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A RESOLUTION honoring Tom FitzGerald for his years of service to the Kentucky 1
Resources Council. 2
WHEREAS, Tom FitzGerald was born and raised in New York, New York, and 3
attended Roger Williams College, Bristol, Rhode Island. He found his way to Kentucky 4
upon receiving a gift from his brother, the book "Night Comes to the Cumberlands." 5
Upon receiving his Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky's College of Law in 6
1980, he was a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellow with the Appalachian 7
Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky; and 8
WHEREAS, while Tom FitzGerald was representing landowners battling coal 9
companies through his work at the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund, he decided 10
to step out on his own in 1984 and create the Kentucky Resources Council. The Kentucky 11
Resources Council is a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization providing free 12
legal, strategic and policy assistance to individuals, organizations and communities 13
concerning environmental quality, resource extraction, energy, and utility issues; and 14
WHEREAS, Tom FitzGerald has been a fixture of the Capitol halls since the late 15
1970s, and while he has always been at the forefront of environmental and consumer 16
protection issues, he is also well known for the condition of his old, scuffed-up, brown 17
wingtip shoes. After a joke with Representative Herbie Deskins, from Pikeville, Tom 18
FitzGerald decided to wait until good environmental bills were passed before shining his 19
shoes; and 20
WHEREAS, Tom FitzGerald was able to shine those brown wingtip shoes upon 21
passage of a bill that raised landfill standards and made Kentucky a less economically 22
viable option for companies' refuse. The second time he was able to shine his shoes was 23
in the early 2000s when a bill passed that placed a fee on solid waste disposal which was 24
used to fund the closure of old polluting city dumps and support litter pickup programs. 25
Other legislation that the Kentucky Resources Council and Tom FitzGerald were 26
successful in helping get passed were creating a new Public Service Commission siting 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 2403
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board to approve new power plant sites and a net metering bill to allow homes and 1
business owners with solar panels to receive a one-for-one credit energy added to the 2
electric grid; and 3
WHEREAS, while Tom FitzGerald may be retiring from the Kentucky Resources 4
Council, he is confident that with expanding the board and hiring new staff, the Kentucky 5
Resources Council will continue and become stronger; 6
NOW, THEREFORE, 7
Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 8
Kentucky: 9
Section 1. The Senate honors Tom FitzGerald for his years of dedicated work 10
protecting the environment and citizens of Kentucky from unfair practices of utility 11
companies. 12
Section 2. The Senate recognizes that Tom FitzGerald has been a one-man army 13
for the environment within Frankfort for the last 40-plus years and extends well wishes 14
on the next "good trouble" proposal to engage communities and individuals in getting 15
involved in environmental decision-making at the local and state level. 16
Section 3. The Clerk of the Senate is directed to transmit a copy of this 17
Resolution to Senator Denise Harper Angel for delivery. 18