This Wednesday students from 10+ Colleges and Universities hosted simultaneous actions on campus to spread the word about the impact of fossil-fuel extraction in Kentucky and gather petitions and letters to our representatives to support HB 86 (Stream Save Bill) and HB 170 (Clean Energy and Opportunities Act). Youth leaders from across Kentucky hosted actions and mobilized students to contact their representatives in response to the impending threat to their futures and the future of Kentucky posed by our dependence on fossil fuels and the extreme measures being used to feed that dependence.
They used their voices to send a strong message that Kentuckians are not okay with the status quo of our dependence on dirty and dangerous energy sources and can’t understand how an entire legislative session passed without our representatives passing important legislation (HB 86 and HB 170) to make coal mining practices safer and to support growth in the renewable energy sector.
“As young people we are realizing more and more it is going to be up to our generation to lead our country down a path of environmental justice and fossil-fuel independence”, said Guinevere Lewis, Senior from Wilmore Kentucky. “It is time for real answers to our energy needs, ones that are not poisoning our communities or putting our lives at risk. We want truly renewable, clean energy and we want our elected officials to show that they care about Kentuckians and our futures.”
Students from the Murray Environmental Student Society participated in the state wide day of action by informing students on the destruction of Mountain Top Removal and gathering signatures in support of Kentucky’s transition to clean energy.
Allison Crawford, junior from Murray, said with each day Kentucky fails to move toward a clean energy future, dangerous, dirty energy continues to control politics and hurt communities, health, and the environment.
“My generation will not just stand idly by as the future of our health and our environment is decayed by inaction,” Crawford said.
This action is one of 10 that took place around Kentucky on college campuses and in communities to urge our representatives to represent us, the people, in the face of huge push back from the fossil-fuel industry. The legislation was on the table. Now students want to know why their officials refused to pick up their pens and to bring KY up to speed on the energy transition happening all around us.