Can Kentucky Slip Its Industry Ties to Save Its Climate?

There鈥檚 a growing environmental movement in Kentucky, and more leaders than ever are speaking the language of sustainability.

April 15. That鈥檚 the traditional frost-free date in Schochoh, the small community in south-central , where Sam Halcomb and his family own and operate Walnut Grove Farms. Before then, the soft red winter wheat that Halcomb grows, which finds its way into McDonald鈥檚 biscuits and grocery store pancake mixes, is flowering and especially vulnerable to cold. The frost-free date is an estimate, based on years of experience. If you make it past that date, you鈥檙e likely to have a healthy harvest.

This year, a freeze came on exactly April 15, with early morning temperatures dropping into the mid-20s Fahrenheit. 鈥淲e were all smacking our heads, saying, 鈥楢h, we almost made it鈥�,鈥� Halcomb said. Then, on May 9, another freeze hit.

Two late freezes in one season was 鈥渃ompletely unheard of,鈥� said Halcomb, a sixth-generation farmer. 鈥淚n my whole life, I don鈥檛 remember ever having a freeze that late.鈥� A typical wheat yield at Walnut Grove is 85 bushels per acre; this year, it was closer to 60. Halcomb鈥檚 losses totaled about $200,000.

Kentucky鈥檚 climate is changing quickly. The Bluegrass State is the threatened state in the country by long-term climate change impacts, according to a by SafeHome.org, based on data from Climate Central. That puts it ahead of even California, where wildfires recently have wreaked havoc. Erratic weather, exceptional heat, drought, wildfires, and flooding all threaten Kentucky.

There鈥檚 a growing environmental movement in the state, and more leaders than ever are speaking the language of sustainability. industry ties run deep, however, and, for many, talk of change is anathema. The state legislature has mostly avoided the climate issue. And U.S. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, by far the state鈥檚 best-known politician, has been a dedicated opponent of climate action in Washington.

Kentucky is a microcosm of the nation鈥檚 climate dilemma: the effects of the climate crisis are clear here, but legacy interests and the forces of change are at an impasse. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lag between where we need to be and where we鈥檙e at right now,鈥� said Lane Boldman, who directs the Kentucky Conservation Committee, a nonprofit environmental policy group. 鈥淎nd there really isn鈥檛 a lot of time.鈥�

Impacts on Energy and Agriculture

McConnell has accepted more than $3 million from the coal, oil, and gas industries over the course of his career. Critics say he鈥檚 returned the favor with鈥攖ax breaks and regulatory cuts鈥攖o keep the dying industry aloft. In 2017, McConnell joined the Trump administration in urging America鈥檚 withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. In 2019, he engineered what he admitted was intended to kill the Green New Deal. As a campaigner, McConnell has framed efforts to rein in the coal industry as the meddling of a distant federal government out of touch with Kentuckians鈥� way of life.

That鈥檚 not to say coal has been good to Kentuckians, of late. The coal industry employed some Kentuckians when McConnell took office in 1985; it鈥檚 today. Workers in the mountainous eastern part of the state have found themselves and uncompensated for their work by coal bosses. And deregulation has led to one of the worst epidemics on record. Eastern Kentucky counties are among the poorest in the nation, with poverty rates around 40%. The water in some of those counties is either .

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell walks to the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21, 2020. Photo by Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images.

Meanwhile, McConnell sits on the Senate agriculture committee but has seemed indifferent to how climate change threatens Kentucky鈥檚 sizable agricultural sector.

Three of the five wettest years on record in the state have been in the past decade, and this summer saw the most rain of any two-month period on record going back to 1895. 无码视频 rain can boost crops, but in many parts of Kentucky rain now comes in unhelpful torrents. In both the eastern mountains and urban areas, excessive rain has contributed to severe and frequent flooding. In Louisville this year, rain has turned and .

The climate crisis is not the explicit nor the sole cause of all this rain. But the precipitation uptick is 鈥渧ery much consistent鈥� with scientific projections for how climate change will play out in the state, Stuart Foster, Kentucky鈥檚 state climatologist, said.

Many in the state remain unconvinced. According to this month by Yale and George Mason universities, Kentucky is one of only four states in the country where most adults do not believe global warming is caused by humans.

Similar apathy reigns in the state legislature, where Republicans hold a lock on both houses. The chair of the House Natural Resources and Energy committee, Jim Gooch, for example, told Louisville鈥檚 WFPL radio station recently that the science on climate change . Other legislators seem still beholden to the coal industry, reform advocates say, and to utility companies.

Boldman, of the Kentucky Conservation Committee, warned that Kentucky could soon become less attractive to outside companies鈥攚ho increasingly are making their own climate commitments to consumers鈥攖hat might otherwise eye the state for investment. 鈥淚t can turn companies off if they see a state still hanging on to legacy energy,鈥� Boldman said. 鈥淐ompanies now are looking for renewables, and we鈥檙e playing catch up.鈥�

Climate Enters the Senate Race

Charles Booker, who narrowly lost the state鈥檚 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate to Amy McGrath, environmental justice and the Green New Deal. Booker, who is Black and hails from impoverished West Louisville, rejected stereotypical divisions between urban and rural voters. Kentuckians everywhere, he said, had suffered badly from environmental neglect, and he promised a just economic transition for parts of the state historically reliant on coal. 鈥淔rom the hood to the holler,鈥� went one Booker slogan.

