decline of Central Appalachian Coal Argues for New Focus on Economic Diversification and Renewable Energy for the Region
MORGANTOWN, WV - As the legislative season begins across Central Appalachia, a new report by Downstream Strategies details future challenges to coal production in the region and argues that policy-makers should strongly support renewable energy and the development of new economic opportunities for coal-producing areas.
"Coal has contributed significantly to local and state economies in Central Appalachia, but production has fallen substantially over the last 12 years as other coal basins and sources of fuel have become more competitive," said lead author Rory McIlmoil. "This trend is expected to continue as mining costs increase due to the depletion of the lowest cost coal reserves, and as new environmental regulations are implemented. As this happens, local and state economies will need new sources of jobs and revenue to replace coal mining jobs and taxes."
According to the report, Central Appalachian coal production is projected to fall by nearly 50% within the next ten years. Central Appalachia includes the coal-producing counties in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia, and eastern Tennessee
The report points to renewable energy and energy efficiency as two sectors where new jobs and tax revenues can be created, as the region has a wealth of clean energy resources. The report concludes that losses related to the decline of the coal industry can be recaptured by gains from wind, solar, low-impact hydro, and sustainable biomass production, and from a strong focus on energy efficiency improvements.
To support the diversification of the regional energy economy, the report outlines a series of policy instruments, including requiring each state to provide 25% of their energy from renewable sources; the provision of grants, tax credits, clean energy bonds, or low-interest loans to support renewable energy development and manufacturing; the implementation and strengthening of net metering laws; and the development of workforce programs aimed at providing the skills and knowledge required for renewable energy industries. The study also argues for strong incentives for local ownership of energy development, to help maximize the local economic benefits of renewable energy projects.
"Given that coal production is projected to decline significantly in the coming decades, diversification of Central Appalachian economies is now more critical than ever," said co-author Evan Hansen, President of Downstream Strategies. "State leaders should use this legislative session to increase support for new economic development across the region, especially in the rural areas set to be the most impacted by a sharp decline in the region's coal economy."
In December 2009, West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd stated, "West Virginians can choose to anticipate change and adapt to it, or resist and be overrun by it. The time has arrived for the people of the Mountain State to think long and hard about which course they want to choose."
According to McIlmoil, "The same is true for all of Central Appalachia, and we hope this report helps policy-makers understand the changes that are coming so that they can support new industries. The renewable energy sector offers one of the greatest opportunities for economic development."
Downstream Strategies is an environmental consulting company in Morgantown, West Virginia, with program areas in environmental policy, environmental science, and geographic information systems. The company provides science, research, and tools to organizations, businesses, and agencies. It offers clients an alternative to mainstream environmental consulting by combining sound interdisciplinary skills with a core belief in the importance of protecting the environment and linking economic development with natural resource stewardship.
Don't get me wrong. Senator Byrd's statement has the ring of truth, and I do believe that he truly cares about West Virginia. But the real truth behind his above statement that "Major coal-fired power plants and coal operators operating in West Virginia have wisely already embraced this reality" is at the link he provided:
The Mountaineer plant emits about 9 million tons of CO2 a year. The project will capture more than 100,000 tons of CO2 a year, or about 1.5 percent of the plant's total.
I had to read it twice to make sure I that got it. They're only capturing a lousy 1.5 percent. At that rate I'd have been too embarrassed to even mentioned it, because the same article also reveals
The company has applied for more than $300 million in federal stimulus funds to install a commercial-scale carbon dioxide capture and storage system. The total cost is estimated at more than $600 million.
In other words, they got Senator Byrd to brag about their little shill operation. Notice that in the same article AEP President Morris salivates over landing future juicy rate increases. Has the last six months with coal-financed "Democrats" really got Senator Byrd taking the bait? Because the rest of us have long been bleeding from the hook and gagging on the line. Don't be surprised when more and more real Democrats start spitting the sinker right back at those coal fired cadre of "Democrats".
What I'm getting at here is that spending stimulus money for coal-fired projects does absolutely nothing to mitigate the pollution right here where coal is being mined, puts only a few West Virginians to work during a brief construction phase, and gobbles up stimulus money which could be better spent at other far more productive "green" projects.
So the question at this point would be, why is a cadre of "coal state Democrats" spending so much of my favorite Senator's precious time helping coal operators become even more of a corporate welfare dynasty than it already is?
"Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Indiana and, at No. 50, West Virginia. All suffer from a mix of toxic waste, lots of pollution and consumption and no clear plans to do anything about it. Expect them to remain that way."
