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Gov. Kathleen Sebelius stood up for the environment and vetoed a bill that would have allowed Sunflower Electric Power Corp to add two 700 megawatt power plants to its existing western Kansas facility. The governor said that federal regulations on green house gas emissions from coal powered electric plants would most likely be implemented in the coming years. She also made a great point about the state of Kansas being a largely agriculture state and is particularly vulnerable to the pollution that coal plants produce. Gov. Sebelius went a step further and issued an executive order to form a group of advisories to study how Kansas can reduce its green house gas emissions. This is a great step forward for the state of Kansas in my eyes and I think more and more states will be following in the same path of vetoes and green policies.
“We know that greenhouse gases contribute to climate change,” Sebelius said in a statement. “As an agricultural state, Kansas is particularly vulnerable. Therefore, reducing pollutants benefits our state not only in the short term — but also for generations of Kansans to come.”
Sunflower Electric did what most corporations do when denied what they want. They put out statement with a tinge of fear attached to it stating that it is disappointed about the governors decision and “If not resolved, this veto will unnecessarily raise electric rates for Kansas families and punish our Kansas workers and industries.” I think that this hold fast don’t think out of the box mentality is going to hurt the power companies that don’t jump on the green train that seems to be doing nothing but accelerating towards the future. Times are changing and so are the peoples expectation of where, how and at what cost do they get their goods and services.
I believe that more and more states will be following in the same direction and putting more of an emphasis on pushing corporations especially those who provide critical services to the public to be more earth friendly and aware of the damage they are and have been causing. If the government stops approving these air polluting power plants the companies that use them will have to come up with an alternative or other companies will come in that already have. Plato was absolutely right when he said, “Necessity, who is the mother of invention.” If we give these power companies a reason to innovate like a cap on their potential income then it is my belief that they will step up to the plate and innovate.
Source: Reuters
Update:
A new bill voted for by the Energy and Utility committee has been sent to the house for debate. This new bill would put carbon dioxide emissions restrictions on the two new coal power plants. This would be the first CO2 limit imposed by state law. The bill also contains a new addition that is designed to encourage wind power. I’d like to see what the House and the Gov. Sebelius end up doing with this bill.
Thank you Zewar for your tip to the update.
Update source: Kansas.com
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