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 March 2008
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Governor Fletcher told me and Greg Stotelmyer from WTVQ-TV that he won't include a ban on domestic partners or other items on the special session agenda for August unless he reaches prior agreement with lawmakers. Fletcher was clear in answering questions about offering a "clean" agenda for the session, which he's expected to call for August 13th. Fletcher says his main goal is getting an energy bill passed to encourage Peabody Energy to study the possibility of building a coal-to-natural gas plant in Kentucky. The governor says he might be able to reach agreement with lawmakers to include a few projects on the agenda mentioning the expansion of U of L's football stadium, a project at Murray State and the runway at Bluegrass Airport in Lexington. When asked if the domestic partner legislation is "out," Fletcher says house leaders have "made it pretty clear" that they would not consider that legislation and it would hurt the chances of passing the energy bill. In other words, it looks like the House, Senate and Governor really have a deal this time, assuming legislative leaders can hammer out an energy bill that everyone's happy with. 3 CommentsLeave a comment |
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WHAS11.com Political Blog
WHAS11 Reporters blog the latest political news from the campaign trail and beyond. 
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The Ky senate wants the house to remove the 2 dollar tax credit to burn ky coal. Result; any new coal to gas plant may burn the majority of coal from outside ky.
result; less mine jobs for Ky. and more took off the top of coal severance to countians. it could be a deal breaker to the rank and file
This is the “track record of coal conversion. Kentucky is blessed to have two of the most popular tourist attractions in Western Kentucky. Kentucky Lake and Barkley Lake are both popular destinations for out and in state tourist. What will happen to the water supply in the West region with this kind of demand for transporting syn fuels? The following post is based on scientific information. I hope you will take time to become better informed.
jas in frankfort
Coal is also sometimes transported in a coal slurry pipeline, such as the one used at the Black Mesa Mine in Arizona. In this process the coal is ground up and mixed with water in a roughly 50:50 ratio. The resulting slurry is transported to a power station through a pipeline. This requires large amounts of fresh groundwater. To transport coal from the Black Mesa Mine in Arizona to the Mohave Generating Station in Nevada, Peabody Coal
pumped over one billion gallons of water from an aquifer near the mine each year. This water came from the same aquifer used for drinking water and irrigation by members of the Navajo and Hopi Nations in the area. Water used for coal transport has led to a major depletion of the aquifer, with more than a 100 foot drop in water level in some wells.
In the West, coal transport through a slurry pipeline places additional stress on an already stressed water supply. Maintenance of the pipe requires washing, which uses still more fresh water. Not only does slurry-pipeline transport result in a loss of freshwater, it can also lead to water pollution when the pipe fails and coal slurry is discharged into ground or surface water.46 The Peabody pipe failed 12 times between 1994 and 1999. The Black Mesa mine closed as of January 2006. Its sole customer, the Mohave Generating Station, was shut down because its emissions exceeded current air pollution standards.
44 Erik Reece, Lost Mountain: A Year in the Vanishing Wilderness 112 (2006).
45 Personal communication from Hillary Hosta and Julia Bonds, Coal River Mountain Watch (Apr. 7,
2006).
46 NRDC. Drawdown: Groundwater Mining on Black Mesa.
THE CONGRESS IS GOING TO PASS A NEW ENERGY BILL AND IT DOES NOT CONTAIN CARBON RESTRICTIONS. SOMETHING PEABODY WILL LOVE.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/02/AR2007080202237.html?wpisrc=newsletter