A depressing number of people and organizations have polluted the process used to decide whether the Sunflower coal-fired power plant will be expanded in western Kansas.

State legislators, Govs. Mark Parkinson and Sam Brownback, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment have not acted in the public’s best interest during this tortured five-year saga. As a result, a weak permit was rushed through to allow the expansion.

Now the legitimacy of that permit is before the Kansas Supreme Court, where the case has taken another disturbing twist.

In a letter to the state health department, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has essentially accused the state of lying to the Supreme Court.

The state told the court the EPA didn’t object to the permit. But an EPA response letter says that, in fact, the feds have made it clear they don’t think the permit is strict enough.

It’s troubling that the EPA many months ago did not act more forcefully to make sure Kansas approved the strongest possible restrictions on pollution from the new plant.

Instead, the EPA unwisely let the state rush through a weak permit modeled on demands of the operator, Sunflower Electric Power Corp.

The Supreme Court needs to sort out this mess. So far, state and federal governments have failed to take appropriate steps to protect thousands of Kansans from a larger plant’s future harmful emissions.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/02/3244658/the-stars-editorial-more-dirt.html#ixzz1cdxVYyrZ

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Last week (Tuesday, October 18th, to be exact) marked the fourth year since then-Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Rod Bremby issued the historic denial of air quality permits for the proposed 1400 MW Holcomb Station coal-fired expansion sought by Sunflower Electric Power Corporation (of Kansas), Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (based in Colorado), and Golden Spread Electric Cooperative (of Texas).

That Was Then

Bremby cited the (then) recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA classifying carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, and the United Nations IPCC reports on global climate change and its impacts upon human health and the environment among his reasons for the denial.  His decision also cited Kansas statutory authority clearly delegated to the KDHE Secretary for such decisions.  His decision was the first instance in the United States of a public official blocking coal plant construction based in part upon concern for health and environmental impacts from climate change caused by coal-fired power plant emissions.

Pro-coal forces in Kansas and elsewhere immediately launched an assault on then-Governor Sebelius, with paid advertisements in national media linking the decision to support for foreign dictators and hyperbolic claims that Bremby acted “illegally” and “against the will of Kansans.”  The ads were blasted by observers everywhere as false information and fear-mongering, and subsequent multiple, bi-partisan polls in Kansas showed clear and overwhelming public opposition to the proposed coal plant project with its emphasis upon unneeded electricity generation, imported resources, pollution of Kansas, and value and economic impact for other states.

The Sebelius administration spent significant political capital defeating multiple versions of pro-coal and anti-regulatory wish-list legislation in 2008 and 2009.   As late as April of 2009, then-Lt. Governor Parkinson repeatedly and publicly called out the lies and misinformation project supporters were using to justify their efforts.

In the wake of the 2008 national elections, the pro-pollution and climate change denial machine (generously funded and guided by Kansas’ own Koch brothers) increased efforts to undermine established scientific consensus regarding climate change and human-caused drivers of global warming.  Using climate change denial and the economic recession as a kind of Trojan horse, the pro-pollution, anti-health crowd has undertaken a concerted effort to not simply stop regulation or valuation of greenhouse gases, but to undo 40 years of federal public health and environmental protections – protections that have coincided with unprecedented overall economic growth and prosperity in the United States.

Sunflower Electric and its allies dodged continuous questions about the project (from financial mismanagement, to “clean coal” falsehoods, to demand realities, to water consumption) and threw everything and the kitchen sink at the decision and support for it, including personally naming Bremby, Sebelius, and Parkinson in a frivolous federal lawsuit.   Yet, the project remained stalled for legal, regulatory, financial, and other reasons.  Golden Spread moved on, and developed wind and natural gas assets to meet its relatively small need for future generation capacity.

