Kentucky

Kentucky: The Green and the Not So Green

---Brassica Books

An imprint of EcoPerspectives, Brassica Books released in February, Tobacco Days: A Personal Journey by Al Fritsch SJ. For more information, click here.

---Nuclear Energy for Kentucky? Just Say No

In November 2008 Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear released Intelligent Energy Choices for Kentucky's Future: Kentucky's 7-Point Strategy for Energy Independence. Commendably, the first two strategies are on energy efficiency and renewables; but Strategy 7 is "Examine the Use of Nuclear Power for Electricity Generation." Despite the word "examine," Strategy 7 reads like a piece of propaganda for the nuclear industry and tacitly supports legislation to allow construction of nuclear plants in Kentucky. For twenty-six years construction has been banned here unless a permanent means of disposal of irradiated fuel will be available when needed.

For a critique of Strategy 7 of Kentucky's 7-Point Strategy for Energy Independence, in pdf, click here.

In 2009 the Kentucky Senate passed without a hearing S.B. 13, allowing power plants to be built if they merely have a plan for storing nuclear waste. The companion bill was passed by the House Tourism Development and Energy Committee March 2 and was subsequently attached to HB 537, the governor's energy bill, which would also subsidize coal but do relatively little for conservation and renewables. HB 537 died when the House decided March 26 not to vote to pass any legislation during the closing two days of the session.

In 2010 legislation to remove the moratorium on construction was again introduced in the Senate by Senator Bob Leeper of Paducah. His bill, S.B.26, would again require that nuclear power facilities have a plan for storing radioactive waste rather than that the Public Service Commission certify that the facility has a means of permanent disposal of high-level waste. The Senate passed S.B. 26, January 20. Its fate in the House is uncertain.

Meanwhile, Smith Management Group of Lexington, on behalf of the state, has evaluated for various types of power generation forty-two Kentucky sites. It reportedly found three in western Kentucky that may be suitable for a nuclear plant: Stillman Bottom near Hawesville; Big Rivers Electric D. B. Wilson Plant in Ohio County, and the Paducah Area Community Reuse Organization site adjacent to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

Click here for a copy of S.B. 26 and its legislative history; here for a Courier Journal story on the situation as of January 29, and for an account of a certain Leaper here.

Letters and phone calls to House members, your own representatives and the House leadership, are needed and can make an impact..

--updated January 31, 2010

---- Adventure Travel: No Way

An Open Letter to Governor Steve Beshear and Lt. Governor Dan Mongiardo

The Adventure Tourism plan introduced in 2008 to spur economic development in eastern Kentucky would be disastrous. Inviting off road vehicles (ORVs) into the state to ride on designated trails would lead to widespread trespass into areas unsuited to vehicular traffic, experience indicates. Attempting to control the ORVs would require an expensive police force.

Click here for the letter in html.

----The Health of the Bluegrass: Is the Triangle Really Green?

Published by Earth Healing in cooperation with Ecoperspectives, August 2008

Kentucky has been impacted in many ways by development. Some of the charm and beauty and many environmental and cultural treasures have been lost; others are directly endangered or threatened. As the Commonwealth prepares for the Equestrian games in 2010, we need to consider how green we really are. Quite often environmental criticism has been leveled at Appalachian portions of Kentucky for improper resource extraction (logging and coal mining practices); but the health of the “Golden Triangle,” which frames the Inner and Outer Bluegrass, tends to be overlooked. With the aim of promoting discussion, we present an overview of ten subjects of concern: land use, cultural features, energy sources, air quality, water resources, hazardous waste disposal, endangered species, invasive species, public transport, and nuisances. We invite comments and additional information (write to ecoperspectives [at] gmail [dot] com), as we hope to revise the report for 2010.