What a Year It has Been

It seems this year has gone by so fast for KCC…possibly because we have been able to engage with our members and supporters more this past year after the ‘pandemic pause’ that disrupted so many of our lives. We are so glad to start returning to in-person events for 2023, and it has been great to hear from all of you again as we transition back.

We so appreciated the kind emails we received after our virtual Kentucky Voices presentation last week. We hope you enjoyed our guest authors Alan Maimon and Bill Turner with their wonderful books, “Twilight in Hazard” and “The Harlan Rennaissance.” we hope you continue to support their work. While this year’s event was still virtual, we will be planning to return to an in-person event for 2023.

Our Progress on the Issues in 2022, Preparing for 2023

It's been quite a year of activity for KCC, as you have brought many important issues to our attention—with climate change continuing as the driver. With last year’s dual climate disasters (the drastic flooding in Eastern Kentucky and devastating tornadoes in Western Kentucky), our focus has increasingly been on what needs to happen to build up our state’s resiliency for the inevitable future climate disasters. Earlier this year, we, along with our allies at Apogee Climate, provided comments on the Energy and Environment Cabinet’s initial study on how to utilize microgrids for energy resilience. We anticipate a second phase of the study soon where we will continue to be involved with its progress.

Kentucky’s energy transition has been, and continues to be, a major focus of our climate work. As customers deal with inflation and rising prices for electricity, KCC and our allies continue their work on making sure that utilities are being accountable to their customers. In recent weeks, through our collaborative work as part of the K4ED coalition, we have focused on how some utilities are not providing adequate offerings for energy efficiency— allowing the customer to better manage their power usage and costs. And during this past year, we have exposed the climate-busting impacts of the crypto-mining industry in Kentucky, as these companies simultaneously have been asking for special economic development rates, now being reviewed by the Kentucky Public Service Commission.

But energy transition has only been a part of the work we are doing to protect Kentucky’s citizens and resources from the impacts of climate change, and to build the systems that are more resilient and responsive to the public. As the state rebuilds from these climate disasters, we have been working this year to educate communities and state agencies about the opportunities coming from new federal funding—such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. We continue to work with our land conservation partners to leverage these new initiatives to enhance the work happening on wildlife corridors in the state—where these contiguous lands will provide resiliency for Kentucky’s unique flora and fauna. The importance of land conservation toward building climate resiliency is often overlooked, however we plan to stay focused on the conservation and climate goals laid out in the 30x30 Initiative to conserve 30% of our critical lands and habitat by 2030.

These are just a few of our activities this past year. We have continued to work on issues such as the intersection of solar development and farmland, plastics pollution, the transition of our transportation sector to cleaner options, land & water initiatives and more. You may find media stories from some of our past year’s activities here.

KCC Annual Meeting and Legislative Summit 2023

We will give an overview of our most critical environmental issues impacting Kentucky during the 2023 KCC Legislative Summit (including KCC’s Annual Meeting) on January 22nd, Sunday Afternoon from 1:00-4:30 at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, where we will highlight topics that may come before the state legislature, will be a focus of state agencies, or will have a significant impact on Kentucky’s commonwealth. We are offering this year’s conference as both an in-person and virtual event in order to ensure that you can attend as you choose. Register here.

KCC’s Board Elections, and Thanks to our Board and Teammates

I want to take a moment to personally thank the work of the KCC board during 2022, led by our President, Dr. Benjamin Knoll, and the support of my legislative teammate Randy Strobo of Strobo-Barkley PLLC. The work you see from KCC is as a result of this behind-the-scenes team of talent who provides their comprehensive strategic thinking and analysis to the work we do.

If you are a member in good standing, I encourage you to participate in voting for the 2023 KCC Board of Directors. Each year we elect half of the board to a two year term. You may find the statements of this year’s candidates here.

Our Thanks to YOU and All of our Allies

One of the most important components of KCC’s work is in providing support to our contributing partner groups, particularly as the legislative session nears. During a typical “short” legislative session such as we have this year, it can be challenging to stay on top of the fast pace of activity. Therefore it is important for us to closely network with our allies in order to monitor and act when one of their priorities becomes a debate during the General Assembly, in support of our partner group’s goals. We want to thank all of our contributing partner groups for their support this past year.

This year’s General Assembly begins on January 3rd and ends on March 30th. You can find the full calendar for this year’s “short” session here. Because the “short session” can be a time of rapid developments, we encourage you to sign up for KCC Text Alerts so that we can alert you to bills that require immediate action. You may sign up for legislative text alerts here.

We at the Kentucky Conservation Committee want to thank you once again for all you have done for us through your support, and we look forward to seeing you in 2023. If you are not already a member of KCC, you can join or donate to our work here.

-From the staff at KCC, I wish you all a great holiday season in nature.