Public and administrative support for Bremby’s decision stood firm until Sebelius departed for a Presidential cabinet appointment.  Immediately upon being sworn in as governor, Parkinson announced his own secret deal with Sunflower Electric that gave pro-pollution advocates everything they had ever wanted (and that he had previously called “dishonest” and “unnecessary”), including a 900 MW coal plant at the Holcomb Station and a complete stripping of state responsibility for air quality.  Of note, Bremby never signed the settlement agreement and KDHE was never involved in the development of the deal.  Parkinson then embarked upon a process of collusion and political pressure that saw the project permitted before the end of 2010 despite unprecedented public opposition – ultimately firing Bremby in order to clear that path.

This Is Now

In mid-2011, former KDHE Secretary Bremby accepted an offer by the governor of Connecticut to apply his considerable talents and commitment to public service on behalf of that state’s citizens.

Former Governor Parkinson is now a highly paid lobbyist in Washington, DC, and former Sunflower Electric Power Corporation CEO Earl Watkins has retired.

The Bloomberg Foundation (of New York City’s Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg) recently donated $50 million to Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.

And a Republican sweep of statewide elected offices and Congressional seats leaves Kansas with the most conservative (and pro-polluter) public leadership in the state’s modern history.

Meanwhile, the pesky reality that, due to massive unpaid taxpayer loans, Sunflower Electric is essentially a federal government entitlement project did not escape the attention of a federal District Judge, who ruled that Sunflower Electric and the Rural Utilities Service of USDA had violated federal law in pushing the Holcomb Station coal-fired expansion forward at taxpayer risk and without legally-required review. Remediation in that case is pending, as is a Kansas Supreme Court review of a legal challenge to the KDHE permit and process for the project.

According to the permit granted by KDHE, the proposed plant is not state of the art or clean, as claimed, but will in fact be one of the dirtiest plants in the nation.

Electricity demand is down and, even accounting for the recession, projections are for much lower demand than utilities had been claiming.

None of the primary project partners can demonstrate a need for coal-fired generation from the project – it appears to be essentially a merchant plant designed to benefit Tri-State since it will be phased for the Western Grid and will be owned entirely by Tri-State.

The much-touted jobs and economic benefit from the project are years away at best, since there is no need for the plant’s capacity and Tri-State has publicly stated construction will not begin prior to 2016, at the earliest.  Still, Kansas elected officials continue to help Tri-State delay the project while blaming “environmental extremists” for the delays.

The fundamental science that informs the worldwide observations of global warming caused by anthropogenic climate change continue to be confirmed, including by a recent study funded in part by the Charles Koch Charitable Foundation.

Kansas’ relative ranking in achievable wind energy capacity has increased.  Recent tall tower data for Kansas from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory shows even more wind density than previously measured, with wind generation capacity factors in southwestern Kansas reaching over 50% in some instances.  Wind farm and transmission development in Kansas continue apace, regardless of the proposed Holcomb Expansion coal-fired project.

Lower prices and increased supply have made natural gas cost-competitive with long-term coal contracts, and its cleaner emissions portfolio beats coal’s performance (and cost) under increasing public health and environmental protections.  Natural gas is also a much better partner for renewable energy integration than coal.

In spite of deceptive and misleading partisan political tactics, modern and necessary public health and environmental protections (most developed under previous Republican administrations, many focused on power plant emissions) continue to be implemented and supported by a significant bi-partisan majority of Americans.

The regulatory uncertainty caused by partisan political opposition to carbon regulation or valuation, in the context of virtual certainty by key actors in capital finance markets and energy policy circles that greenhouse gases must and will be regulated in the future, has created significant overhanging risk, halting most investment in new coal plants and making the economics of coal plant retrofits questionable.

Efforts continue to obscure the facts, derail the rule of law, and deny the public interest in order to benefit the coal plant project and its special interest allies.  All in all, though, it seems that Mr. Bremby’s decision four years ago remains as visionary and important an act of public service now as it was in October of 2007.

Scott Allegrucci is the Executive Director of the Great Plains Alliance for Clean Energy

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From The Lawrence Journal World

This is not how government is supposed to work.