Kentucky state representative and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Charles Booker greets John Wright, of Louisville, during a campaign stop on the day of the primary election in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 23, 2020. Charles Booker鈥檚 campaign for the Senate gained national attention as he rejected divisions between urban and rural voters. Photo by Bryan Woolston/Reuters.

Booker鈥檚 campaign captured national attention; and the fact that an unabashed climate advocate came as close as he did to facing off against McConnell this November could signal that Kentucky is ready to get serious on climate.

McGrath trails McConnell in the polls鈥攂ut not by so much, state politicos say, that she should be counted out. A retired Marine fighter pilot, McGrath calls climate change 鈥渋ntricately tied to our national security,鈥� a position that syncs with . Another early by McGrath focused on the health crisis in eastern Kentucky; 鈥淢itch McConnell left our coal miners behind years ago,鈥� she accused in one ad. Booker, for his part, has thrown his support behind McGrath.

Local races also suggest that environmental politics may be shifting in Kentucky. Sarah Lynn Cunningham, director of the Kentucky chapter of the Sierra Club, was struck this spring when a Republican running for state Senate in a competitive district near Louisville sought the group鈥檚 endorsement. The candidate was knowledgeable, she said, and expressed concern that many of his fellow Republicans lagged on the environment. 鈥淚鈥檝e never had a Republican say they would like to compete for our endorsement,鈥� Cunningham said. 鈥淭hat was a first.鈥� (In the end, the Sierra Club endorsed the Democrat, who won, flipping a seat held by since 1995.)

Democratic U.S. House of Representatives candidate for Kentucky鈥檚 Sixth Congressional District Amy McGrath speaks to campaign volunteers during a canvassing launch on Nov. 3, 2018, in Stanton, Kentucky. This year, she’s seeking the U.S Senate seat held by Mitch McConnell. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

Stephen Voss, an expert in elections and voter behavior at the University of Kentucky, doubts climate will prove central in this fall鈥檚 outcome. Based on his assessment of how environmental issues resonate in Kentucky, however, he suggested that McGrath could profit by framing climate as a matter of community health, economic durability, and jobs. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had nibbles at this approach,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut no one has successfully done it yet.鈥�

In a statement to The Guardian, McGrath did raise jobs and public health as areas where McConnell鈥檚 climate record has damaged Kentucky. McConnell, she said, is 鈥渇ailing us on climate, because he is beholden to special interests. If you want to bring jobs, we could get ahead of the curve and be an innovation leader.鈥�

鈥淥ur government鈥檚 first job is to keep Americans safe,鈥� McGrath added. 鈥淎nd to do that, we need to prepare for climate change.鈥�

The McConnell campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

The Power of Youth

Perhaps the biggest harbinger of change in Kentucky is the youth vote, with even in the state worried about the climate crisis. The question, Voss said, is whether young people will show up to vote this fall.

Fernanda Scharfenberger, an 18-year-old climate activist at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, is optimistic on that front. Two years ago, when Scharfenberger was a junior in high school in Louisville, a boy from a nearby school died after he was swept into a storm pipe during a heavy rain. The death hit her social group like a shock wave. Scharfenberger went home that day and Googled 鈥渃limate.鈥� 鈥淎s you can imagine,鈥� she said, 鈥渋t got pretty overwhelming pretty quickly.鈥� She felt called to action.

Fernanda Scharfenberger, 18, at Centre College. Photo by Andrew McCormick.

That December, Scharfenberger traveled with young people from across the country to Washington to lobby for a Green New Deal. All 50 states were represented but, with 75 young activists present, Kentucky鈥檚 was the largest delegation.

Back home, Scharfenberger co-founded a Louisville hub for the Sunrise Movement, which has taking McConnell to task for his ties to the fossil fuel industry and mocking approach to the Green New Deal. Sunrise hubs later formed in Lexington, Bowling Green, and far-western Murray.

Young activists were disappointed when McGrath bested Booker in the primary; they preferred Booker鈥檚 emphasis on local climate effects and his full-throated endorsement of a Green New Deal. Still, they relish the chance to unseat McConnell.

In June, Sunrise members from across the state led a outside McConnell鈥檚 home in Louisville demanding justice for , who was killed in that city by police in March. The ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, Scharfenberger said, have kept young activists engaged in community organizing and electoral work, stressing the intersection of environmental and social justice issues in the state.

This November will mark the first time Scharfenberger and many of her fellow activists are entitled to vote. 鈥淚 feel a large commitment and responsibility,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he people we put in office can so drastically impact people鈥檚 chances at survival. And we鈥檝e had enough of the bare minimum.鈥�

This story originally appeared in and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

Andrew McCormick is an independent journalist in Washington, D.C. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Nation, and Columbia Journalism Review, among other publications. He is a U.S. Navy veteran.