‘Folks want to be heard.’ Climate activists push for clean energy investments in Ky.
Activists knocked on doors across five Kentucky cities Saturday as part of a canvassing effort to build support for state investments in clean energy infrastructure they say will bring jobs and environmental justice.
The organizing agency, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, worked with other activist groups like the Sunrise Movement as part of the Green New Deal Network’s national day of action: Fight for Our Future.
A shift to clean energy might be a tough conversation to have in deeply red Kentucky. Former President Donald Trump won by a comfortable 26% margin during 2020’s presidential election.
For KFTC spokesman Chris Woolery, however, the time is right for activist outreach to everyday Kentuckians. The state has experienced devastating flooding and tornado outbreaks, along with the higher gas prices and rising electricity costs that come with reliance on fossil fuels.
The Herald-Leader spoke with Woolery before the activists mobilized Saturday, one day after Earth Day.
“I think what we’ve learned is that folks want to be heard. They want to be listened to and not told,” said Woolery, who works with Mountain Association to manage its How$martKY. The program partners with rural electric cooperatives to design, finance and install home energy efficiency upgrades paid for with energy savings.
Lisa Abbott, co-director of organizing for KFTC, said activists use a technique called “deep-canvassing” to get locals talking about how environmental issues impact their daily lives. The canvassing efforts were held in Lexington, Louisville, Danville, Bowling Green and Latonia in northern Kentucky.
“We’ll be going door-to-door ... to talk with Kentuckians about high electricity bills and the need for bold investments in climate, care, jobs and justice. We use an approach called ‘deep canvassing,’ which invites non-judgmental, empathetic, story-based conversations at the door about important issues,” Abbott wrote in an email to the Herald-Leader.
The conversations have produced a series of documentary-style videos the KFTC hosts on its website.
Based on his experience, Woolery finds that community members are actually eager to “vent” about their utility company, even to complete strangers.
The key is to have conversations framed around the issues, not politics. That means talking to everyday people about severe weather events and higher energy bills.
“We’re seeing the impact of climate change here… It’s not something that’s just theoretical,” Woolery said.
That statement is borne out by the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shows climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the globe.
If the global thermometer rises to 2 degrees beyond pre-industrial levels, extreme heat waves that normally take place every 50 years could occur every 3.5 years – rendering entire regions of the planet unlivable, according to poverty-fighting group Global Citizen.
Urgent action is needed to adapt to climate change while making rapid and deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, according to the IPCC. But so far, too little is being done, it said.
The solution, Woolery said, is to get more people involved.
“Kentuckians can make a connection if they are exposed to the information,” he said.
It also requires highlighting what state lawmakers aren’t doing.
“We want people to understand what the decision makers could be choosing,” he continued.
Woolery said there should generally be easier access to rooftop solar panel technology for homeowners and the government should also be working with businesses to conduct energy audits as a pathway to efficiency.
“We should be doing it at scale across the Commonwealth,” he said.
So far, lawmakers in Kentucky generally haven’t heard them out, Woolery said.
“That’s why we’re taking this to the people.”
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This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 4:19 PM.