An email trail examined by a Kansas City newspaper reveals a disturbingly cozy relationship between the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Sunflower Electric Power Corp., which was seeking a KDHE permit to build a coal-fired power plant in southwest Kansas. After several years of contentious dealings during which a permit for the plant was denied several times, it appears that, during the closing days of Gov. Mark Parkinson’s term, elements of the permit process were virtually turned over to Sunflower officials.

Key among those was KDHE’s decision to simply forward public comments about the power plant to Sunflower officials who then supplied responses. In many cases, those answers, or something very much like them were simply passed along in a way that made them appear to be unbiased responses that were researched and supplied by KDHE.

According to the news report, KDHE received almost 6,000 comments from various experts and members of the public concerning the power plant project. Although it had taken KDHE staff about 10 months to review and respond to almost 800 public comments it received in 2007, the department was able to deal with the 6,000 comments in about seven weeks.

It was no secret that this project was on the fast track after Parkinson bartered a deal in May 2009 that would allow one coal-fired plant to be built. Sunflower submitted a new permit application in January 2010. The permit still was under review when KDHE Secretary Rod Bremby was dismissed from his post on Nov. 2, 2010. The next month, acting KDHE Secretary John Mitchell approved the permit.

During that seven weeks, the emails, obtained through a public records request, show that KDHE officials boiled the 6,000 comments down to about 275 questions, which it sent to Sunflower to obtain written responses. The emails also show instances where KDHE staff members asked Sunflower officials whether the department should even respond to some comments. The relationship was so tight that a Sunflower employee was sent to Topeka to help set up a computer program to organize the public comments for KDHE and Sunflower.

What the emails reveal is a relationship that is highly inappropriate for a state agency and a company it has the duty to regulate. It wouldn’t be unusual for KDHE to seek input or technical information from Sunflower, but to allow the utility to pick the questions it will address and then supply the answers was, in Bremby’s words, “a total abdication of responsibility.”

The conduct of KDHE in this matter transcends any judgment on the merits of the Sunflower application. Whether or not they believe the southwest power plant should be built, Kansans should be extremely concerned by the process by which that permit was approved. KDHE’s charge was to make an independent, unbiased appraisal of the power plant project and the various issues raised in public comments about the permit.

The trail of email officials left behind indicates they failed miserably in that task.

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Opposing sides are still debating whether the proposed Sunflower coal-fired plant in western Kansas would pollute the environment.

But emails obtained by The Star leave little doubt that the process the state of Kansas used to grant the power company an expedited building permit was foul.

As detailed by Star reporter Karen Dillon, regulators in the Kansas Department of Health and Environment worked hand-in-hand with officials from Sunflower Electric Power Corp. as they rushed through a permit review process.

Speed was of the essence because Sunflower wanted to beat a Jan. 2 deadline. New federal regulations scheduled to take effect after that date would increase the cost of building a coal-fired plant — and improve air quality.

Emails show that staffers in the Department of Health and Environment were in almost daily contact with Sunflower and even allowed the power company to compose official state responses to questions and concerns from the public.

An agency conducting an objective review wouldn’t operate that way. Only an agency seeking to validate a foregone conclusion would give so much authority to an applicant.

The permit process is a shameful legacy of former Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson. Parkinson, a Democrat, reversed the refusal of his Democratic predecessor, Kathleen Sebelius, to grant a permit for a coal-burning plant in western Kansas. Sebelius and her secretary of Health and Environment, Roderick Bremby, said the plant would pollute Kansas air while generating most of its power for Colorado.

Parkinson fired Bremby in early November, after Sunflower officials said they thought he was slowing down the permit process. With Bremby gone, regulators and Sunflower staff worked nights and weekends to process the permit.

The rush to grant the approval raises questions about the safety of the proposed plant. The point of the laborious process is to fairly weigh all valid concerns. That doesn’t seem to have taken place in Kansas.

The Sierra Club has filed a legal appeal. It claims, among other things, that the Department of Health and Environment didn’t respond adequately to public comment, as required by state law. The case is before the Kansas Supreme Court.

