Leaving flat earth to save the earth

An editorial in today's Courier-Journal:

Predictably, President Barack Obama’s forceful call last week for steps to slow global warming, in part by cutting emissions from coal-burning power plants, was met with a blast of hot air from Kentucky’s two U.S. senators.

...Instead of working to position Kentucky for a future not so dependent on a single — and shrinking — industry, (Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul) are among leaders who fall back on empty rhetoric about the “war on coal” with little to offer Kentucky’s working people in terms of future solutions.

...Too many are willing to bet against the future, among them Senators McConnell and Paul, who instead choose short-term political exploitation.

How long is too long in Washington?

An ad from Senate Majority PAC makes a strong case that it's time for Mitch to move on.

Gone fishing

From today's Courier-Journal:

(Mitch) McConnell, considered the architect of obstruction in Washington, moved fast after learning the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned to restrict fishing close to dams along the Cumberland River in Kentucky and Tennessee because people too close to the dams kept dying in boating accidents.

...(Rand) Paul, a co-sponsor, denounced “bureaucratic overreach.”

It would be nice to see them just as outraged over the deep federal spending cuts they helped cause that now are costing so many federal workers in Kentucky lost pay from furloughs.

What Happened? Mitch McConnell Used to Want a Budget

A very good video from the Senate Democrats, highlighting Mitch McConnell's blatant hypocrisy:

State loan raises troubling issues

An editorial from today's Herald-Leader:

A state decision to lend $2.5 million set aside for Kentucky agriculture to a Louisville company that manages coal waste from power plants raises several concerns...

As The Courier-Journal's James Bruggers reported, the board (of the Kentucky Agriculture Finance Corp.) approved the loan despite assurances from University of Kentucky soil and crop scientists that Kentucky soils are not deficient in sulfur and that adding sulfur to fields would be a waste of money for most Kentucky farmers.

(Agriculture Commissioner James) Comer, a former legislator who has said the Clean Air Act has left most Kentucky soils nutritionally deficient by reducing sulfur spread by smokestacks, told Bruggers that he doesn't take advice from "research universities," preferring to listen to "actual farmers and fertilizer dealers."