What other people say about this issue
These are some examples of what other people around the state are saying about subsidies for a coal conversion facility.
"$800,000 Per Job....Good Deal or Bad Deal?"
Mark Hebert, WHAS11
If Kentucky lawmakers and Governor Fletcher approve an energy bill that includes incentives for Peabody Energy Corp., the cost per job is expected to be about $800,000.
That's a new stratosphere for incentive packages offered by the state of Kentucky to lure new jobs and about 20 times the average cost per job that Kentucky has given Toyota, Ford and U.P.S. over the years. According to Peabody's handout to state lawmakers on July 6th, the company's proposed coal-to-natural gas plant would employ 125 workers plus another 250 mining jobs. That's 375 jobs for the $300 million in tax breaks and incentives that Fletcher and House and Senate leaders have talked about using to lure the Peabody facility. Do the math. That's $800,000 per job.
"Tax Lure for a Liquid Coal Plant Will Put Kentucky on the Hook"
Judy Owens, Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED)
There are lots of reasons not to like the deal that Peabody Energy Co. is cooking up to build a coal-to-liquid fuel plant in Kentucky. The incentives Peabody wants are unprecedented: $315 million in subsidies that will be on the backs of Kentucky taxpayers for the next 25 years. Worse, it’s an unproven technology that will create bigger environmental problems under the guise of solving the country’s energy dependence. The U.S. Senate considered similar legislation last month, and it failed. Miserably. The uber-conservative editorial staff of the Wall Street Journal, who are as pro-business as it gets, thought government funding of coal conversion was a waste of public money.
But even if Peabody Energy Co. were not a coal company, and made tennis shoes, cell phones or computers, this deal would be a bad one.
Like so many other big deal incentives have been in Kentucky, coal-to-liquid fuel will be a bad deal for the state’s taxpayers, small businesses, entrepreneurs, local school districts and communities in general. Why is that? It’s simple. Over the years, the incentives keep getting bigger and bigger, the toll on taxpayers worse and worse while the corporate demands grow more outrageous.
Subsidies for coal 'a cynical and dangerous move'
Doug Doerrfeld, Louisville Courier-Journal
Many Kentuckians now acknowledge that the mining and burning of coal is neither cheap nor clean. Increasingly, we understand that the true costs of coal are unacceptably high, especially in terms of the harm done to our mountains, streams, forests, health, global climate and political process.
There is a growing movement here and around the country to demand good jobs and a healthy environment through greater investments in energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy. It is past time that Kentucky's elected officials realize this.
That's why the current push by Gov. Ernie Fletcher and other political leaders to pass new subsidies for coal is such a cynical and dangerous move in the wrong direction.
"Ruled by coal, Legislators should rebel, push smart energy"
Editorial Board, Lexington Herald-Leader
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a deadline of 2020 for electrical utilities to produce at least 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources such as hydro, solar, wind and geothermal.
The Senate recently mandated the first increase in vehicle fuel-efficiency standards in 30 years.
Ford, GE, Alcoa and Alcan are part of a coalition calling for a mandatory market-based cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Reducing hydrocarbon consumption is the wave of the future. That much is clear.
What's not clear: Will Kentucky ride that wave or be swallowed by it?