The federal Environmental Protection agency also has expressed concern that the permit’s emission rates are higher than federal law allows.

Either the courts or the EPA should put the brakes on the Sunflower project. A coal plant that will affect air quality for decades is too important to be the end result of a polluted process.
Read more: http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/polluted-process-mark-parkinsons-administration-sunflower-permit/#ixzz1PswDktcr

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Action: Contact the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) via Sierra Club’s alert page – ask EPA to fulfill its responsibility to the public, oppose a corrupt and politically-influenced permit process, and hold the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) accountable for a botched permit.

Another action you may take is to contact Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and request that his office investigate the Holcomb coal plant permitting process to determine whether there was any illegal misconduct, beyond the unethical collusion between Sunflower Electric (Sunflower) and KDHE.  CREDO Action has set up a page where you can sign on to a petition to Attorney General Schmidt.

Why: Recent reporting by the Kansas City Star shows Sunflower gamed the public comment process for the “Holcomb” coal plant permit, unethically influencing – even controlling – KDHE responses to public comments expressing opposition to the project.

Bottom line: Sunflower colluded with the Kansas agency responsible for public health and environment in order to ignore public input on an unnecessary and dirty coal plant for Colorado, and rush a permit for the project ahead of federal greenhouse gas regulations.

You knew it was bad.  But perhaps you didn’t know just how bad it was .

The Kansas City Star obtained some of the hundreds of emails between KDHE and Sunflower that indicate Sunflower staff, attorneys, and consultants drafted KDHE responses to public comments submitted during the permitting process last summer and fall.  Thousands of Kansans – an unprecedented number, in fact – worked very hard to participate in the permitting process and deserve better than a rushed, unethical process that Sunflower itself was improperly allowed to control.

You read that right. According to the Star, “the department allowed Sunflower to respond to questions from the public and then passed some of the answers off as their own.”

In the wake of the Parkinson settlement agreement and while under intense political pressure from Governor Parkinson’s office, Sunflower – the applicant for a pollution-control permit – was allowed to draft responses to public comments on behalf of the state agency that granted that permit.  KDHE then officially published responses to public comments – created by Sunflower - as the official responses from KDHE and the Acting Secretary.

GPACE’s own review of the emails indicates a number of troubling, unethical patterns.  Clearly Sunflower was acting as an extension of KDHE in terms of the permit review process – there was no effective barrier between the goals of the private-sector applicant and the public-sector agency – and therefore no credible, objective review of the permit or the public comments related to it.  In fact, after Parkinson fired former KDHE Sec. Rod Bremby, the emails indicate that Wayne Penrod of Sunflower was effectively calling the shots for KDHE on how to respond to specific public comments and the schedule for the permit review and ultimate approval.

In addition, Sunflower was given unfair and exceptional access to the public comments, and even converted some of them to editable file formats in order to develop responses for KDHE.  As such, there may be no way to be certain that KDHE published responses to the actual public comments submitted.

Since polluters, special interests, and politicians at the highest levels have thoroughly corrupted the permit process in Kansas, EPA and the state’s ranking law enforcement officer have a legal and ethical obligation to intervene on behalf of the rest of us.

This recent revelation marks a sad day for the rule of law in Kansas – not to mention the health and well-being of generations of Kansans.

But it gives you another opportunity to set things right.  Contact EPA and Attorney General Schmidt now and let them know you expect nothing less.

Forward this GPACE Take Action page.  Don’t let your extraordinary efforts and your right to to be heard and considered by your public agency be taken from you.

You can take additional action that will be very helpful.  We need reporters, editors, and publishers to understand that the public is interested in this issue.  Can you take a few minutes to help promote the KC Star story? Here are some quick and easy things you can do to help.

