"Do you have strong feelings about coal mining that you want to share with your fellow Kentuckians?
Good news! Gov. Steve Beshear has a bucket of tax money for you.
The Governor's Office of Energy Policy this week issued a request for nonprofit groups with proposals to educate the public on "coal-related issues." . . .
Although the coal industry has controlled this program to date, there is nothing in state law that prevents anyone else -- including environmentalist nonprofit groups -- from applying for a grant to offer the public their own take on "coal-related issues."
To apply for the Kentucky Coal Education Project, get a copy of the Request For Proposals here. Deadline for applications is July 21 at 4:30 p.m.
A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism, based at the University of Kentucky. Links may expire, require subscription or go behind pay walls. Please send news and knowledge you think would be useful to benjy.hamm@uky.edu.
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Saturday, July 12, 2008
Ky. expands coal-ed program beyond coal industry
John Cheves of the Lexington Herald-Leader wrote a story about two months ago revealing that Kentucky state tax money was going to a coal-industry foundation for commercial messages favorable to the industry, even calling the controversial practice of mountaintop-removal coal mining "simply the right thing to do, both for the environment and the local economy." That story prompted the state to have that Web page revised and open up the program to other messages. Today, Cheves alerts readers of the paper's PolWatchers blog:
Mr. Cheeves showed the typical lack of reseach and painted a good program bad by his opinion. The Coal Education program is a grant program much like any other state funded initiative for agriculture, energy, enviromental education, etc. The grants have gone to industry non-profits, unitversities, schools, and have funded science fairs, writing competitions, scholarships, books, museums, exhibitions, art, mine safety, etc. etc. Mr. Cheeves attack was in short disingenuous and inaccurate.
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