The Kentucky Coal Association — the propaganda arm of the coal industry in Kentucky — is very worried. Despite giant profits, there is a growing movement across the country — with a big assist by the EPA deciding to finally do their job — to switch to cleaner forms of energy. While 44 percent of America’s electricity was generated by burning coal last year, that number has dropped down to 36 percent today.
Cleaner energy (natural gas still comes with lovely fracking) and clean energy (wind, solar hydro) are the obvious enemies to King Coal’s ashy rule, but is there a darker force involved, pulling the puppet strings? The Kentucky Coal Association hired the Kentucky law firm Stoll, Keenon & Ogden to crack the case and find the culprit, and boy did they deliver.
The following is the white paper dossier that the firm presented KCA on the Sierra Club, tastefully titled “Know Thy Enemy.”
There’s nothing particularly new presented in the findings that someone with access to an Internet connection and Google couldn’t find (spoiler: The Sierra Club thinks that coal is dirty and tries to convince people to support cleaner energy sources!), but the dossier is quite revealing, nevertheless. It is clear that 1) the KCA is scared, and 2) the Sierra Club has struck a nerve.
Thomas Pearce, an organizer for the Kentucky chapter of the Sierra Club (aka, the “enemy”), gave LEO this response to “Know Thy Enemy.”:
We are flattered that the coal industry would hire lawyers just to ‘research’ information available on our public website, but it seems like a waste of resources. What energy companies should be doing is focusing on how to transition away from dangerous fossil fuels and invest in clean energy and a just transition for workers.
The fact is the EPA and the federal government have deemed the emissions from coal burning power plants to be hazardous. Despite what is outlined in this report, the citizens and organizations who wish to protect the health of their families and stop green house gases are at the forefront of a clean energy future.
It seems that the Kentucky Coal Association is sending the message they are at war with Kentuckians who wish to protect their communities from toxic emissions, coal ash, and coal dust. This report is a a Hail Mary attempt to distract people from the fact that with cost of coal rising and clean energy prices plummeting, coal’s market share is shrinking fast.
And to Thomas, Gov. Steve Beshear says…
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Respectfully, the coal industry has many more enemies they should fear than the Sierra Club.
The Sierra Club does write all those letters and they do all that lobbying, but KCA probably needs a white paper on the ‘Greenpeace variety’-environmentalists, too. Typically unshaven, vegans who really ‘get’ what is wrong with coal. KCA can expect more arrests, more climbing up in trees, banner drops- the stuff that actually gets people’s attention in the coming years.
And they probably need a white paper on the health justice folks who are tired of kids getting cancer from drinking Appalachian water. So many white papers, so little time.
BIAS: While my Sierra Club-endorsed opponent was voting to urge congress to stop the EPA from regulating green house gases last year, I was getting arrested in a civil disobedience direction in DC to protect our climate.
It doesn’t take a weatherman to see what’s blowin’ in the wind. Around here, it is toxins and soot brought to us by the very people who are so afraid of true citizen action.
Our health is seriously impacted by the massive pollution left as coal’s legacy.