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Experts debate importance of coal

November 05, 2009 @ 07:36 PM

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Experts are meeting in central Kentucky to discuss the importance of coal in the state’s past, present and future.

Some of the scheduled speakers at the daylong forum Thursday at the University of Kentucky in Lexington included coal company executive Joe Craft; Al Cross, director of UK’s Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues; historian Ron Bryant; and Tom Fitzgerald, head of the Kentucky Resources Council and one of the state’s leading environmentalists.

Organizers say their goal is to provide “a balanced discussion regarding the past, present and future impacts of coal on our state’s economy and environment.”

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports about 275 people attended the morning sessions, which included discussions about how coal has fit into the state’s past and present.