Kentucky lawmakers sacrificed our clean water to big money, corporations | Opinion
Clean water
Before the Environmental Protection Agency was established, there was life threatening smog in California, a river in Ohio that caught fire, and acid rain which caused damage beyond the boundaries of states that burned coal. The Kentucky General Assembly caved to the big money and rolled back clean water standards to benefit business. They boast that the Commonwealth has some of the lowest energy prices in the nation with coal. We also have some of the poorest and sickest people. There are counties now that do not have clean water. Yet this group cares more about which genders may go to which restrooms to protect our youth from Governor Andy Beshear’s liberal ideas.
It is time for the General Assembly to be honest about their priorities. Keeping the Commonwealth free from pollution and focusing on the health of Kentucky’s families seem to take a back seat when “Benjamins” are on the table. They are putting the environment of Kentucky and its families at risk for money. Is this the future we want for Kentucky? When the next election rolls around, remember the concern they showed for the common folks when casting your ballot.
Cheryl Keenan, Lexington
SB 89
Kentucky Senate Bill 89 became law on Friday, March 28th. Out of concern, I tried to alert people as it progressed through the legislature. It reduces the state’s protection of water and reduces our common claim to water as our right. Legislature.ky.gov is a useful resource to find out how our representatives voted on this and other new laws.
Arguments for SB89 included easing regulations on coal and industry.
I want to point out that water is more essential to life than coal (or electricity). In using our natural resources, we should use them carefully, because they are not just for people now, but for all living things and forever.
In my free time, I remove garbage from the stream and pond in the city park, in the neighborhood where I rent. This is how I show my gratitude. The government may no longer protect water and natural places like it was. It is up to the people to be responsible. Not everybody can go out and take care of places like I do, but if you can, it’s incredibly rewarding. What we can all do is be mindful of how we use water and electricity and manage our own waste. To people who have worked to protect the environment and might be feeling defeated, I want to say thank you, and please continue your work. Every day that a child and grandchild might play in a stream, and every day that nature can exist there matters.
Lisa Ciolli, Lexington
Undue process
I am shocked and increasingly horrified by the sudden sacrifice of “due process” as a core American value. A “Justice” Department that admits that they mistakenly kidnapped and deported a man to an El Salvadoran prison camp and has now doubled down on refusing both a judicial order and the common decency of returning the victim is fully unworthy of that name.
All persons of every political persuasion should provide for others no less than what they would expect for themselves if they were targeted by incompetence and cruelty. Due process is due to every person. Period. Failure to provide it is a clear violation of the Constitution and every moral law. Abduction and deportation to a foreign prison camp without evidence, with no trial, no defense, no jury and no remorse is lynching. That a president wants or orders it doesn’t make it any less so. When the rule of law is subverted by vengeful whimsy, we have become no better than the totalitarian regimes and petty tyrants wiser Americans fought wars to overthrow. We deserve better than feckless politicians pretending this is “normal” and “good.” It is a direct attack on what truly makes America great.
Kent Gilbert, Berea
Separation of powers
About the separation of powers – Courts defer to stay out of the President’s and Congress’s business. This deference sets off alarms, however, when constitutional rights are on the line. If a President, or a Congressman exceeds their constitutional boundaries and robs a person of a right like due process or free speech the Court’s deference shouldn’t be an unyielding brick wall.
Consider some legislators blocking non-constituents from their official communications channels even on issues related to legislation. Isn’t this suppression of a First Amendment rights to petition the government? Yet, the Courts defer; view it as legitimate legislative activity.
In the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, the idea of the President declaring someone a criminal, kidnapping them and sending them to a third country prison without due process creates a situation where a President can deny due process to anyone. Isn’t, then, the Supreme Court using a mere “facilitation,” — due to deference of the Executive’s foreign affairs powers — a shocking disregard for constitutional rights?
It’s time for our Supreme Court Justices to reevaluate this deference. It’s the Courts’ job, as the founders intended, to serve the people and not to wear blinders and support the other branches as they gallop over our freedoms.
James A Kurz, Lexington
Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was whisked off the street by masked agents with no badges, no markings. Abrego Garcia, a 10-year U.S. legal resident, husband and father of American citizens, was shipped to a horrific prison in El Salvador without credible evidence of any crime. President Donald Trump’s regime admitted that Abrego Garcia was apprehended “by mistake.” But Trump said he was powerless to ask for Abrego Garcia’s return from the dictator that Trump is paying to imprison Abrego Garcia. If this can happen to him, it can happen to any of us “homegrowns” as Trump calls us. In that sense, I am Abrego Garcia, you are Abrego Garcia. I ask U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul (all Republican from Ky.) to speak up for our freedom.
