People like you are ready to empower Kentucky | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

People like you are ready to empower Kentucky

Jobs, labor and workers

“I’m a third generation coal miner and I’ve been working hard along with other folks throughout eastern Kentucky to build a new economy that doesn’t sacrifice our health. We can use the opportunity of this Clean Power Plan to not only create a future with a stable climate and cleaner air for our children to breathe, but to bring energy savings programs like ours here to low-income communities all across the state. We’re ready to move forward, and this Clean Power Plan gives us a challenge and an opportunity to do it again through renewable energy and energy savings – ways that are good for all people.”

– Carl Shoupe, Harlan County

“In the upcoming year, the United Steel Workers will work hard to help design well-balanced state implementation plans that maintain and create family-sustaining jobs in the energy and manufacturing sectors. We are pleased to partner with the Department of Labor and others in labor to highlight technologies that will ensure sustainability not only for our environment, but for workers and communities as well.”  

 United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard, speaking at the announcement of a DOE-Labor
Working Group to help unions maximize job creation under the Clean Power Plan

 

Health

“I am a mother, community advocate, and a youth ministry worker. I grew up in the West End of Louisville where there are lots of power plants that emit pollution into the air. My son was born in Louisville and developed asthma at an early age. Can you imagine having to leave your home, your community, just to breathe? I care about Empower Kentucky and creating healthier communities and a healthier democracy because my former community in the West End of Louisville and my current community in Elsmere, Kentucky are not often heard or valued, but our lives matter!”

– Serena Owens, Elsmere

Bev May

“I believe that clean air and water is a human right. I want those things for us now and for future generations. As the EPA works to address the problem of climate change, you have the opportunity to improve health conditions for communities like mine that live in the shadows of highly polluting power plants...I’m a retired nurse. But you don’t have to be a health professional to be concerned about the excessive amount of cancer in this area.” 

 Joanne Golden Hill, Burnside, KY in testimony to EPA on draft Clean Power Plan

 

Affordability and housing

“I care about the Empower Kentucky initiative because I meet people all the time that are struggling to pay utility bills that cost more than their rent or mortgage payment.  And I meet so many other folks that are trying hard to find decent jobs that provide for their families. We have the opportunity to empower Kentuckians to create healthier, more comfortable homes. We can empower Kentuckians to lower their utility bills and have more money to spend in their communities.  And at the same time, we have a golden opportunity to empower our fellow Kentuckians by creating good paying, meaningful jobs that can never be outsourced.”

– Chris Woolery, Lexington

“My vision is for every household to be energy efficient, for all Kentuckians to live in buildings that take very little energy - and cost very little - to heat and cool. That means we have to invest in re-doing and retrofitting many structures, especially low-income housing and buildings built before 1980 when insulation was required. A good place to start would be by fully funding the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. I’d like to see policies and rates that make it possible for all Kentuckians to benefit from renewable energy. Of course I want clean air and water, and a strong public transportation system. We need to make our public planning and decision-making processes accessible and hold utilities accountable to the needs and interests of our communities.” 

 Cathy Hinko, director of Metropolitan Housing Coalition

 

Climate

“The Clean Power Plan has been released because we must act on climate change. We know global temperatures are rising and we must take urgent action to reduce the risks and harm to future generations. And we also know we can do it while building a strong economy that is good for all people.”

- Elizabeth Sanders, Whitesburg, KY

"Climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation...Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home. As Christians inspired by this certainty, we wish to commit ourselves to the conscious and responsible care of our common home.”

- Pope Francis, speaking during his U.S. visit in September 2015

Students and young people

“I am in my mid-20s and my work is helping low income people in Lexington, who come from all over Kentucky, and all over the world. I feel like developing Kentucky’s own clean power plan is our lifeline right now because I want to stay in Kentucky and I want many of my friends to be able to stay here. I want to see our state grow and thrive, a place where young people who grew up here can choose to live close to their families, without feeling trapped by our options.”

– Miranda Brown, Lexington 

People of faith

“We believe that Earth does not belong to us, but that we belong to Earth, our home planet that is alive with the creative energy of God. God’s desire that all creation may have fullness of life means that we are called to co-create by cooperating with all life systems. We believe that we are now also called to face the potential catastrophe of global climate change and, in solidarity with many others, to help solve this problem. We believe that cooperation and ingenuity can make renewable energy resources efficient and affordable within this decade.” 

 Energy Vision Statement from Kentucky’s Holy Land, signed by Sisters of Loretto,
Dominican Sisters of Peace, and Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, along with over 100 faith organizations. 

“As people of faith called to care for God’s people and creation, especially the most vulnerable, we have a moral obligation to address the profound impacts of the way we use energy. In addition to protecting our climate, curbing pollution offers many important benefits, including saving lives and reducing health risks to those suffering from heart disease and respiratory ailments such as asthma.” 

