Kentucky Newly Elected Governor
Appeared 11.17.2007 Kentucky's Messenger-Inquirer Newspaper
By Bruce Schreiner
Associated Press
FRANKFOR T -- Gov.-elect
Steve Beshear said Friday that
Kentucky can have it both ways
-- as a leader in coal production
and environmental protection.
In a speech to an energy efficiency
conference, Beshear said
he wants to make both priorities
when he takes office next month.
He said he wants to capitalize on
Kentucky ener gy sour ces,
including coal, and fulfill an obligation
to improve air quality.
"Some people might say those
are mutually exclusive topics,"
the governor-elect said. "I don't
believe they are. We can be a
leader in the production of energy
and also a leader in the protection
of our environment."
Kentucky is one of the
nation's leading coal producers.
Beshear said the state can
play a big role in helping the
country toward greater energy
self-reliance. One way to do that
is for Kentucky to become a
leader in clean-coal technology
to curtail carbon dioxide emissions
and secure long-term
demand for Kentucky coal. Scientists
say CO2 is a major contributor
to climate change.
The governor-elect warned
that without technological advances
to burn coal cleanly, "our economy
will suffer a great deal."
Bill Caylor, president of the
Kentucky Coal Association, said
Beshear was "very practical" in
trying to balance energy production
and environmental protection.
"He is ... trying to weigh our
natural resources on one hand,
and on the other hand trying to
look at the impact on the environment,"
Caylor said by phone.
In his speech, Beshear also
said he believes climate change
is occurring.
Earlier in the week, a state
legislative committee heard from
skeptics seeking to debunk the
notion that global warming is a
threat.
Beshear warned that there's a
reality hovering over the globalwarming
debate.
"Regardless of whether you
believe it or not, more regulation
is coming in that area," he said.
"I happen to think it should
come. And we need to be ready
for it."
