Citizen lobbyists educate lawmakers on benefits of clean energy policy

KFTC members talked with legislators about the 28,000 new jobs that might be created if Kentucky adopts clean energy standards.

The clean energy lobby day on February 26 was hosted by the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance, a coalition of 54 groups including KFTC, solar installers, housing groups, and others working for clean energy policy in Kentucky.

Participants talked with lawmakers about the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, which would create a Renewable and Efficiency Portfolio Standard for Kentucky. The goal would be to gradually increase the percentage of retail energy sales provided by renewable sources such as solar, geothermal, wind and hydropower to 12.5% and to save 10.25% through energy efficiency by 2024. The bill would also establish a feed-in tariff, which would guarantee payment rates that utilities pay in-state renewable energy producers.

According to a study commissioned by the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, these measures would create 28,000 new jobs over the next 10 years.

“We have all this evidence that young people in Kentucky are excited about renewable energy jobs and working in energy efficiency, and yet it’s something that the state still really hasn’t moved their position on.” --Jim Miller

Jim Miller, a senior at duPont Manual High School in Louisville, said clean energy jobs offer opportunities for young people. “I think it’s important that we come here today to support House Bill 195, the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, so we can start getting progressive, renewable energy jobs, energy efficiency jobs in Kentucky to help reduce the unemployment in Kentucky’s youth after they graduate high school. Because these are the kind of jobs that young people are going to be excited about.”

Miller is involved with the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition (KSEC), which has been working before and during this legislative session to raise awareness and build support for the bill.

“I do a lot of petitioning, I do a lot of canvassing, and everywhere I go young people are saying, ‘Oh, yeah, this is definitely something I support,’” Miller said.

“We have all this evidence that young people in Kentucky are excited about renewable energy jobs and working in energy efficiency, and yet it’s something that the state still really hasn’t moved their position on.”

Cara Cooper, state organizer with KSEC, said the group has collected more than 1,300 signatures in support of the bill on 15 college campuses.

“This is something we really need here in Kentucky because we’ve seen that we have potential when it comes to solar energy, we have potential when it comes to geothermal. We have all sorts of rivers that have been dammed that are not producing electricity that could be producing hydro electricity right here in Kentucky. And we obviously have a jobs situation. Youth unemployment is at 17%, which is double the state average.”

Robert Reese, an electrician with Ford Motor Company in Louisville, spent his day off lobbying for the Clean Energy Opportunity Act. “I’ve always had an interest in renewable energy, since I was a kid,” Reese said. He attended partly to see how lobbying works but also because he’s concerned about Kentucky’s current approach to generating electricity.

“I think it’s an excellent idea to diversify our sources of energy, and I think that there are costs associated with coal that are not recognized by our mandates as they are now to generate electricity as cheaply as possible. So I think we need to reconsider how we are mandating electricity be generated.”

At the end of the day, participants thought legislators they spoke to were generally more positive about the bill than in the past. Many seemed to see the benefits of job creation and energy savings that other states are already enjoying. Reps. John Will Stacy, Ruth Ann Palumbo, Rita Smart and Jim Wayne agreed to co-sponsor the bill.