Notes from Lisa

"Redneck Legacy" & Mountaintop Removal Mining: Thoughts on a Presentation by a West Virginia Activist

Chuck Keeney, from Friends of Blair Mountain, gave a fabulous presentation at Bowdoin College last night on the history of coal mining and the unionization of miners in West Virginia. His great grandfather played a central role in the miners’ early resistance to coal company exploitation that eventually led to the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921. This was one of the largest civil uprisings in United States history and the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War. For five days in Logan County, West Virginia, around 10,000 coal miners confronted an army of 30,000 police and strikebreakers backed by coal operators. The battle ended after the U.S. Army intervened by presidential order.

This longstanding resistance to the coal companies, according to Chuck, is not taught in school textbooks anywhere in Appalachia but is passed down through storytelling from generation to generation. The United Mine Workers were strong in West Virginia for about 50 years but as coal companies turned to mountain top removal and the greater use of machinery, the number of workers was halved, and the strength of the unions has been weakened. The coal company lobby remains stronger than ever, and the devastation left by continued mountaintop removal mining is horrific, now covering an area the size of Delaware in moonscapes across Appalachia. Chuck listed off a deeply disturbing list of human health problems in areas where mountaintop mining takes place: cancer rates double in towns around mountaintop removal mining; there’s an increased rate of brain tumors and birth defects. There’s also increased flooding; water resources in these areas becomes poisoned. Hear Chuck talk about some of these environmental impacts on this short YouTube video we put together from the event.

Brownie Carson, NRCM’s former executive director, and Henry Heyburn (link), current NRCM board member, both originally from the Appalachia region, participated in the 2011 March on Blair Mountain along the route of the 1921 march of the miners to battle. NRCM took the opportunity of this presentation to call upon the audience to support the recently released, first-ever carbon emissions standards  for new power plants issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. These draft rules are a critical first step in addressing climate change, which is why they will be heavily lobbied against by the same coal companies that Chuck says still rule West Virginia today. Across the country, we are working to collect over one million supportive comments on the rules in the next few months. Please take a minute and write a comment here and we will deliver it to the EPA. Thank you!

Lisa Pohlmann, Executive Director

Related: Take Action: the Carbon Emission Standard

             Take Action: Mercury and Air Toxics Standard

Why the Rush? Last-minute Bills Undermine Democracy

There are bills that have been introduced in this “emergency” second year of the legislative session that are truly alarming for those of us who care about Maine’s environment. We knew when the session started in January that some of them were coming. We knew that we faced the “takings” bill that would require taxpayers to pay landowners to obey the law when environmental protections negatively impact property values. The bill to weaken the ability of the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) to protect Maine’s North Woods was in play. Others appeared early in the session, such as a bill to restrict the public from appealing agency decisions (LD 1647) and the bill to ban dam removals (LD 1718). You have been with us, turning out for hearings, calling your legislators, and writing letters that appeared in your newspapers. You have made a positive difference in how legislators are dealing with these bills as we get closer to the finish line. Elements of some of these harmful bills are still in play and will be through next week at least.

But in the final days of this session, there is a new “sneak attack.” A truckload of bad bills were introduced just recently with the clear intention of ramming them through with little public notice or debate. This is not against the rules; it’s just very bad process. This late in the session, bills can be introduced with only 24 hours notice to the public. Who has time to take off work and come to testify with that kind of short notice? What kind of window does that allow for you to learn about the bill and call your legislator? Such an onslaught of bills on so many fronts borders on being undemocratic. These proposals have been rejected before or are, understandably, unpopular with most Maine people.

These late bill introductions are also meant to tie the hands of groups like the Natural Resources Council of Maine, who carefully anticipate, track, analyze, and strategize around all bills that could have an impact on Maine’s environment. It is our role to keep our members informed and poised for action. NRCM supporters care deeply about clean water, clean air, protecting special places—the qualities that make Maine special. As we have seen this session and going back decades, when given enough notice, you contact your legislators and participate in the public dialogue of letters-to-the-editor where issues are considered openly and on a reasonable timeline.

