With little of worth happening in this General Assembly session, silliness has begun grabbing the headlines.
Silliness such as Sen. Brandon Smith's Senate Joint Resolution 99 and Rep. Jim Gooch's House Bill 421, two totally ineffective attempts to limit the federal Environmental Protection Agency's regulation of coal mining in Kentucky.
Smith's resolution would declare Kentucky a "sanctuary state" in regard to EPA regulation. Gooch's bill would exempt from Clean Water Act regulations mining operations involving coal that never leaves the state.
Since coal mining in Kentucky impacts rivers flowing into other states, thus making mining operations subject to regulation under the interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, neither measure would accomplish a single thing other than letting its sponsor preen and posture in public while wasting other lawmakers' time.
To read the complete editorial, visit www.kentucky.com.