{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-152.710","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 152.710","heading":"Legislative findings and determinations.","body":"The General Assembly finds and determines that:\n(1) The United States currently imports almost sixty percent (60%) of its petroleum\nneeds, and nearly half of these imports come from highly unstable regions and\ncountries. It is projected that this percentag e will grow to over seventy percent\n(70%) by 2025 unless the United States changes its policy on producing liquid\nfuels;\n(2) Events in the Middle East, Africa, and South America, coupled with China's efforts\nto secure world oil reserves and production faci lities, demonstrate that increasing\nreliance on foreign sources of petroleum threatens the homeland security of the\nUnited States. America's military is increasingly looking at the potential of alternate\nliquid fuels produced from fossil energy resources o r agricultural materials as a\nreliable, secure source of fuel;\n(3) Petroleum imports are the single largest cause of the nation's negative balance of\ntrade with the rest of the world and are a major cause of inflation and economic\nslowdown;\n(4) Experts project that world oil prices will remain very high because production is at\nor near its peak while world demand for oil is increasing rapidly. This increase in\ndemand is due largely to economic growth in developing nations, especially China,\nwhere oil demand grew by twenty percent (20%) in 2004 and is expected to grow by\na similar amount in 2005;\n(5) The price of crude oil is the major factor driving up prices for gasoline, as well as\nfor oil used for home heating in addition to commercial and industrial purp oses.\nNatural gas for home heating and other purposes has been driven to record -high\nprices as a result of supply constriction and increased demand from the industrial\nsector;\n(6) Technologies have long existed for producing transportation fuels from indig enous\nfossil and biomass energy resources in the United States, and research has\ndemonstrated that coal-based alternate fuel technologies are cost-effective when the\nworld price of petroleum exceeds thirty-five dollars ($35) per barrel;\n(7) The United Stat es has trillions of tons of indigenous fossil energy resources and\nagricultural capacity that rival total worldwide conventional oil reserves. These\ndomestic resources are capable of producing alternate transportation fuels sufficient\nto make the United St ates independent of foreign petroleum imports. Kentucky has\nhundreds of years of fossil energy resources, and the Commonwealth's agriculture\nproduces substantial biomass materials for production of premium -quality liquid\ntransportation fuels;\n(8) The development of an alternate transportation fuels industry in the United States\nwill create long -term reliable demand for Kentucky's energy and agricultural\nresources, stabilizing both the energy industries and the agriculture community;\n(9) Coal-based alternate  transportation fuel technologies are capable of producing\nenvironmentally superior transportation fuels from near -zero-emission plants with\nremoval or capture of virtually all pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrous\noxides, mercury, and carbon dioxi de, and from biomass-based technologies that are\nvery environmentally positive. The United States can set an example for the world\nby implementing these technologies, and Kentucky is poised to lead the way;\n(10) Coal-based technologies in the United States  are capable of producing pipeline -\nquality natural gas and industrial -quality natural gas at prices which are below\ncurrent annual market prices for natural gas;\n(11) Kentucky's universities have for several decades been among the leading entities in\nthe United States doing research on transportation fuels from coal and oil shale. The\nKentucky Department of Agriculture has provided support relating to development\nof transportation fuels from Kentucky agricultural materials;\n(12) Although developing an alter nate fuels industry capable of reducing America's\ndependence on foreign sources of petroleum requires the large -scale financial and\ntechnical resources of the federal government and private industry, only government\nand industry in the states can ensure th e most efficient and productive on -site\njoining of technologies, energy resources, and industrial and transportation\ninfrastructure;\n(13) The economic, national security, and environmental advantages of establishing\nthriving domestic alternative liquid fue ls and synthetic natural gas industries vastly\noutweigh the development costs. In contrast, doing little or nothing subjects\nAmerica to continued and repeated energy supply disruptions and to potentially\nsevere economic consequences;\n(14) Embarking on a national mission to achieve energy security and move toward liquid\nand synthetic fuels independence will not only reduce risk and lower oil prices,\nnatural gas prices, and oil price volatility, it will also facilitate an industrial rebirth,\ncreate jobs, foster new technology, and enhance economic growth; and\n(15) Kentucky, through its universities, has done the research and testing of these\nenvironmentally responsible alternative liquid fuel technologies. Kentucky has the\nnatural resources to be the leader in achieving energy security and independence for\nthe United States.","path":["KRS Chapter 152"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=2343","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:48Z","sha256":"e1029fdc2b274a3d4928004768e063307c9a03e7c23c6b763727678130df28d1","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-152.700","next":"us-ky/krs-152.712"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}