The opportunity we have, right now... | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

The opportunity we have, right now...

Posted by: Lisa Abbott on June 1, 2011 at 08:00pm

Former KFTC chairperson Doug Doerrfeld is quoted in a front-page story in today's Lexington Herald Leader about statements made by Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell at a meeting of the Kentucky Coal Association.


"Kentucky has a great opportunity, right now, to transition to a clean-energy economy. Instead, the speech shows how out of touch Mitch McConnell is with his constituents in Kentucky and current science," said Doug Doerrfeld, a recent chairman of the environmental activist group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. "Kentuckians want clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, and recent EPA action to protect air and water quality is supported by dozens of peer-reviewed scientific studies."


Tom FitzGerald, director of Kentucky Resources Council, added:


"It's fashionable for some in political circles to criticize the EPA, but the agency now is following what Congress wanted done in 1972, when it was created to protect waterways," FitzGerald said.



Their words were a breath of fresh air in an article that otherwise describes an all-too-familiar scene: an elected official from Kentucky who receives piles of campaign cash from the coal industry stands before many of those financial contributors and vows to fight for their right to pollute. (In this case, Senator McConnell received more than $1.2 million from fossil fuel interests in 2010.)


Fortunately, many Kentuckians are making our voices heard in support of clean energy jobs and the EPA's efforts to protect our health, air, land, and water. Will you help by writing a letter to the editor your local paper and the Lexington Herald Leader? Follow this link to tips on letter writing and a list of many Kentucky papers. Thanks!


 
Issue Area(s): 
New Energy and Transition
Coal and Water

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