{Lexington, Kentucky}...The University of Kentucky Beyond Coal movement, part of a larger national movement started by the Sierra Club, will hold a rally Wednesday to ask UK Athletics to cut its ties with the coal industry. Most of the local group's activities have been dedicated to asking UK to stop using its coal-fired power plant on campus, in favor of cleaner energies such as wind and solar, and to add coal to its list of harmful products. UK spokesman Jay Blanton says advertising and sponsorships have not been sold to tobacco or alcohol companies for several years under the university's media rights contract. However, the coal industry is a major contributor to UK Athletics, most of it led by Joe Craft, the billionaire CEO of Alliance Resource Partners, one of Kentucky's leading coal producers, who donated $6 million to build the Joe Craft Center and came up with an additional $7 million to build the Wildcat Coal Lodge for men's basketball players. Craft stipulated that the lodge's lobby contain a "tribute" to coal and its benefits to Kentucky. A university policy required the building to be constructed using energy-efficiency standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Last year, Friends of Coal, an offshoot of the Kentucky Coal Association, paid $85,000 to be the signature sponsor of the UK-University of Louisville football and men's basketball games, and also helped sponsor Big Blue Madness. Bill Bissett, executive director of the Kentucky Coal Association, says the national Beyond Coal movement is mostly funded by a $50 million donation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and, when he thinks about powering Kentucky, he's not interested in what the mayor of New York City has to say.
