Denying coal plant won't hurt wind power

By Diane Silver

The claim that Kansas' denial of a huge, new coal plant near Holcomb will hurt the future of wind power took a hit this weekend.

The companies pushing for the coal plant say blocking coal would stop the construction of transmission lines for wind turbines.

Although not everyone at the 5th Kansas Electric Transmission Summit agreed, the Salina Journal reported that "many experts" said nothing is going to stop the surge to wind power.

The Salina Journal reports (emphasis added):

(T)he message from many of the experts was that wind development in the Midwest, especially Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, is growing explosively -- with or without new coal-fired power plants -- and the next order of business is to figure out how to ensure that the electric grid is fortified to serve needs for the foreseeable future.

More coverage is at the Lawrence Journal-World.

Meanwhile, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius joined with two Republican governors and one other Democratic governor in pledging to work on clean energy at the state level.