A Green New Deal for Kentucky

Our health and our children’s health starts with a healthy environment. All Kentuckians deserve access to clean air, clean water, and clean soil but many still don’t have it. At the same time, climate change will be the global fight of our time, and of our children’s time. As a member of the Kentucky General Assembly I will do everything in my power to stand up for ecological protections, to build resilience to climate change in our communities, and to transform our environmental infrastructure so that the next generations have a fighting chance for a sustainable world.

From Shawnee to Portland to Russell to Shelby Park and beyond, we are exposed to the chemical byproducts and emissions of these corporations day and night. Our homes near the Ohio River are at increased risk of flooding. Our central location and proximity to urban expressways means we also breathe in more fumes from transportation, fumes that have been unregulated in Louisville for nearly two decades. We have the power to demand tighter control of what goes out into our neighborhoods from these plants and passing vehicles, and we must use it.

Taking control of our future lies in expanding and defending our tree canopy, protecting the state’s pollinators, building our public transportation infrastructure, democratizing our energy infrastructure, demanding green construction, and making people, not profits, the driving force in our decisions about how we generate electricity and heat our homes.

As a State Representative I will fight for:

• State funding for local transportation infrastructure including an expanded, improved TARC system, as well as improvements to streets and paths to make cycling accessible, efficient, and safe.

• New regulations that limit industrial pollution and increase testing, especially in high-density urban areas with significant residential population exposure like West and Central Louisville.

• Public ownership of energy and other utilities available as an option to all local governments regardless of size, and state government support for communities that choose it.

• A statewide vehicle emissions testing program and an end to state laws stopping Louisville and other local governments from creating their own, more vigorous standards and programs.

• Protection of our state parks, and conservation of our unique ecological heritage for generations to come,  both for enjoyment by the people of the commonwealth and as environmental preserves. We can protect our state’s beauty while also improving access to its wonders.

• Aggressive action to expand urban tree canopy coverage and establish thriving pollinator populations through regulation and the creation of thousands of new pollinator habitats.

• Legislation that mandates Green construction for new state buildings and a program to update existing buildings to be cleaner and more efficient.

• A cohesive relationship between the state’s K-12 public schools and its community and four-year colleges and universities to build a pipeline of workers for green jobs guided by a need for a just transition for coal workers and priority employment for those who live in underserved urban and rural communities.