Between The Lines - Jason Fults: Florida Municipally-Owned Electric Utility First in Nation to Stop Use of Mountaintop Removal Coal (Week Ending Oct. 10, 2014)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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Florida Municipally-Owned Electric Utility First in Nation to Stop Use of Mountaintop Removal Coal

Posted Oct. 1, 2014

Interview with Jason Fults, co-founder of Gainesville Loves Mountains, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Many forms of extreme energy extraction are employed in the United States, like deep-ocean oil drilling or horizontal fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas and oil. Among the oldest and most destructive practices is mountaintop removal coal mining, where the tops of mountain ridges in Appalachia are literally blown off to mine the coal seams, resulting in the waste rock and earth being dumped into the valleys below, often burying headwater streams. Opponents of mountaintop removal mining point to studies that have linked this mining process to health problems like cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Local Appalachian residents have been fighting the mining practice for decades, and a recent decision by a publicly-owned electric utility in Gainesville, Florida, demonstrates how others around the country can take action to be support their drive to end mountaintop removal mining.

A 3 1/2-year campaign to end the Gainesville Regional Utilities’ use of coal mined by removing mountaintops was victorious on Sept. 18 when the City Commission voted 5 to 2 to adopt a policy that will pay up to 5 percent more to buy coal that is not mined using mountaintop removal methods. This is the first policy of its kind in the nation to be passed by a municipally owned-utility. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Jason Fults, co-founder of the group Gainesville Loves Mountains, who talks about how this local victory was won and his hope that other communities will follow Gainesville’s example.

JASON FULTS: We were inspired by the national movement to end mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. A lot of folks in Gainesville have connections to Appalachia and were familiar with the issue, and an awful lot more people know and love App as a region and as they've learned about MTR, they've just been horrified. And we're a pretty progressive community that is thinking a lot about energy issues, and so an awful lot of people in the Gainesville community didn't want us to be connected in any way to the practice of MTR. So we've been working for about 3.5 years now to end our utility's purchases of coal that's mined using MTR.

BETWEEN THE LINES: What body exactly voted to nix MTR coal?

JASON FULTS: Well, we have a municipally-owned utility, and so our city commission is essentially the board of our utility. So we've been having conversations with our utility for the past 3.5 years on this issue and basically hit a dead-end with them. Their bottom line was, "We're only pursuing reliable, low-cost fuels. We're agnostic regarding the source of those fuels. If you want to have any further policy direction in this matter, you're going to need to go to the city commission." So that's what we did; we went and convinced our city commission to issue a policy directive on MTR coal.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And they agreed to pay a premium for non-MTR coal, right?

JASON FULTS: Right. So the policy preference is deep-mined coal from Appalachia and says it allows our fuel purchasers to pay up to a five percent premium to buy deep-mined coal and avoid the purchase of surface mined or MTR coal.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Jason Fults, I've covered this issue for several years and I've never heard of a utility voting to not use MTR coal. Is Gainesville the first?

JASON FULTS: That's what we believe to be true. We've been working very closely with Appalachian Voices, which is a regional [group] and in the forefront of the fight against MTR coal, and they are aware of policies that have been passed in other instances, for example, Duke Energy has a stated policy [undecipherable] on MTR coal, although it's pretty weak. There have been some colleges and universities that have their own coal-fired power plants that have passed policies. But this is by far the most progressive policy that we're aware of, and the first that's been passed by a municipal utility. So we're optimistic that if the word gets out about this, hopefully some other municipally-owned utilities that are using MTR coal will try and follow our lead on this.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Is it hard to find out what the source is of the energy a particular utility uses?

JASON FULTS: No, it's not hard at all, on two fronts. One is that your utility is required to report to the Department of Energy on a regular basis exactly what fuels they're buying and where those fuels are coming from, down to, oftentimes, a specific mine. And so, the folks at Appalachian Voices, they created a really great resource that I highly recommend people check out, called www.ILoveMountains.org. And what you can do with that website, you can actually type in your zipcode and it'll show you the utility providers for your area, and you can pick your utility provider, and it'll show you, down to the mine, where your coal is coming from, and tell you, not only if you're connected to the practice of MTR, but it'll tell you some of the stories of people who live in those communities that are being impacted. So it's a fantastic resource, and that's one of the things that inspired us to start working on this.

BETWEEN THE LINES: So, I just have to ask you, this seems like a step in the right direction, but on the other hand, your utility is still using coal, which has the worst local impacts of any form of energy when burned, and arguably also contributes the most to global warming. What about getting off coal entirely?

JASON FULTS: Oh, I mean absolutely. We would definitely like to see our utility off of coal entirely, and I'm pretty sure that will happen within the next five to ten years. Some of the things our utility has been doing – it's really progressive on this front. We've been diversifying our fuel supply; we used to be, like a lot of Florida utilities, heavily, heavily dependent on coal as our primary fuel source. And our coal consumption has actually been dropping pretty significantly, largely due to the natural gas boom, but we're also diversifying our fuel supply in the areas of biomass and solar as well. We were the first utility in the country, I believe, to pass a solar feed-in tariff, so we've got a lot of solar in Gainesville as well and are trying to move more and more in that direction. Like I said, I'm hopeful that we're going to be off coal entirely before too long, but in the meantime, we felt it was a step in the right direction to try and eliminate what we consider to be the worst of the worst fuel sources from our mix.

For more information on Gainesville Loves Mountains in Florida, visit gainesvillelovesmountains.wordpress.com/mountaintop-removal-city-ordinance.