Demand that the Trump Regime free Abrego Garcia!
Dr. Charles T. Lutz, MD, PhD, Lexington
Republican tax cut
President Trump and the Republican Congress are going to pass a massive tax cut for the wealthy and corporations. The cost will range from $4.5 trillion to $5.7 trillion over ten years. It could add $5.7 trillion to the present debt limit of $36 trillion exploding the debt into the future. The cuts will make the wealthy and corporations wealthier.
To pay for the tax cut, $1.5 trillion to $5 trillion in cuts will be made from existing federal programs. These amounts of money only exist in social safety net programs - Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and several subsistence economic security programs. Medicaid is being picked on. It provides medical services to the disadvantaged. Our federal government also spends trillions of dollars on healthcare programs yearly, but the impact on these is unknown.
All of Kentucky’s Republican House delegation have voted for the tax cut except U. S Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. Republicans follow President Donald Trump’s dictates as if he is the holy grail afraid of being primaried and losing their yearly $175,000 jobs. U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., when asked to comment on Medicaid costs, said, “adults on Medicaid need to get a job.” His comments are callous and shows his ignorance of health needs in our state. Medicaid has 1.4 million Kentucky recipients.
Danny Shearer, Lexington
Impeach Trump
This week, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., did not directly respond to questions about whether he supports impeaching President Donald Trump. This is upsetting and I’m unhappy seeing this lack of foresight and leadership from my district’s representative.
As a concerned citizen and voter from Lexington, it’s obvious that Trump is leading the country into authoritarianism. His threats not to leave at the end of this term are highly credible. Hyperbole about the danger of his administration, from immigration to the economy, has become reality. He and his cabinet are lawless, unaccountable to our justice system, and have committed a multitude of crimes. If we don’t impeach him now, American democracy may not survive his path of destruction.
I’m not willing to risk that.
I am encouraging Barr to publicly commit to upholding their most fundamental democratic role - removing tyrants from office. Commitment to these basic facts – that Trump is a tyrant, and Congress needs to act now to get him out of the White House – will be a major litmus test for any 2026 candidate. I hope we get a good response from them on this critical issue soon.
Aubin Munn, Lexington
Homeschooling dangers
For 23 years I have been a Kentucky social worker. Each year, homeschooling is becoming more common. While caregivers have a right to choose the education of their child, we must also be cautious to ensure children are protected. We desperately need to enact legislation that regulates who can homeschool.
Currently in Kentucky those with past and open child abuse cases are legally permitted to homeschool. Those with substantiated child abuse charges on their record are also allowed to homeschool. You can be a registered sex offender and homeschool or live in a home with children being homeschooled. A study done by Knox (2014) showed that 47 percent of child torture victims had been removed from school and 29 percent had never been enrolled. Another study in Connecticut showed that 36 percent of children being homeschooled had at least one prior report of child abuse and 65 percent had multiple reports. Kentucky has not been immune. An 8-year-old in Berea was nearly tortured to death for a year after her parents removed her from school following abuse allegations.
Why are we legally allowing those suspected of child abuse to isolate a child under the guise of “homeschooling”? Our children deserve better.
Rebecca Kisosondi, Maysville
Gun rights
Admittedly, the current American political scene is a complex thing but the single issue that separates the Democratic Party from the voters of rural America is guns. Democratic candidates cannot say that Democrats aren’t coming to “take away your guns” when Chuck Schumer is standing in front of the cameras calling for an “assault weapons” ban that causes another thousand or so voters in a traditionally red state to decide that they cannot vote for any Democratic candidate. Without a change in the party’s stance on guns Democrats should get used to losing elections.
The first local Democratic candidate who offers the opinion that the Gun Control Act of 1968 is unconstitutional is the next Democratic member of Congress. The first Democratic Governor who offers a blanket restoration of gun rights to non-violent felons is likely to emerge as the next occupant of the Oval Office. The Democrats are a bit hypocritical when calling for the restoration of civil rights for those convicted of felonies, except for the restoration of gun rights.
To paraphrase a popular headline after George Bush lost to Bill Clinton, “It’s the guns, stupid.” Democrats would be well served by heeding that lesson.
Chris Searcy, Danville
Edited by Liz Carey
This story was originally published April 17, 2025 at 11:02 AM.