• Forward the story link and ask others to do the same.
• Post comments below the story on the KC Star website.
• Re-post the link to Facebook, Twitter, and other online outlets you have access to.
• “Like” the story on Facebook.
• Submit a letter to the editor of the KC Star on the story.  If you want a few pointers, instructions, or talking points, we’re happy to help out!  Feel free to get in touch with us at info@gpace.org.  Also check out the additional information links below, and other resources on our website.  Suggested talking points:
  • The permit for the Sunflower coal plant was the most controversial permit KDHE has ever considered.  Despite this, KDHE allowed Sunflower unfair control over the permitting process, reviewed a record number of comments in less time than ever before, and issued  a permit under intense political pressure.
  • Thousands of people, including me (if applicable), participated in the permitting process with expectations that our input would be considered by KDHE in a fair manner.
  • Thank you to the (LJ World or KC Star, whichever is appropriate) for your editorial on the Sunflower coal plant permitting process.  As a citizen who worked hard to participate in the process and submit comments (if applicable), I was deeply discouraged by reports that KDHE allowed Sunflower the ability to respond to public comments.  I expected KDHE to review my comments, not Sunflower.
  • KDHE has failed to adequately protect the health and environment of Kansas, and the EPA has an obligation to act in this case and object to the permit KDHE issued to Sunflower.
  • EPA promised Kansans a fair permitting process.  As the KC Star’s research indicates, a fair process is not what led to the permit approval.  It is time for EPA to make good on its word.

• Email Karen Dillon (kdillon@kcstar.com - the KC Star reporter) and thank her for her investigation into this matter.

For additional background on how Sunflower, Tri-State, Kansas elected officials, and an army of special interest lobbyists have corrupted the Holcomb coal plant process, see:

http://www.gpace.org/news/kdhe-was-a-lapdog/

http://www.gpace.org/news/failed-duty/

http://www.gpace.org/news/a-polluted-process-by-mark-parkinsons-administration-on-sunflower-permit/

http://www.gpace.org/blog/gaming-the-system-to-get-a-coal-plant/

http://www.gpace.org/blog/brembys-firing-could-derail-the-coal-plant/

http://www.gpace.org/blog/a-coal-plant-over-the-rainbow-the-parkinson-kdhe-sunflower-electric-mess/

http://www.gpace.org/blog/the-cleanest-coal-plant-in-the-country-not/

http://www.gpace.org/blog/the-coal-plant-boondoggle-goes-to-washington/

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Three months ago, Roderick Bremby was abruptly fired by then-Gov. Mark Parkinson.

He is still wondering why.

Bremby doesn’t know for sure that it was because he had blocked a proposed coal plant, although many suspect that was the reason.

“I definitely feel I did the right thing,” Bremby told The Kansas City Star on Wednesday in his first interview since being fired.

Bremby was appointed secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment by then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in 2003.

His work there was fairly smooth until Sunflower Electric Power Corp. filed an application to build coal plants in western Kansas. In 2006, after much work, research and discussion, Bremby made his decision.

His announcement was a landmark in environmental history. He became the first public official to deny a permit to build a coal plant based on concerns that carbon dioxide emissions are a danger to health and the environment.

But the fight was just beginning.

In 2009, Sebelius was appointed to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, who had opposed the coal plant, took her job.

“When he was lieutenant governor, we had a solid working relationship,” Bremby said. “Mark took a very active role in supporting alternative energy.”

But on May 1, 2009, a Friday, Bremby said he met with Parkinson, who said there was some interest in finding some middle ground regarding the coal plant issue.

What Parkinson didn’t say was that he was in the middle of meetings with Sunflower executives, and on Monday, the stunning compromise was announced. It would allow Sunflower to build one coal plant.

“The pace and speed of the development surprised me,” Bremby said.

Parkinson could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

In 2010, as Parkinson’s term as governor was nearing an end, Sunflower officials were telling Topeka insiders that they were concerned Bremby was deliberately slowing down the permit. Sunflower wanted the permit finished by Jan. 2 to beat new federal regulations on greenhouse gases.

