Grayson Stands with Coal

Remarks sent to the Coal Rally in Knott County from U.S. Senate Candidate Trey Grayson:


Dear Friends of Kentucky Coal:

First, I regret that I could not be with you today. I am in Western Kentucky at the annual Fancy Farm Picnic, where I will be talking, among other things, about the importance of coal to Kentucky’s economy and the important part that coal must play in our national energy policy.

The best way we as a nation can become less dependent on foreign energy is to incentivize and increase the use of our domestic energy resources, such as coal. That’s why, as the co-chair of the energy and environment platform committee of the Republican National Convention, I led the effort to ensure that Kentucky’s resources such as coal and natural gas were at the forefront of any national energy policy.

I will be talking about the devastating effect that the national energy tax that some call “cap and trade” will have on Kentucky jobs if that bill is passed into law. That bill is anti-coal and anti-Kentucky. It will cost each and every one of us every time we drive a car or turn on a light switch, and it will cost us in Kentucky much more than it will cost places like New York and California. If I am elected to the U.S. Senate, you can count on my opposition to that measure and my support for investing in clean coal technologies and research in carbon sequestration.

We should look for ways to make our small businesses and manufacturers more competitive, not less so. We should not sacrifice our economic well being while countries like China and India refuse to play by the same rules.

I support a clean environment. I support alternative energy sources. I support the only realistic solution to our energy crisis, which is an all-of-the-above solution that uses all of our domestic energy resources and invests in new technologies that will let us use those resources in a manner that creates jobs and economic opportunity, not economic hardship.

Rewarding American innovators and entrepreneurs who can help us develop clean energy from domestic resources is a much better and more productive way than a sweeping new regressive national energy tax.

I look forward to continuing this dialogue with you over the coming months. Please contact me with your questions and concerns. I hope to see you in person soon.

Thank you for your consideration and support.

Sincerely,



Trey Grayson
Secretary of State