KANSAS WANTS WIND

The hair on the back of Kansas Republicans’ necks is on end at the appointment of this new wind energy Working Group. Yet the last time Governor Sebelius appointed a committee to look into wind, in 2004, it ended up cutting back on the number of turbines installed.

Sebelius appoints group to study wind energy
January 9, 2008 (Salina Journal)

WHO
Democratic Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, Republican House Speaker Melvin Neufeld and Republican Representative Carl Dean Holmes

Kansas has wind resources. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
Sebelius formed Kansas Wind Working Group to educate and promote wind energy in Kansas where it faces dedicated opposition from Neufeld and Holmes.

WHEN
The Working Group was announced January 8. It grew out of an ad hoc group’s research trip to Minnesota in 2004.

Mostly in the Flint Hills. (click to enlarge)

WHERE
- The Working Group will study the potential of wind energy throughout the state.
- The controversial Sunflower Electric Power coal plants that stiffened opposition to wind would be in the western Kansas town of Holcomb. One would supply parts of Kansas. The other would supply eastern Colorado.
- Holcomb was described by Truman Capote’s "In Cold Blood" as a place that stood "on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call 'out there.' "

WHY
- Parkinson will chair the Working Group. It has 33 members, including environmentalists and utility officials.
- Neufeld and Holmes support the $3.6 billion Sunflower Electric Power proposal of two new coal-fired power plants in Kansas that Sebelius’ Secretary of Health and Environment Rod Bremby refused to grant a construction permit for in October 2007 because of emissions. (See KANSAS REJECTS EMISSIONS)

The state has taken only preliminary steps to develop its wind resources. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Gov. Sebelius: "Opportunities for increased wind energy within this state are plentiful, affordable and obtainable…"
- Speaker Neufeld: "We need to actually do serious study on total energy needs and resources for the future…"
- John Cyr, executive director, North Central Kansas Regional Planning Commission and Working Group member: "Several of us three years ago went to Minnesota [to study wind power]… It included the Sierra Club, the Farm Bureau and other groups, and we met with power co-ops, cities and so on. That group had a good cross-section as well -- there was a lot of good discussion in the vans on the way back."
- Nancy Jackson, executive director, The Land Institute's Climate and Energy Project and Working Group member: "I am excited about this group…It gives multiple stakeholders an opportunity to work on issues that have been seen as roadblocks, such as siting and financing. In other states, groups like this have been very successful…I think you get a rational, ambitious plan for developing wind energy in the state ... the more these conversations can happen across disciplinary boundaries, the better…Wind is a solution…There's no silver bullet for the problems we're facing, but there is silver buckshot."
- Lt. Gov. Parkinson: "This is a complex issue that requires many folks working together, and we appreciate the willingness of key leaders on this issue to come together to help our state reach its potential…"