By Jacque Day
Kentucky – Kentucky house majority leader Rocky Adkins says Energy issues dominated much of the conversation over the last few days at the Southern Legislative Conference in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Kentucky Democrat chairs the SLC's energy and environment committee and is the vice chair of the Southern State Energy Board. Adkins points out that much of America's energy and power producers are in the south.
"Whether they be coal-fired plants, or whether they be nuclear plants, they're located in the south. So not only do we have the resources in the source that produce energy for the rest of the nation... many of the utilities that produce that energy for folks to turn on the lights and run their small businesses and industries are also located in the south."
The Southern Legislative Conference has 16 member states, including Kentucky. Adkins says, lawmakers from southern states are building a stronger coalition to help them better influence the federal government's energy policies.