So we were shocked and outraged when a bill to gut Maine’s mining laws (LD 1853) suddenly appeared just last week. This sweeping, complex bill was drafted by Nevada lawyers and the Pierce Atwood law firm in Maine. Maine’s existing mining standards took 18 months to write, yet LD 1853 was released for “public review” less than 24 hours before the public hearing. Now Pierce Atwood is pressing hard for the bill to be adopted immediately. J.D. Irving, Limited, from Canada, wants to create a huge open-pit mine in Maine’s North Woods and this bill would open the door for mining everywhere in the state. Such projects could seriously pollute our water and land, putting the health of wildlife and people at risk. We are working with the legislators on both sides of the aisle to beat back this misguided bill.

Another example is the late introduction of Governor LePage’s four bad energy bills intended to destroy the independence of Efficiency Maine and undermine Maine’s renewable energy progress. These are issues that Maine people and businesses care deeply about, but Governor LePage apparently has decided to subsidize Canadian government-owned Hydro Quebec, and allow it to flood the Maine market and undercut the Maine businesses and jobs in Maine’s growing renewable energy industry. Bringing these controversial bills to the table so late in the session flies in the face of the “transparency” the Administration has been touting.

NRCM’s job is harder than ever, but I am proud of our dedicated staff that works at the State House every day and late into the evening talking to legislators and gathering information so we can share it with you. We don’t like the way this process is playing out but we are determined to make sure your voices are heard from near and far, and to fight for what we know is right. And I’m proud of you. Some of you have made it to hearings and called your legislators despite the last-minute calls to action.

Your voices are so critical. Thank you. We will continue to keep you informed and ready for the next step.

Lisa Pohlmann, NRCM Executive Director

Related:
No Gold Rush Mentality on Mining Rules

Maine Lawmakers Should Not Back New Energy Policy

A Day in Support of Maine's North Woods

Today, it was abundantly clear: Maine people care about the North Woods.

For NRCM staffers, our day started with a press conference complete with cameramen, photographers, journalists, and friends and members of NRCM tuning in to the words of five eloquent spokespeople sharing their unique perspectives and passion for Maine’s North Woods. They came to speak in opposition to LD 1798, a bill to implement the recommendations put forth by the LURC Reform Commission. These spokespeople included:

• Gordon Mott, a forester and longtime resident of Lakeville Plantation; 
• Gary McGrane, a Franklin County Commissioner for 23 years;
• Howard Trotzky, former Republican Senator from Bangor;
• Horace “Hoddy” Hildreth Jr., chairman of Diversified Communications, a former Republican State Senator and candidate for Congress, and son of the late Gov. Horace Hildreth; and
• Norton “Buzz” Lamb, vice president of NRCM’s Board of Directors and a retired businessman who has spent time in the Unorganized Territories (UT) for 68 years, owns four parcels in two UT counties, manages several hundred acres of forestland, and whose family has owned and farmed land in Maine for almost 300 years.

Each of them stated their concerns about the LURC reform legislation, giving voice to problems that are plaguing the proposal and could lead to scattered development and fragmentation of the North Woods, spoiling forever this treasured landscape. They spoke of the risks associated with allowing county commissioners to appoint themselves as LURC commissioners, without experience or review, and about the county opt-out that would, essentially, abolish LURC one county at a time.  You can read their press release here. We hope that Maine people will hear these concerns in the media and be moved to join us in speaking out to urge their legislators not to vote in favor of this bill without major improvements. 
    
From there, we returned to NRCM headquarters, where we were joined by many members and friends, who heard first-hand from NRCM’s North Woods project director Cathy Johnson about the proposal. Following lunch we marched across the street to the top floor of the State House, no doubt making an impression on the committee members, with our “Keep LURC Strong” sticker badges and strength in numbers.
    