On Nov. 2, Election Day, Bremby got a call from Parkinson’s chief of staff and his legal counsel. They advised him that the governor wanted him to take a Cabinet transition director position.

Bremby suggested he could do both jobs, but they told him no, he would no longer be KDHE secretary. He was told that he could receive a severance package if he agreed not to discuss the issues until after Parkinson left office in January.

“There was no rationale given,” Bremby said. “There was no conversation about the permit or any of that. I have not had a chance to visit with Mark, so I’ll just wonder a while and leave it where it is.”

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We’ve been told by supporters of the proposed Sunflower Electric Power Corporation / Tri-State Generation & Transmission Holcomb Station coal-fired power plant that it will be “the cleanest coal plant in the country.”  For example:

“The BACT analysis has been refreshed.  It’s the cleanest coal power plant in the country.  That’s clean.  If it’s not, it’s something that we should all be ashamed of.”  Wayne Penrod, Executive Manager of Environmental Policy for Sunflower Electric Power Corporation (10/25/2010 – Topeka, KS, KDHE public permit hearing)

“Best Available Control Technology is required, so that means that when a new power plant is built, whatever kind of power plant, it will be the cleanest power plant in the world at that time.”  Forrest Knox, Kansas House of Representatives, District 13 (8/2/2010 – Overland Park, KS, KDHE public permit hearing)

“Bottom line, this will provide badly needed jobs for Kansas and will be the cleanest coal plant in the nation.”  Richard Taylor, President, Kansas State Building & Construction Trades Council (8/2/2010 – Overland Park, KS, KDHE public permit hearing)

Umm…No.  Not Even Close.

In reality, this simply isn’t true. Using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, the KDHE permit for Holcomb 2, and working with MSB Energy Associates and the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Great Plains Alliance for Clean Energy (GPACE) compared four of the most common and troubling emissions from Holcomb 2 and other coal-fired generating units in the country.  In fact, there are currently hundreds of coal-fired units in the country that are already emitting fewer harmful pollutants than the recent KDHE permit allows the proposed Holcomb 2 coal-fired unit to emit.

Here’s what we found:

There are already at least 669 coal-fired units in the country that emit lower rates of particulate matter than the current KDHE Holcomb 2 permit allows (including the Hawthorn and Sibley coal-fired units in Missouri, and Jeffrey Energy Center in Kansas).

There are already at least 321 coal-fired units in the country that emit lower rates of mercury than the current KDHE Holcomb 2 permit allows (including the Comanche and Cherokee coal-fired units in Colorado).

There are already at least 53 coal-fired units in the country that emit lower rates of sulfur dioxide than the current KDHE Holcomb 2 permit allows (including Iatan 1 in Missouri and Jeffrey Energy Center in Kansas).

There are already at least 18 coal-fired units in the country that emit lower rates of nitrogen oxides than the current KDHE Holcomb 2 permit allows (including the W.A. Parish and J.K. Spruce coal-fired units in Texas).

Additionally, there are a number of coal-fired units recently permitted or operational that are not included in the comparative data but that have lower emissions rates than allowed for Holcomb 2.  These projects certainly beat Holcomb 2 in terms of lower toxic pollutant and GHG emissions rates:

• KCP&L Iatan 2 unit in Missouri
• SWEPCO Turk unit in Arkansas
• Duke Energy Cliffside Steam Station in North Carolina
• Plant Washington in Georgia

Given the conflict over air quality permitting currently raging between EPA and the State of Texas, it’s notable that a number of the coal plants that are already “cleaner” than Holcomb 2 are in Texas.  EPA has already done some deal-making to grandfather specific coal plants under older air quality regulations.  However, recent communications from EPA suggest that the agency is drawing a bead on the deficient KDHE permit for Holcomb 2, as well as the political gaming of the process to benefit Sunflower and force the permit.