Hmm. That was back in '07. What have our coalfield Democrats done to change that problem? Or perhaps they don't see it as a problem. many of us do..
Just today President Obama hosted a national jobs forum. Vice President Biden recently said "Recovery Through Retrofit is a blueprint that will create good green jobs - jobs that can't be outsourced, and jobs that will be the cornerstones of a 21st-Century economy."
Senator Byrd obviously understands that coal operators and coal-fired power plants will never voluntarily help West Virginia move towards energy independence. Simply because it is against their corporate interest to do so. Instead, they're compelled by their nature to see to it that nothing will replace coal. So they will always lobby to gobble up all of the state and federal subsidies, while playing like they're earnest in helping to develop a replacement.
It goes without saying that large corporations will always make as much money as possible, and they'll always try to do it as efficiently as they can. Since their biggest obstacle lies in leveraging political leaders to mitigate environmental regulations, and judicial leaders to ignore laws, no sense of civic duty ever completely halts the corporate machine's never ending grind towards capital. But it is up to our justice system, our regulators, and our political leaders to keep them from killing people. Which is exactly what they're doing, make no mistake.
So I applaud Senator Byrd's effort to give public notice that we should all demand truth and justice from our system.
He's lived here long enough to have witnessed West Virginia slide from a rich, diversified economy with a broad manufacturing base towards what essentially looks more and more like a mono-economy. During that same period, West Virginia's political system has devolved from what was basically a plutocracy into a well-greased dystopian coalocracy.
For example, prior to the last election, the coal industry spent $35 million in a campaign outreach effort in primary and caucus states to rally public support for coal-fired electricity. On top of that, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity lobbyists spent a whoppin' $10,465,276. source.
Now, suddenly, my Senator informs me that he just spent six months listening to coal state Democrats tell him that the only way to "progress" is to go backwards. So forgive me if I'm skeptical about anything any member of either party tries to sell when it comes to justifying the giveaway of millions to help the coal industry continue to poison my water, screw up my roads, and underfund my kid's education.
Senator Byrd didn't have to be a "treehugger" to have noticed the dire cost of coal pollution here. But he stopped shot of mentioning that cleaning up the hundreds of toxic coal slurry impoundments strewn across WV offers great potential for shovel-ready jobs. Yett it's pretty obvious what's going on when none of the coal-fired "Democrats" ever publicly mentions how "green" it is to retrofit the infrastructures of each of their communities by using stimulus funds for remediation.
Now I don't mind that stimulus funds are now being used to supply water to coalfield communities whose aquifer has been poisoned by coal industry, although it is sort of suspicious when the Governor's website hides it. No, my tax dollars are fine helping those folks out, even though it was Manchin's DEP that let Massey get by with killing their aquifer in the first place. But it gets pretty hard to swallow that Federal Coal, one of three companies responsible for screwing up Boone County's well water, is now blocking the right-of-way for that water project. Could that be an attempt to stall whilst forcing a settlement in the ongoing lawsuit. Yet apparently one coal-state Democrat in particular (Governor Joe Manhin) in particular isn't willing to persuade the coal slurry impoundment operator that what Federal Coal operates qualifies as a fullout toxic dump site.
Speaking of infrastructure, according to the WV Department of Commerce, WV exports more (coal fired) electricity than any other state. Why isn't the state rolling in cash? Why have we cut back on state highway workers? Why are our coalpatch public school districts always those seized by the state -due to lack of funding? Before you ask what does education have to do with the coal industry being unwilling to embrace the future, you need to understand that far too many of our political leaders mistakenly believe that coal is our most precious natural resource otherwise West Virginia wouldn't be ranked dead last in educational services for our students.
We're a little over a month away from an election year. All three Congressional Representatives from West Virginia are up for re-election. In state house races, all of the House of Delegates are up for election as are half of the State Senate. Also, there's more than a few politicians already positioning themselves for a future move... be it a run for Governor or U.S. Senate in 2012.
Unemployment in West Virginia has just about doubled in the 12 months. It's now at levels we haven't seen in 15 years. Even the most optimistic forecasts say this "jobless recovery" has another year of high unemployment ahead.
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
In this economic environment, politicians should focus on one issue: jobs, jobs, and jobs.
Health care reform is good for jobs in the long term--when the public option kicks in we will now longer have to worry about whether our employers offers health insurance or not--we can start our own business, change jobs, and go back to school without worries of being able to find health care coverage. But, that's not enough to reduce unemployment today.
Addressing climate change is good for jobs--investments in cleaner energy, investments in conservation and efficiency, these all create jobs. But--and this is a big BUT--these jobs will only appear in West Virginia once political and civic leaders make a strong effort to attract them here.
