Members of the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition came to Frankfort today to lay out a case for sustainable energy job creation.
KSEC’s Tyler Offerman, of Lexington, says a House bill filed by Rep. Mary Lou Marzian would help create jobs in sustainable fields by requiring utilities to include renewable energy sources in their portfolio.
“These are a broad range of jobs, as well," he said. "So you know, we’re talking folks that work in construction, or have high-school degrees, folks who have been laid off from the coal mines. "
Offerman cited a study by Massachusetts-based Synapse Energy Economics that provisions like those in Marzian’s bill would lower utility costs and create 28,000 jobs by 2022.
"These are manufacturing, engineering, installation jobs," he said. "But they’re also great for recent graduates; folks who are seeking higher degrees, you know, around engineering and architecture, computer software.”
The bill has sat in the House Tourism Development & Energy Committee since mid-January.
