Sometimes, the under appreciated ingredient in energy policy is fear.

For some, it’s fear of not being able to afford to fill up the gas tank or run the air conditioner. For others it’s irreversible climate change. In places like Kentucky, it’s about having a job, period.

In the coal country of Kentucky, the slow decline of coal as a fuel and the shift to natural gas and renewables for electricity  is being viewed with something close to terror, and not far from conspiracy, according to The New York Times. A proposal to switch the Big Sandy power plant from coal to natural gas caused so much controversy that the utility is asking for a rate increase to retrofit it