In a letter date-stamped February 3, EPA notes that KDHE did not respond adequately to concerns about the permit expressed previously by EPA.  The concerns about the permit outlined in the letter focus primarily on emission allowances for Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2).  Furthermore, the letter clearly states that EPA “disagrees with KDHE’s interpretation of federal law” on the issue of ensuring new National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

As GPACE and others have noted before, it will be interesting to see if EPA considers Kansas air quality, public health, and regulatory processes in the public interest on par with Texas’, when reviewing the problematic KDHE permit process that allowed comparably inferior emission control technology for Holcomb 2.

Spin All You Want, But…

There is no such thing as “clean coal.”  All coal-fired power plants emit dozens of dangerous substances, including volatile organic compounds, radioactive elements, heavy metals, and substances known to cause heart disease, lung disease, mental retardation, cancer, and premature death.  Here’s a little more information about the four coal plant emissions we chose to compare:

Particulate matter (PM) has serious effects upon human cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurological systems, including heart palpitations, congestive heart failure, lung cancer, and premature death.

Mercury (Hg) is an extremely potent and dangerous neurotoxin that lingers in the environment and human tissue and increases in concentration as it moves up the food chain.  Increased levels of mercury in humans cause reduced IQ, mental retardation, and impaired neurological development.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) contributes to respiratory ailments and ischemic stroke, and creates acid rain, which has destructive and costly impacts upon infrastructure, agriculture, and habitats.

Nitrogen oxides (NO2) contribute to acid rain and are ozone precursors that affect the respiratory system, exacerbating asthma and causing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and stunted lung development in children.

While a few coal plants under construction or recently permitted are attempting to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the KDHE permit for Holcomb 2 requires absolutely no emissions controls in place for carbon dioxide (CO2) or other GHG emissions, nor does the permit include any GHG or other pollution mitigation requirements as suggested by the former KDHE Acting Secretary and former Gov. Parkinson.  A worldwide body of scientific research shows that CO2 is a major contributor to global climate change, which will in turn have significant and irreversible impacts upon human health, agriculture, industry, the economy, water access, transportation, population densities, travel and migration, and the availability of natural resources.

Sunflower has asserted that the Holcomb Station will be a “clean coal” plant, but company representatives also told state legislative committees and KDHE that there is currently no technology to affordably and effectively reduce GHG emissions from coal combustion units.  The recently granted permit for the Holcomb 2 unit does not employ the best available technology to reduce harmful source-point emissions, nor does it obligate Sunflower to make any effort to control or reduce GHG emissions.

Sunflower has touted a “bio-energy” center as part of the Holcomb Station expansion.  The centerpiece of the project was to be a so-called “algae reactor” that Sunflower claims would capture CO2 emissions from the coal plant(s) to be used as feedstock for a massive algae process producing biofuel.  Because the technology is experimental and since the biofuel would then be burned, re-releasing the CO2, it is not certain that this process would result in an overall net reduction in carbon emissions.

In 2008, the Salina Journal investigated Sunflower’s algae reactor claims, revealing the proposed algae project to be essentially smoke and mirrors.  The proposed algae reactor would require a surface area of between 16,000 and 35,000 acres – more than five to ten times the area of Kanopolis Lake – and could cost more than $16 billion – over five times the cost of the coal plant itself.   Where the funding or the water would come from to make this unproven and highly experimental technology work in southwestern Kansas has never been specified.

Sunflower’s KDHE permit does not include the algae process nor does it obligate Sunflower to achieve any GHG emissions reductions.  Sunflower’s own plans called for the experimental algae system to be attached to the existing Holcomb 1 coal plant, never as part of the proposed Holcomb 2 unit, involving less than 50 MW of energy capacity (and emissions) from Holcomb 1.  Furthermore, GreenFuel Technologies, Sunflower’s partner in developing the algae process, has since gone out of business and filed for bankruptcy.  The experimental algae reactor technology is not and is not anticipated to be in use at utility scale anywhere in the country.

