EPA's Clean Air ruling lashes coal-producing Kentucky

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency's declaration Monday that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions endanger the public's health could deeply impact Kentucky's multimillion-dollar coal economy.

The announcement, which comes as an historic climate change conference gets underway in Copenhagen, could set the groundwork for broader cap-and-trade policies in the United State — the kinds of policies the state's coal companies and most of the state's congressional delegation have long tried to block.

“What his arbitrary administrative edict would do is what Congress has refused to do statutorily — tell coal-burning utilities how much, or little, coal can be burned,” said Rep. Hal Rogers, a Republican. “It could prove devastating to Kentucky’s coal industry and cause havoc to our working men and women of eastern Kentucky.”

Meanwhile, Kentucky environmentalists lauded the EPA’s announcement as a first step toward addressing global warming and curbing pollution.

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