KANSANS STAND UP TO BIG COAL

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius courageously stood up to Big Coal on March 21. She vetoed a legislative effort to override the decision by Rod Bremby, secretary of Kansas’ Department of Health and Environment, to stop the building of a coal-fired power plant.

Bremby made his decision last year (see KANSAS REJECTS EMISSIONS) based on his conclusion the plant’s greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions would do serious harm to health and environment in Kansas and the region.

Quickly, hyperbolic newspaper ads appeared discrediting Bremby's decision, claiming it would be good for Vladimir Putin, Hugo Chávez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and would force Kansas to "import more natural gas from countries like Russia, Venezuela and Iran" – although no U.S. state imports gas from those countries.

The Sierra Club called Bremby's decision “a watershed moment” and a coal plant developer acknowledged that Kansas has become "… ground zero in the fight over the future of coal…" while the coal industry initiated procedures to take Bremby’s decision to the state supreme court.

Coal backers in the legislature, referred to by one commentator as “Kansas Coal Heads,” passed a law overriding Bremby’s decision and stripping him of his power to make such decisions in the future. While announcing her veto of the legislature’s law, Governor Sebelius also announced her executive order establishing the Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy Advisory Group to advise on such decisions going forward.

Coal Heads believe Governor Sebelius’ veto to be motivated by her political ambition. From The Kansas Republican: “The environmentalist wing of the democratic party (sic) will veto Sebelius national political ambitions if she signs this bill…If (Barack) Obama does not get the nomination and this bill is still in the air, Sebelius will be running to land a compromise on this faster than a Kansas fly lands on a cow turd.”

Bremby knew the plant would bring the state $3.6 billion and would be an improvement over older plants. His staff recommended approving. But he could not ignore "…the potential harm to our environment and health if we do nothing." He made a decision from conscience and science and from a sense of the future. Governor Kathleen Sebelius backed him at the time and now has added deed to word.

The Kansas City Star, describing Sebelius’ stance: “That’s not what you call being partisan or political, that’s what you call being conservative and smart. Kansans deserve no less.”

Sebelius and Bremby stand in contrast to Stephen Johnson, Bush-appointed administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who – in defiance of all scientific evidence – continues to refuse to state publicly that GhGs are harmful to public health or welfare.

One of Bremby’s considerations: A letter from the attorneys general in 6 other states warning that the plant’s emissions would cancel out their states’ efforts to cut GhGs. Bremby realized his decision to benefit 2.7 million Kansans would affect the health and welfare of 45 million neighbors: "If appointed officials only did what they're directed to do by policy makers, without [heeding] science or laws, they'd be just hacks…"

While the coal industry is working through the courts to win its right to spew, the controversy has produced one important step forward. Westar Energy Inc., Kansas’ biggest utility, has committed to measuring its GhGs and studying reduction methods. That is not a commitment to reduce, just to study HOW to reduce.

Like Bremby, Westar knows emissions caps are coming. Westar is getting ready to face the future. Bremby, committed not just to greenwashing but to conscience, is going out to meet it: "I can't do anything about what's going on in China…But I know this decision means we [in Kansas] won't be contributing to that impact of climate change."

Bremby also knows what the Washington Post, in Coal Can’t Fill World’s Burning Appetite, reported March 20: “The signs of a coal crisis have been showing up from mine mouths to factory gates and living rooms…An untimely confluence of bad weather, flawed energy policies, low stockpiles and voracious growth in Asia’s appetite have driven international spot prices of coal up by 50 percent or more in the past five months, surpassing the escalation of oil prices…If high prices last that would raise the cost of U.S. electricity, half of which is generated by coal-fired power plants.”

Footnote: In trying to convince Bremby and Kansas to build the coal plant, Sunflower Electric had agreed to include technology allowing part of the emissions to feed algae which would then be used to make a next-generation biofuel. Where there is no way to avoid coal-fired plants, this is an important concession.

Kansas has some coal but the plant was to be on the opposite side of the state, requiring energy- and emissions-intensive raw materials train transport. (click to enlarge)

Coal’s probable future: dirty and costly
Rhonda Chriss Lokeman, March 22, 2008 (Kansas City Star)
and
Sebelius vetoes energy bill; senate president will seek override
March 21, 2008 (Kansas City Business Journal)
and
Kansan Stokes Energy Squabble With Coal Ruling – Official Cites Warming In Blocking Two Plants; ‘Ground Zero’ In Fight
Stephen Power, March 19, 2008 (Wall Street Journal)

WHO
Rod Bremby, secretary, Kansas Department of Health and Environment; Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas governor; Sunflower Electric Power Corp.

Governor Sebelius is also wisely urging her state toward the development of its wind energy assets. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
Bremby used the power of his office to stop the construction of a Sunflower Electric coal-burning power plant on the grounds of its greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions. His decision outraged the coal industry and cheered those concerned about global climate change. Governor Sebelius supported the decision and vetoed legislation written to overrule Bremby.

WHEN
- There may be no other instance of state or federal regulators stopping a power plant because of its GhG emissions.
- A relatively conservative U.S. Supreme Court ruled in April that CO2 is a pollutant.
- A lawsuit is pending in the Kansas Supreme Court.

Kansas' courageous leaders are holding back the "sunrise" for all the reasons Matt Simmons points out. (click to enlarge)

WHERE
- Before his appointment by Sebelius, Bremby was assistant city manager of Lawrence, Kan.
- The Sunflower Electric Power Corp. power plant was proposed for Holcomb, in western Kansas.

WHY
- There is growing worldwide concern about GhG emissions and global climate change.
- This Congress or the next one is expected to pass legislation capping emissions.
- Some contend Bremby’s action was not legal. The state Supreme Court will soon decide.
- Some argue the decision will raise Kansas consumers’ power bills. Kansas presently gets ¾ of its electricity from coal-fired plants and pays below average prices.

It's not in Kansas anymore. But it is in China and India. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Frank Maisano, spokesman, coal plant developers: "Kansas is ground zero in the fight over the future of coal…"
- Steve Morris, president, Kansas' state Senate: "For an unelected person to decide on his own to make this kind of decision without any input from the legislative branch is a huge mistake…When you hear about China putting a new coal plant on line every week and so many other sources of pollution around, to try to single out one [project] as the magic bullet to offset the emissions of tens of thousands of other emissions producers doesn't make a lot of sense."
- Rhonda Chriss Lokeman, columnist, Kansas City Star: “…little of what the Coal Heads have said makes much sense, especially in economically strapped times…But in all fairness and with all due respect, it’s not easy thinking clearly with a lump of coal atop your profit-driven noggin… Why would Kansas commit to long-term reliance on this fossil fuel when the industry is showing signs of distress which means shortages, fewer jobs and higher utility costs for consumers?”