I Love Mountains Day Echoes Call for Clean Energy
Friday, February 15, 2013
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Thursday was Valentine's Day, but on the steps of the Capitol it was "I Love Mountains Day."
The annual rally drew attention to the call by environmentalists to move away from mountaintop removal to a more diverse clean-energy approach in the heart of coal country. Among the speakers was Carl Shoupe, a disabled coal miner from Harlan County.
"People are starting to realize that if they're going to burn this coal, they're going to have to burn it clean, man,” he said. “You know, I'm for that because I've got eight grandchildren that live here in Kentucky and I want 'em to have clean water and I want 'em to have great, fresh air and stuff."
The Kentucky Coal Association defends mountaintop mining, claiming it has been "very positive" for the state, creating level land "that has the potential for many other uses."
Shoupe backs the proposed Clean Energy Opportunity Act (House Bill 170), which would require retail electric suppliers to use increasing amounts of renewable energy. But, he says even getting lawmakers to vote on the bill will be an uphill battle, claiming most of them shy away from ideas such as wind and solar power.
"Anything you come up with like that that's a positive for Kentucky that's not associated with coal,” he says, “they always say 'We can't, we can't, we can't.' They don't never want to try to do anything."
Shoupe adds by speaking up for the environment he's been branded by the coal companies as trying to shut down coal mines. He says he's "not against coal," just for diversifying toward renewable energy.
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