So many people showed up that the overflow room was packed, standing (and sitting!) room only, with many seated on the floor. Most were there to show their passion for Maine’s North Woods and to urge its protection.

Back in the hearing room, Cathy Johnson and I sat through many hours of testimony before giving NRCM’s, which you can read here.    

So, after long and busy day, I want to say thank you. This is for all of you who took time out of your busy schedules to attend this hearing—some of you, I know, traveled great distances. Others of you, I know, were with us in spirit, and we truly appreciate this. To stay informed of this issue as it moves along this legislative session, be sure to sign up for our Action Network at www.nrcm.org. Thank you for caring so deeply about Maine’s environment.

Related:
North Woods Protection & LURC

County Government Has Outlived Its Usefulness, Why Expand It?

Major Land Sales in Maine

LURC Reform Proposal Side-swiped by Partisan Politics

If some of the recommendations put forth by the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) Reform Commission last week weren’t reason enough for concern, now the LePage Administration has really thrown a wrench into things. And it’s Maine’s treasured North Woods that’s at stake.

Although NRCM agrees with some of the Reform Commission’s recommendations (for example, more regional involvement in developing regional zoning plans, though in partnership with LURC), big concerns remain. We object to allowing counties to opt out of LURC, as this would likely lead to piecemeal planning and is the equivalent of abolishing LURC, one county at a time. Our concerns also include transferring review of all large development projects to DEP, with small projects going to the counties and mid-sized projects handled by LURC—rather than reducing red tape, such a change would likely increase it, since proposals would need to be shepherded by three entities rather than one.

Then this week, the Reform Commission’s work was sideswiped, when the chair of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (ACF) Committee, Sen. Roger Sherman (R-Aroostook), turned responsibility for drafting what should be the ACF Committee bill over to the co-chairs of the Reform Committee, DOC Commissioner Bill Beardsley and Sarah Medina, of Seven Islands Land Management Company. Giving this responsibility to citizens—neither Beardsley nor Medina are elected officials—is unprecedented.

Cathy Johnson, NRCM’s North Woods project director, says, “In my 22 years following the Legislature, I have never seen a committee hand over drafting of a committee bill to unelected citizens.” Chairman Sherman also barred the involvement of legislators.

Typically, the legislative committee charged with drafting a bill discusses the recommendations of any study commission assigned to the issue. Once they come to agreement on the elements they think belong in the bill, their legislative staff drafts a bill for the committee.  That is then usually followed by a public hearing.

By bypassing committee discussion and agreement on the bill, and by barring legislators from the drafting process, the committee has polarized the debate and ignored the will of Maine people. During the meetings that took place last fall, two-thirds of the people who testified urged the Reform Commission to protect Maine’s North Woods by keeping LURC strong. The group was charged with the task of creating a bipartisan plan. The process we saw this week amounts to a breakdown of civil discourse. This, coupled with disregard for the normal legislative process, puts the process at risk for extreme solutions rather than reasoned compromise. Maine’s North Woods are too important to let that happen.

NRCM will continue to follow this issue closely and will do all we can to help get the process back on track. Maine’s North Woods is too special a place to be relegated to partisan politics. We’ll let you know when and what you can do to help.

Recommended reading:

Coalition Concerned LURC Reform Proposal Headed Off-track

North Woods Protections and LURC

Lisa Pohlmann
Executive Director

Notes from the LURC Study Meeting

I attended the LURC study commission meeting on Thursday in Greenville. Commission members reached consensus on several proposals that we believe threaten LURC’s ability to protect the integrity of the North Woods. For example, they are currently considering letting counties “opt-out” of LURC, which could lead to a lack of uniform protections, a tax shift onto county residents, and piecemeal development across the area. Many thanks to Maine citizens, including NRCM members, who came and spoke passionately about the importance of keeping a statewide focus on the North Woods. The commission has one more meeting on December 1 in Bangor where it will grapple with how and whether to acknowledge the statewide significance of Maine’s North Woods, and the “adjacency” rules that protect the core of the North Woods, while allowing development near existing roads and other development. These are two critical issues NRCM will be working on so we can continue protections for the largest remaining forest in the east, and the people, jobs, wildlife and ecosystems that depend on this precious resource. Please visit our blogs and website often to stay informed.