A Winning Record
If you're running for office next year, the very best record you could run on is bringing new green jobs to your constituents. There's a lot of skepticism right now that West Virginia is going to successfully make the transition to a new energy economy.
Local, state, and federal government spend a lot of money in West Virginia. Putting some of this money towards energy efficiency and conservation improvements in the extensive government real estate holdings would create new green jobs.
I bet a lot of voters would respond better to positive solutions instead of scare-mongering about the potential for continued job losses due to circumstances beyond our control.
- Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, gives an excellent rebuttal to Don Blankenship's latest load of B.S.
While it baffles me that flat-Earthers like Blankenship still exist, my response to the last few deniers is simple.
If you don't believe in the science, that's your problem. But the need for America to generate jobs and strengthen our national security is paramount, and clean energy is the fastest way to achieve that.
We've mentioned several times on this blog that West Virginia suffers from something call a resource curse:
West Virginia is both blessed and cursed with abundant natural resources. Historically, coal has been a major employer and source of wealth. But--and it is a big BUT--there are three big weaknesses in an economy based on extraction industries like coal:
1. It concentrates wealth. West Virginia played a major role in the birth of modern unions. Coal mining extracts from its workers as much as from the land.
2. Due to competition for employees, capital, and land, large-scale mining operations crowd out other development.
3. There are a lot of socially, environmentally, and ecologically damaging by-products of the extraction and burning of coal. Some recent estimates shows the costs of Big Coal far out-weight the benefits.
Taken together, residents of the most coal rich portions of Appalachia are among the poorest in all other measures.
I want to talk a little bit more about item #2 today--how coal interests crowd out other development. The are strong efforts underway--notably, at this point only by citizen activists--to bring green jobs to the coal fields. The Coal River Wind project is just one example. These initiatives provide a great test case.
Who will support green jobs in coal country?
When I've brought up the idea elsewhere, I've heard skepticism that coal crowds out other development. Well, this is the perfect time for the skeptics to prove me wrong.
There's a long list of strong defenders of the Big Coal status quo in West Virginia.
Just recently the West Virginia legislature passed yet another resolution in support of coal interests. The West Virginia DEP does everything it can to make coal mining as easy as possible. The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce even puts coal interests about the health of West Virginians.
Why don't they equally support creating green jobs in the coal fields? Why aren't they supporting these efforts to diversify the economy? When will the West Virginia legislature, the WV DEP, and the W.Va. Chamber of Commerce start supporting all economic development, not just coal-related projects?
Joel Kotkin of New Geography has an article today at Forbes.com on grass-roots small business diversification in which fits right in with a comment I made yesterday on Coal Tattoo.
The waste-wood plant is a start, but what if we had a lot of entrepreneurs brainstorming lots of small-scale, low-capital projects - real growth is based on lots of relatively low-paying jobs.
Kotkin says
Other single-industry-dominated regions, notably Detroit, have made much noise about moving into other fields, but their emphasis has frequently revolved around high-profile, highly subsidized projects such as "green" industries, entertainment or tourism.
Sound familiar?
He notes that Apppalachia's "unique culture also could provide some of the basis for a regional recovery," and quotes Kentucky League of Cities President Sylvia Lovely:
"Modernity" in its current unadulterated form--with a lack of community, homogeneity and disconnect from the natural world--could be losing its allure for millions of Americans. In terms of what matters, she suggests, Appalachian towns may possess "if not more information, perhaps more wisdom than those who hold themselves out as experts."
Despite the constant talk of the dominance of coal, that is a political legacy, no longer an economic reality. There are fewer miners left in West Virginia than there were in 1900. There are more federal employees, providing services to the nation at places like the FBI and the Bureau of Public Debt, than there are employees in the coal industry. And despite the decline of manufacturing, we still have far more people employed in manufacturing than coal. The West Virginia economy is already diverse. What can we do to make it more so?
500 mountains are gone forever. What will we build on the flat places as a living memorial to the mountains, the miners, the communities, the people who worked hard and died younger than they should have to keep the lights on and the factories running? What if it were something that allowed people to live well, in accord with our mountaineer pride, independence, love of family, community, and the beauty of the mountains?
What kinds of things might we do? What do we need for the Governor, our legislators, our local governments to do with policy, laws, and regulation to encourage this?
ATLANTA, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Georgia will stop posting signs along highway construction projects funded by economic stimulus funds, because the signs cost too much money, officials said.
The signs were first considered a nice indication that stimulus funds were putting Georgians to work but they became a target for ridicule and criticism once it was determined that they cost $1,200 apiece, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
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