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Lane Boldman is not your stereotypical lobbyist. She is Executive Director of the Kentucky Conservation Committee (KCC), an organization that tracks legislation that impacts Kentucky’s environment and natural resources. In the current political climate it’s a tough job. Every year there are a large number of bills designed to roll back or weaken environmental protections. KCC analyzes every piece of legislation that could have a positive or negative impact on the environment. They make recommendations on each of the bills and work to get the word out so people know how they will be affected if the bills pass into law. Even when the legislative session isn’t underway Lane is there in the capital helping organizations and individuals that want to make their voices heard. She provides coaching, sets up meetings with legislators and helps citizen lobbyists navigate the maze of state politics.
During the 2017 and 2018 legislative sessions KCC was at the center of the fight over net metering in Kentucky. The utilities introduced bills that would have dismantled net metering and destroyed the state’s small rooftop solar businesses in the process. In this episode of Clean Power Planet Lane describes Kentucky’s net metering fight and walks us through the tactics that allowed solar proponents to defeat both bills. We also talk about what needs to be done to prepare for another likely attack in 2019.