KFTC statement about EPA’s proposed clean air standards

We are Kentuckians. We want what all people want for their communities: good jobs, clean air and water, opportunities for our kids, and healthy and thriving places to live, work and raise our families. We have the opportunity, right now, to build a bright future here in the Commonwealth. It won’t be easy, but we can create new jobs and affordable energy options while also shouldering our responsibility to address global climate change.

If we value healthy communities and new jobs, EPA’s proposal is a great opportunity to move Kentucky and the nation in a very positive direction. We should seize this moment to create good new jobs by shifting to cleaner and sustainable forms of energy and cleaning up harmful pollution. Many actions that are needed to slow the impacts of climate change can also generate tremendous benefits for Kentuckians through improved health, energy savings and economic opportunity. We challenge our elected officials and candidates to end their denial and obstruction and lead us to the clean energy future Kentuckians need and deserve.

Placing limits on carbon pollution will have significant impacts in Kentucky, and many of those impacts will be positive. A strong and flexible approach to reducing power plant pollution can create good new jobs and energy savings in every part of our Commonwealth through investments in energy efficiency and clean energy solutions. These changes will also result in numerous health benefits.

EPA’s initiative is urgently needed. Kentucky is a national leader in carbon pollution and one of the states with the highest mortality rates affected by power plant pollution (see www.catf.us/fossil/problems/power_plants/). Another study (www.ecology.com/2011/07/22/states-toxic-air-coal-oil-power-plants/) shows Kentucky as fourth worst in the nation for toxic air from power plants. We can save billions of dollars in health care costs and lost work/school days by cleaning up our air.

It’s worth noting that today’s announcement of a national plan to reduce carbon emissions from power plants in the U.S. is arriving decades late. Members of Congress, big utilities and coal interests have had 20 years to shape a responsible approach to addressing climate change while also accounting for the needs of affected workers and industries. Unfortunately, most of those players chose instead to pursue a path of denial, delay and obstruction. Now we all face the consequences of those choices.

Our world is transitioning away from coal to more affordable and less dangerous energy options – with big implications for Kentucky’s coal industry, utilities, workers, communities, health and overall economy. Kentucky needs leaders who will face these changes honestly and work to ensure a just transition for our workers and communities tied to the coal economy. KFTC calls on our elected officials to make sure that building a healthier and more diverse economy in our coalfields is a central part of state and federal efforts to address climate change.

One place to start is to put energy efficiency at the front and center of Kentucky’s climate protection strategies. An aggressive plan for investing in home weatherization and other efficiency upgrades to our schools, public buildings, businesses and industries can save Kentuckians millions of dollars and generate thousands of good new jobs for Kentucky workers. We need political leaders to support specific actions that push utilities and their customers to ramp up energy efficiency in every corner of our Commonwealth.

KFTC looks forward to studying the details of the EPA’s proposal and will ensure that the voices and perspectives of our members are part of the coming debate. Below are some principles that members of KFTC will use to evaluate the proposed rules announced today by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy:

• Does the EPA proposal invest in and support a just economic transition for Kentucky’s workers and communities, especially those closely tied to the coal economy?
• Does the plan put Kentucky and our nation on a path toward greater reliance on energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy, or does it simply shift or extend our dependence on destructive forms of energy? 
• Does the plan prioritize the health and economic security of low-income and minority communities who are often most affected by the consequences of climate change and pollution?

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth is a grassroots social justice organization with more than 8,000 members.