Attorney General Coleman is undermining sustainable energy progress in Kentucky.

Over the past three years a majority in Congress voted to pass two forward-looking laws—the 2021 U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Thousands of Kentucky homeowners, businesses and workers have already begun to benefit through tax credits for new electric vehicles, energy-efficient heat-pumps and appliances, a growing network of electric-vehicle charging stations and new jobs that these laws incentivize. When you think about it, that’s quite a remarkable success in this age of highly partisan politics.

That’s why it’s been such a shock over the past few weeks to watch Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman unilaterally drag the commonwealth into three ill-considered lawsuits that would undermine implementation of these laws. In each of the lawsuits, Coleman seeks to undo regulations that would curb emissions from fossil-fueled power plants, curb tailpipe emissions from cars, trucks and other vehicles, and eradicate new goals and standards for the implementation of electric-powered heavy trucks and tractors. The lawsuits also could delay or stall efforts to reduce the cost of electricity and stymy efforts to develop more efficient, less expensive and cleaner means of power generation.

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The Attorney General’s focus on fighting positive environmental change flies in the face of reality and will harm the pocketbooks of all Kentuckians who look forward to a brighter future for themselves and their families. In a May 9 press release describing one of the lawsuits, Coleman describes the regulations he seeks to overturn as: “irresponsible,” “unrealistic and harmful,” and the product of a “radical green agenda.”  But Coleman’s adherence to partisan political rhetoric doesn’t begin to address the facts.

Kentucky needs better energy outcomes. Sustainable energy is the answer.

For instance, the BlueOvalSK Battery Park in Glendale, KY, that will build high-tech lithium-ion batteries for Ford vehicles, will employ 5,000 workers when production begins next year. That’s more workers in one plant than the 4,756 people who were employed by the entire Kentucky coal industry at the end of 2023, according to the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. Meanwhile, Century Aluminum is considering a site in Northeast Kentucky—where coal mining has seen a steep decline in the past 10 years—for a high-tech, green-energy aluminum-smelting facility that would employ 1,000 workers, take 5,000 construction workers to build and would cut harmful emissions by 75% compared to old-technology smelters. The plant could be eligible for a $500 million federal grant if Kentucky can provide enough clean solar, wind and hydroelectric electricity to meet most of its power needs.

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The future is easy enough to read for anyone with an open mind and a willingness to change. Our beautiful state has the natural resources and, thanks to laws passed by Congress, the federal resources to develop cheaper, cleaner electricity sources. When you decide to build a power plant, you have to predict the cost of electricity production far into the future, because ratepayers will bear the high cost of building and operating the facility for decades. No one who is thinking long-term believes coal will be the cheapest way to produce electricity for our children and grandchildren, even here in Kentucky. Only short-term thinkers consider coal a viable option. Our leaders must think long-term if we want to have affordable power, arrest global warming, slow destructive weather trends and mitigate the proven serious health hazards posed by fossil-fuel combustion.

If Attorney General Coleman is truly concerned for the future of Kentuckians, he will engage in a dialogue about positive change to transition our economy and our infrastructure for a successful, sustainable future.

Sarah Lynn Cunningham, PE, Executive Director, Louisville Climate Action Network. LCAN is a network of 65 community and faith-based organizations, for-profit businesses and educational institutions.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: AG Coleman must invest in better energy outcomes, brighter KY future