 Tim Darst, director of Kentucky Interfaith Power and Light in testimony to the EPA on the draft Clean Power Plan 

See additional religious statements on climate change, gathered by Interfaith Power and Light

 

Parents and grandparents

“I am a mother, community advocate, and a youth ministry worker. I grew up in the West End of Louisville where there are lots of power plants that emit pollution into the air. My son was born in Louisville and developed Asthma at an early age. Can you imagine having to leave your home, your community, just to breathe? I care about Empower Kentucky and creating healthier communities and a healthier democracy because my former community in the West End of Louisville and my current community in Elsmere, KY are not often heard or valued, but our lives matter!”

– Serena Owens, Elsmere

Dana Beasley Brown

Racial and economic justice

Sean Hardy

“As a most-affected community, African Americans must focus on re-envisioning the lives we want for ourselves and setting an agenda to achieve it; advancing local self-reliance; ensuring resilience so that we are ready to withstand the climate transition, and holding the resistance against forces, such as industries which have established operations in our communities and seek to profit without regard for our well-being as neighbors.”

- Jacqui Patterson, director of NAACP’s Climate Justice Initiative   

“Power plants are the country's single biggest source of carbon pollution – responsible for up to 40% of the country's emissions of greenhouse gases. According to the plan, these measures will reduce the pollutants that contribute to life-threatening soot and smog...which would have significant implications for communities of color. Three out of every four African Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant. These communities are disproportionately represented among those with respiratory illnesses, such as lung cancer and pulmonary disease. In fact, African American children are 3 times more likely to be admitted to the hospital for an asthma attack and twice as likely to die of asthma.”

- NAACP statement on the Clean Power Plan

Appalachian Transition

“I am a young person lucky enough to work and live in the mountains of Appalachian Kentucky. I care about Empower Kentucky and building a just transition because I’m working for a place where young people like my friends and myself can make a beautiful future. I’m working for an Appalachia where friends who have been forced to leave the mountains can come back home and work making our homes more energy efficient, work reclaiming the mountains scarred from mining, work installing solar panels or wind turbines on reclaimed strip mines.”

– Eric Dixon, Whitesburg 

“I’m a third generation coal miner and I’ve been working hard along with other folks throughout eastern Kentucky to build a new economy that doesn’t sacrifice our health. We can use the opportunity of this Clean Power Plan to not only create a future with a stable climate and cleaner air for our children to breathe, but to bring energy savings programs like ours here to low-income communities all across the state. We’re ready to move forward, and this Clean Power Plan gives us a challenge and an opportunity to do it again through renewable energy and energy savings – ways that are good for all people.”

– Carl Shoupe, Harlan County 

“Eastern Kentucky needs many things to have a brighter future: better schools, better infrastructure, less-corrupt politics, more inclusive leadership and a more diverse economy. And, as much as anything, it needs a healthier population and a cleaner environment.” 

 Tom Eblen, Lexington Herald Leader

Business and industry

“Hydro power is an important Kentucky resource. Wind and solar are Kentucky resources. Energy conservation is a Kentucky resource. There is a lot of opportunity to develop these resources all across Kentucky, including in the mountains. And we've certainly got skilled people needing good work. It's time to stop throwing away our opportunities, stop being adversarial, and come together around solutions for our people.”

- David Brown Kinloch, Soft Energy Associates, Louisville

Elected leaders

“I believe the proposed EPA climate rules are a step in the right direction, for so many reasons – the health of our citizens, the health of our economy and the health of our planet...Kentucky has an abysmal rate of asthma – 13%. Asthma and allergies have triggers in common, among them being pollen counts, which are expected to rise significantly if climate change continues unabated. We will not see positive change until we begin to limit the amount of carbon dioxide spewing forth from the coal fired power plants.” 

 Rep. Joni Jenkins, Kentucky House District 44 in testimony to the EPA on draft Clean Power Plan

 

Utilities

“Though our peers are lining up to oppose the Clean Power Plan, Glasgow Electric Plant Board is casting its vote for compliance through innovation.” 

 William Ray, director of the Glasgow, Kentucky Electric Plant Board

Media

“It’s well past time for a bold move on climate change. The Clean Power plan...is just such a move. The plan sets ambitious targets for states to reduce the amount of carbon they produce while generating electricity, but leaves it up to the states to work with utilities to achieve their federally set goals. Perhaps more importantly, the plan jump-starts a national conversation about the total costs of carbon-based power generation (think coal and natural gas) - costs often ignored in the discussion about energy choices and their effect on our climate and health.” 

– Editorial, Cincinnati Enquirer

“But, just as Eastern Kentucky should have been diversifying its job mix, the state has dragged its feet on diversifying its energy mix. Investing in a clean-energy future will yield far more dividends and jobs for Kentuckians than trying to cling to the past.” 

– Editorial, Lexington Herald Leader

“Polls find that two-thirds to three-fourths of Americans think the government should be making a substantial effort to combat climate change, including imposing stricter limits on power plants. A New York Times poll in January found that 71 percent expect to be hurt personally by climate change...Political donors might reward elected leaders, but future generations will never forgive those whose vision ends with the next election.” 

 Editorial, Lexington Herald Leader

Voices Beyond Kentucky

“The solutions to climate change are opportunities to lift people out of poverty, create stable jobs in a resilient economy, protect our communities from extreme weather and invest in clean air for our families.”

-Washington State Labor Council President Jeff Johnson

Your voice and vision matter