Lisa Pohlmann
Executive Director

Trees – and People – Win!

Trees win! And when trees win, people win. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the “roadless” rule, maintaining protections in 50 million acres of national forests from new road building. Other bad bills are waiting in the wings in Washington, including one to deny a president’s right to establish a national monument. We can’t let that happen, especially when we’re now trying to study all of options for Maine’s North Woods.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/opinion/one-win-for-the-forests.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha211

Lisa Pohlmann
NRCM Executive Director

If You Care About Maine’s North Woods, Speak Up Now!

We are on the verge of losing protections for the beautiful Maine North Woods. You are on the verge of losing your say in the matter. Governor LePage and some members of the Legislature are in an all-out push to abolish the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC). The Commission has been in place for 40 years to make zoning and other planning decisions for Maine’s 10 million acres of unorganized territories. This volunteer, seven-member board must be comprised of people with a direct connection to this area, including at least two residents of the unorganized territories. A public hearing is held for every major proposal.

LURC keeps the state focused on planning for one of our greatest assets:  the largest undeveloped forest east of the Mississippi River. 

Now there is a proposal to eliminate LURC and send its planning and zoning and enforcement tasks to commissioners in each of the eight counties that cross the jurisdiction. This will likely lead to inconsistent and less protective standards, increased taxes for local county residents who must pay for the additional legal and other expertise needed to consider proposals, and inefficiency for applicants, particularly those who may have to deal with multiple county rules and commissioners. 

I testified on behalf of NRCM in opposition to the proposal to abolish LURC at the Legislature’s public hearing on May 17. Those opposed to abolishing LURC outnumbered proponents substantially. But as the bill has been considered by the committee in the days that followed, reasoned arguments don’t seem to hold sway. That’s why we need your help.

It’s time to call your legislators and urge them not to vote for any bill or amendment that would abolish or weaken LURC. Tell them to support LD 819 instead, which calls instead for a study of how to improve LURC.

For generations, Mainers and visitors to our state have treasured our North Woods for its spectacular wildlife; pristine ponds, lakes, and streams; for its mountain views. And its peace and quiet. It has been the source of long-held Maine traditions—hiking, camping, hunting, and fishing.

Don’t let the LePage Administration open up this area for unprecedented development that would change this special place forever.

Help us keep this from happening! Learn more about this issue, including how you can take action, at our web site at  http://www.nrcm.org/support_LURC_2011.asp.

Thank you for caring, and for taking action today!

Lisa Pohlmann
NRCM Executive Director

Citizen Action Day 2011 Has Record-high Turn Out

Once a year, NRCM organizes a day for Maine citizens to come together at our office, to learn about policies that affect our land, air, water, and wildlife during in the legislative session, and to go together to the State House so they can speak to their representatives. Today we had the largest turnout ever – with more than 100 folks from all around the state attending Citizen Action Day 2010. We had so many people we had to carry on sessions on both floors of our building! Most had never been to this kind of an event before.

 

I began the program by asking everyone to think of a moment when they were recently enjoying Maine’s great outdoors – and remember once they get to the State House that this is what they are trying to protect. After my short opening remarks, NRCM policy experts briefed everyone on some of our priorities right now. By the time we headed down the street, everyone was gung ho to tell their representatives why we need to keep our safeguards strong.

We packed the hallways on the 3rd floor of the State House as we waited for Representatives and Senators to come from their chambers to meet with us. Intense conversations took place between constituents and their reps up and down the corridor as these citizens shared concerns about proposed legislation to rollback the Kid-safe Products Law, Maine’s iconic bottle bill, Land for Maine’s Future, energy efficiency, and shoreline zoning and vernal pools that provide essential habitat for wildlife.

