Joni Jenkins 

State Representative, 44th District 

Kentucky House of Representatives 

July 30, 2014 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Joni Jenkins and I 

represent Kentucky House District 44 in the Kentucky General Assembly. The 

44th district is South of the Louisville, right on the banks of the Ohio River. 

It is home to hard working, mostly blue collar, workers who strive everyday to 

raise their children for a brighter future. 

The 44th District is also home to 2 coal fired power plants with 2 coal ash landfills 

and coal ash ponds. 

Daily, fly ash blows from the towering landfill and lands on my constituents' cars 

and their homes. Fly ash lands on their children's toys and swing sets. Fly ash 

lands on their vegetable gardens. 

And, that's just the pollutants we can see. 

I traveled today to represent the people of the 44th District; the Moms and Dads, 

the Grandmas and the Grandpas; who want to see their children grow up healthy 

and prosperous. 

As a public official, I rely on having the most truthful, objective set of facts before 

me as I make decisions that may affect thousands of people for thousands of years. 

It is a responsibility that I sought and one that I do not take lightly. 

I believe the proposed EPA climate rules are a step in the right direction, for so 

many reasons- the health of our citizens, the health of our economy and the health 

of our planet. 

Kentucky has an abysmal rate of asthma- 13%. Asthma and allergies have triggers 

in common, among them being pollen counts, which are expected to rise 

significantly if climate change continues unabated. We will not see positive change 

until we begin to limit the amount of carbon dioxide spewing forth from the coal 

fired power plants. I have asthma -I know that I will always be on medication and 

will never be far from a rescue inhaler. My condition is manageable, but there are 
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side effects, like bone loss, from the very medicine that allows me to breathe. We 

are sentencing too large a number of our children to this chronic disease. 

As a state, we are attempting to prepare our young students for a new and global 

economy. Clean energy initiatives have proven to be economically successful in 

many jurisdictions throughout the world. Kentucky needs to join in this 

revolution. Since 1970, every dollar invested in compliance with Clean Air Act 

standards has yielded 4 to 8 dollars in economic benefits. 

Between 2008 and 2009, the Louisville area was hit by hurricane strength winds in 

the Fall, a January ice storm that left much of Louisville and the western portion of 

KY without power for months and a summer flash flood caused by 6 Y;, inches of 

rain falling during morning rush hour resulting in millions of dollars of damage. 

The climate is changing and not just in Louisville, KY. 

The EPA is to be commended for stepping up in the absence of congressional 

action, to address GHG emissions from power plants. The flexible approach 

proposed in the rules for existing and modified electric generating units allows 

states like Kentucky to improve the efficiency in how we generate and consume 

electricity -looking for ways on both sides of the meter to improve the quality of 

life of the people of the 4th poorest state in the nation. 

We have "cooked the books" on energy for many years in Kentucky, and our 

reliance on coal-fired power and electricity made "cheap" by externalizing the 

pollution costs has had a real impact on the people of my district and others that 

host coal-fired power plants. Requiring that the full environmental and human 

health impact of combusting fossil fuels be accounted for is not a "war on coal," 

but is instead a rational effort to protect human health and our children's future by 

stopping the use of the public's air, land, and water for industrial waste disposal. 

As a person of faith, I would like to join my denomination, the United Church of 

Christ in commending the EPA for taking a crucial step toward safeguarding 

human communities and the earth for generations to come. 

Thank you