The frontline battle of coal vs. climate in Kansas

Something remarkable is happening in the heartland of America. One might even consider it a tipping point for the battle of coal vs. climate. The story goes like this:

Last year, Sunflower Electric proposed the development of three new coal-fired power plants in Kansas. While building these plants would significantly increase power production by Sunflower, only 8% of the power would go to Kansas residents, with the rest being exported to Colorado.

Worse still, the plants were forecasted to dump 13 million tons of CO2 a year into the atmosphere, making them the single biggest polluter in the United States.

In Kansas, the Health and Environment secretary makes the approval decisions on permits for new power plants. Typically, the review cycle for these permits looks at traditional air pollutant concerns like ozone, and doesn't consider the climate change implications. But this time, the Secretary felt that these considerations could not be ignored. He rejected the permit.

Sunflower responded by launching a negative ad campaign at the governor. They also lobbied the Republican-heavy state congress, resulting in a bill that overturned the permit rejection and would allow the power plants to be built. The bill passed easily.

Then last week, Kansas Governor Sebelius vetoed the bill. She stated she would consider approving a plan for coal only if Sunflower would develop a plan that was heavy on renewable sources.

Sunflower believes this is too expensive. They claim to serve a lot of low-income residents and senior citizens, and coal is the only low-cost power option available to them. They are mulling a lawsuit against the governor in the State Supreme Court. It seems the battle will continue to rage for some time. And while it does so, hundreds of governments and power companies in the U.S. will be watching it closely.

Comments

[Uncle B]

One day we will learn to hydrogenate this C02 and add something like coal gas to it or by some other closely related process render the C02 a most valuable secondary industrial resource with great potential for reducing the oil barons' strangle-hold on our economy like blending it with currently used oil for enrichment. Do they (the barons) own and hide valuable patents we are not allowed to know about? The chemistry sounds "petrochemical" in nature, and will probably require catalysts and solar heat to make it work. Only vicious government intervention can cause a breakthrough here. Get done or get out of Iraq, and focus on problems at home for the survival of mankind.