"A Disastrous Disconnect"
Kentucky is among the states blocking climate action. As weather gets more extreme, its residents — and U.S. taxpayers — are paying a price.
“10 Big Little Flaws in EPA’s Affordable Clean Energy Rule” RFF Issue Brief by Dallas Burtraw and Amelia Keyes was cited in Center for Public Integrity article on Kentucky climate action. Listed below is the full quote:
“Flash floods have troubled Kentucky for decades … But the state isn’t on the front lines of the fight against global warming. Its leaders, concerned about the impact on coal, have positioned themselves on the other side of that battle ... In Kentucky, Bevin’s administration is basing its preparations for disasters on climate science, even as he casts doubt on it. A 2018 state flood risk assessment, citing a 2017 federal study about climate effects in the region, warns that flooding events are likely to become more frequent and severe.
At the same time, the state continues to push for the status quo on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. In September, Bevin intervened in court to support the Trump administration’s “pro-coal” replacement to Obama’s climate rule — a substitute that projections by the independent research group Resources for the Future suggest would reduce U.S. climate-warming emissions just one-tenth of a percent by 2050.”
Read the full article here.
