skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

KY Environmentalist to Top Gov Candidates: “Quit Courting Coal”

play audio
Play

Tuesday, May 31, 2011   

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The top opponents in Kentucky's race for Governor, incumbent Democrat Steve Beshear and Republican Senate President David Williams, both pledge to take on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over what they see as overreaching regulations. However, long-time environmental activist Tom FitzGerald, head of the Kentucky Resources Council, contends that the EPA under President Obama is only demanding the kind of water quality accountability that was allowed to slide decades before.

"There's certainly ways to engineer in order to greatly reduce the current ecological impact. You know, it's not done because pursuing excellence may dip into your bottom line somewhat. And, when mediocrity is all that you need to do in order to get a permit, why pursue excellence?"

FitzGerald says coal shares the blame in causing the overload of greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. He believes the move away from fossil fuel energy is inevitable but is just not coming soon.

"The National Academy of Sciences predicted that there will be a range of either 50 percent more coal usage or 20 percent less. So, in the short term, no, coal is not going to be stop being mined. It can be mined much more responsibly than it's being mined."

In order to hedge against rising utility costs, FitzGerald advises those in office, or those seeking office, to aggressively push alternative forms of energy instead of courting coal.

"We've got the solar resources. We have the wind resources. We have hydro resources. And the fact is that we are throwing all of our eggs in the basket of an artificially cheap fuel that's no longer going to be cheap; we are going to be flatfooted in facing the future."

The so-called "federal government's war on coal" is also expected to play out in Kentucky's race for attorney general. Pro-coal forces characterize the EPA's pollution crack-down as punitive and potentially job-crushing.

Wednesday, Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities are expected to file a request with the Public Service Commission to grant rate hikes over the next five years. Company officials claim the increases are needed to comply with new federal environmental regulations on coal-fueled power plants.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021