Some of the lawmakers were very responsive; others were elusive. But this is just the beginning. These 110 activists are now going back home to contact their friends and neighbors to make calls, too. And they are going to write more letters and send more emails to these reps and hold their feet to the fire when it comes time for the final votes.

This is how we win. This is how we keep Maine the treasured place we love rather than a replica of so many states with bad air, sprawling development, and polluted lakes, rivers, and streams. Thanks to everyone who came to Citizen Action Day! Thanks also to everyone who could not make it but is doing their part back home. We are making progress and we can’t let up!

U.S House Budget Would Block Progress on Clean Air and Land Conservation

The U.S House passed their version of a “continuing resolution” to fund the federal government through the end of this fiscal year (September 30). The cuts to programs for wildlife protection, land conservation, and clean air and water send us back 40 years. While Maine’s Representatives Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree joined all other Democrats and four Republicans in voting against this budget, it passed.

Particularly bad for Maine are the federal funding cuts for land conservation that have supported Acadia National Park, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and many other special places. In fact, the Land and Water Conservation Fund was essentially eliminated – with a 90% cut from FY10 levels. This would bring land conservation to a halt across the country. The Forest Legacy Program, which has helped pay for many landscape scale conservation easements in the North Woods, was also gutted. Both of these federal programs are also essential in providing the “matching funds” that are required by the Land for Maine’s Future program.

This budget stops our efforts to improve air quality and combat climate change by undermining the Clean Air Act. It provides no funding for the Environmental Protection Agency to move forward on regulating carbon emissions and to assist states – like Maine – in their efforts to reduce emissions.

Fortunately, this is not the end of the story. President Obama has submitted his version of a continuing resolution and now the Senate will need to pass theirs. A final continuing resolution must be passed by March 4, or the federal government may shut-down.

We are counting on a reasonable budget compromise, with help from moderates like Senator Snowe and Senator Collins from Maine, that protects our land, water, and air from declining in quality. Maine people have a great deal at stake.

Rally Against the Rollbacks

Hundreds came to rally at the State House on Monday to support our environment and to reject the LePage Administration’s rollback agenda. The energy was powerful as citizens from across Maine crowded the stairwell above the Hall of Flags and packed the rest of the area, most wearing stickers that said “I Love Maine’s Environment” and “Maine’s Environment is Our Business.” Cheers rang out when it was suggested that the LePage proposal was a non-starter and should be shelved with all 63 attempts to gut Maine’s environmental protections. Several business people spoke at the mic about the importance of Maine’s environmental standards for their businesses. They rejected the “pickerel vs. payroll” mentality as a throwback to some bygone era that the vast majority of us have long left behind. The last speaker was Jim Wellehan, owner of Lamey Wellehan, and a long-time believer in a sustainable business model for his company. From recycling waste to installing efficiency lighting, Jim has been investing in Maine’s environment as part of his business plan because he wants to save money and he wants clean air and clean water for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

During the rally I spoke with many passionate citizens. One woman shared that she and her husband moved to Maine to set up their small software business because they wanted to be in a place where the environment was still protected, unlike the large Midwestern city they moved from with its growing sprawl, crime, and environmental degradation. I urged her to write up her story and submit it as a letter to the editor tomorrow. Someone else said to me, “I want to do more.” I suggested that she contact her local legislators who will be dealing with these bills in coming weeks.

 This is a time for all of you to tell your stories to the media and to your legislators about why you care so much about the Maine environment. We need to let Governor LePage know just how out of step he is with Maine people with his assault on the environment that supports our economy and our quality of life.

For more information about the rollbacks and how to take action, visit NRCM's website at  http://www.nrcm.org/stop_environmental_rollbacks.asp.

Thank you,

Lisa