Clean Energy Opportunity Act Filed

• {Frankfort, Kentucky}...Representative Mary Lou Marzian, a Louisville Democrat, says she understands Kentucky "is a coal state," and that many state lawmakers may be reluctant to support policies that seek to move away from coal production. Marzian has sponsored a bill called the Clean Energy Opportunity Act that would require utilities to generate a portion of their power from renewable sources. A newly released Kentucky Environmental Foundation report, the "Health Impacts of Coal and Clean Energy Options in Kentucky," says mining, burning and disposing of coal is sickening Kentuckians and lawmakers aren't doing enough to reduce the state's dependency on its primary energy source. According to the Kentucky Coal Association, which promotes the industry, about 92 percent of Kentucky's electric power comes from coal-fired power plants, and the state enjoys some of the lowest electric rates in the nation. Representative Keith Hall, a Democrat from Pikeville, vice chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment, and who owns coal reserves in eastern Kentucky, says coal is burned cleaner than ever before, and Kentucky's low electric rates give it an advantage in attracting new business, but there is a great need to grasp every alternative source. Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett says environmental activists are attempting to sway public opinion on coal with "biased reports" at a time when Americans are living longer than ever before.