Kansas coal plants see new life -- with the help of bills written in secret

By Diane Silver

Kansas' controversial Holcomb coal plants appear to be on the verge of resurrection with the help of two bills written in secret. The bills -- House Bill 2177 and Senate Bill 515 -- were introduced yesterday.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the plants’ developer, Sunflower Electric Power Corp. "had input into the legislation." The bills were crafted by the Republican chairs of the House and Senate committees that deal with energy legislation and the ranking Democratic members on the committees.

I've made a few calls and have learned that as of last week, even pro-coal lawmakers who normally participate in energy discussions were kept out of these talks.

The Journal-World reports:

Tom Thompson, a lobbyist with the Kansas chapter of the Sierra Club, which opposes the plants, said he didn’t think that was right.

“Obviously, it was not an open process,” Thompson said.

BREAKING: Kansas governor hits the REAL big time

By Diane Silver

I guess being a Democratic governor in a red, red state has its perks. Kathleen Sebelius has been chosen to give the Democratic Party's rebuttal to George W. Bush's State of the Union on Jan. 28.

This is good news for Sebelius, Kansas and for the idea that red-state leaders DO have something to say to the left and right coasts.

For those of you wondering who the heck this Sebelius person is...

She is a moderate Democrat, but she has been supportive of fairness for all. On Labor Day, she signed an executive order protecting LGBT state workers from job discrimination. This was a first for Kansas.

The Wikipedia bio of Sebelius seems fairly accurate with a few mis-steps. The bio implies that it's odd for a governor of Kansas to be pro-choice. Not so. Her predecessor, Republican Bill Graves, also favored abortion rights. The bio says she has an out gay son, but I guess I'm the last queer in Kansas to know that. The material on her record as governor and insurance commissioner seems accurate, though.

The Cincinnati Enquirer has a good article about her early years growing up as the daughter of Ohio's governor.

And last, but not least, she just gave her own State of the State address last night.

UPDATE

The decision by the Sebelius Administration to block construction of two coal plants because of global warming was a first for the state and nation. Republican legislative leaders are loudly opposing the decision and claim they'll do everything to lift the road-block. Recent news reports claim behind-the-scene talks might be aiming at some kind of deal.

BREAKING: Poll shows that Kansans overwhelmingly reject coal plants

By Diane Silver

Even in Kansas -- even in western Kansas -- people don't want to see new coal plants built. That's the word from a poll of 1,007 Kansans that was released today.

By a two-to-one margin, the poll found that Kansans support the Department of Health and Environment's rejection of two coal plants planned for Holcomb in the western part of the state.

Even those living in the 1st Congressional District, which takes in all of western Kansas, support rejection of the coal plants by a slim majority.

These findings could potentially have huge implications.

For Kansas, this could mean that the expected legislative attempt to resurrect the coal project may be dead on arrival. This is especially important because both houses of the Legislature are led by lawmakers from the west. Both House Speaker Melvin Neufeld and Senate President Steve Morris have vowed to take action to bring the coal plants back to life.

These poll results make it much harder -- if not impossible -- for Neufeld and Morris to claim that Kansans actually want these plants. The poll makes it darn near impossible for the two to claim that even their own constituents want the plants.

However, I think the implications of this poll go beyond the Sunflower State. The poll shows a keen awareness and concern about global warming in, of all places, out - in - the - middle - of - nowhere and terminally conservative Kansas.

Even out here, people get it.

You can download details of the poll , which was done by Cooper & Secrest Associates of Alexandria, Va., for The Land Institute, a Salina-based organization.

UPDATE

More on the poll and legislative reaction.

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.