The executive director of the Kentucky Environmental Foundation says implementation of the EPA’s new carbon emission standards could save Kentucky a lot of money and improve the health of its people. Heather Warman offered that analysis on KET’s “Kentucky Tonight.”
The EPA this week outlined its plans for reducing carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030 and they’ve been criticized as economically damaging to the Commonwealth by politicians in both parties.
However, Warman says there’s a bigger picture to consider. She says Kentucky’s actual costs for burning coal should include health factors.
“Kentucky is ranked third worst in health in the United States of America. So, we have a lot of work to do here. Governor Beshear is doing some really good things but when these laws and regulations and rules come into place, they in fact, do save us money in other areas when they are implemented and our air gets cleaner.” –Heather Warman
Warman says it’s estimated the cleaner air resulting from the EPA’s new rules would prevent over six-thousand premature deaths and more than 150-thousand asthma attacks.