Kentucky Chapter Director for Sierra Club Julia Finch said revoking the federal assessment on greenhouse gases doesn’t make the impacts of air pollution or climate change disappear, and it doesn’t prevent industries from polluting.
She said the decision just shifts the burden onto families and communities.
"We know Kentuckians face higher asthma rates, higher lung issues than a lot of other places in the country," said Finch. "And so we really feel that we will see this impact, not only in a kind of financial impact or an economic impact, but certainly in a health impact as well."
Supporters of the decision, including EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, say the rollback will reduce economic uncertainty and help industries reduce costs associated with environmental compliance.
But Finch said many industries see a future in clean energy, and are searching for states where that future is possible. She noted that the Commonwealth recently a lost out on a green aluminum smelter to Oklahoma, which supplies 40% of its energy from renewables.
Kentucky is still 70% reliant on coal, and falling out of step with evolving industries that are cleaning themselves up.
"And this is what this green and new aluminum smelter project was going to do, and it was also going to make Americans competitive again on this aluminum global market," said Finch. "And we had a huge opportunity in Kentucky."
According to the Environmental Defense Fund, businesses will face more chaos, instability, and potential losses as a result of the EPA Endangerment Finding rollback.
