The coal industry spent $6 million on federal lobbying in 2005 and 2006, three times what it spent each year from 2000 through 2004. (www.Politicalmoneyline.com)

In Kentucky and across the nation, many leaders in both parties have been captured by the coal industry and are strongly behind the effort to develop coal-to-liquid fuel plants at the taxpayers’ expense.

In 2006 Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher chaired the Southern States Energy Board which produced a report – financed with $200,000 from the coal industry – calling for massive public subsidies for coal-to-liquid fuels.

This spring the Democratic candidate for governor Steve Beshear, ran television ads promising “to create a Kentucky Energy Fund to invest millions from expanded gaming in clean-coal technology and alternative fuels...”

Among Kentucky’s delegation to the US Congress, Representative Ben Chandler stands alone in refusing to cosponsor legislation subsidizing coal-to-liquid fuel.

Primary backers of federal coal-to-liquid fuel subsidies include Republican Senator Jim Bunning (KY) and Democratic Senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama (IL).

In Kentucky, additional subsidies for coal-to-liquid fuel have been proposed in the form of HB 5 by Democratic leadership in the House. A special session of the KY General Assembly is likely to be called by Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher to take up this proposal on July 5th.