Settlement Agreement Bait and Switch

The settlement agreement between Governor Parkinson and Sunflower initially called for the proposed coal plant to be an ultra-supercritical pulverized coal unit, which would have made it among the most advanced and efficient plants in the nation.  However, Sunflower applied for, and KDHE granted a permit for, only a supercritical unit, which is not advanced or leading technology for coal-fired power plants – it’s the current standard technology.

The air quality permit granted to Sunflower by KDHE does not sufficiently protect public health and the environment or fulfill promises made as part of the settlement agreement.  Under the KDHE permit, the proposed Holcomb unit will not be using state of the art processes that are already in place at other existing coal plants and proposed for many more.  If preventing death and disease from poisoned air is the standard for utilities and citizens in other states, it should be the standard for Kansas.

Former Gov. Parkinson already left the state for a well-paid job as a Washington D.C. lobbyist – so neither he nor his family will have to live with the impacts of pollution from this coal plant.  Sunflower CEO Earl Watkins is retiring in 2012 – we’ll see if he decides to live downwind of this plant.  Sen. Lee, who strongly supported the Holcomb coal plant project and who confirmed to reporters meetings with Parkinson’s office to pressure KDHE on the permit, gave up her elected Senate seat for a permanent state job courtesy of Parkinson.

“…It’s Something That We Should All Be Ashamed Of.”

Inaccurate claims by supporters of this coal plant that it will be the “cleanest coal plant in the country” have either been made in ignorance of the actual comparative facts, or to intentionally mislead the public about the impact of the project.  Either way, we agree with Mr. Penrod of Sunflower that they should be ashamed of such claims.

The KDHE air quality permit granted on 12/16/2010 for the proposed Holcomb Station coal-fired project will not result in the “cleanest coal plant in the country”, nor even reasonable inclusion as “one of the cleanest coal plants in the country.”  Based upon direct comparison of emission rates for four critical pollutants, the approved KDHE permit allows construction of a new coal-fired power plant in southwestern Kansas that will be dirtier than hundreds of existing coal-fired units currently in operation around the country, including existing units within Kansas.

Emissions from this plant will directly contribute to deaths and disease in Kansas for generations to come.  The full costs of this project will be paid by individuals and taxpayers in the form of urgent health care and human suffering.  In exchange for hosting this plant and its pollution, no Kansas energy resources (aside from our precious aquifer water) will be used to provide electricity, employment, or revenue for Kansans, while money and energy flow to Colorado and Wyoming.  It seems this is exactly what big special interests in those states wanted.

Given the political tactics and misinformation used to advance this project, one wonders how many other claims in support of this coal plant are simply not true.

Read the GPACE White Paper here.

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Kansas City Star reporter Steve Everly explains the reason prices rose, and we look at another type of gas: natural gas.  The U.S. is full of natural gas, and some energy companies are rethinking their domestic energy production strategies, moving away from coal and moving more towards electricity generation by natural gas, wind, and solar.

Kansas City Star reporter Karen Dillon also updates listeners on the Sunflower Electric coal-fired power plant, and the KDHE permit process involving former Secretary Rod Bremby and outgoing governor Mark Parkinson.

Listen here.

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It’s nearly the end of the year, policy watchers — do you know where your Kansas secretary of Health and Environment is?

If you look for Secretary Rod Bremby, “the man who put a red state on the green map” and who has been quoted in this column over the past year and a half, you won’t find him in the state directory. As of last month, he’s out.

Bremby is the latest casualty of the coal wars, which over the past four years in Kansas has centered on Sunflower Energy’s bid to build two more coal-burning power plants in Holcomb.

With a new administration at the doorstep in Topeka, let’s look at the (d)evolution of the Sunflower controversy.

When Sunflower applied for an air quality permit in 2007, Bremby denied it on the basis of the potential plant’s carbon dioxide emissions, which the U.S. Supreme Court had recently declared as pollutants (along with other greenhouse gases, or GHGs) under the Clean Air Act. Bremby’s department was the first government agency to deny a permit based on GHGs, and environmental groups across the nation hailed the decision. The pro-Sunflower camp was livid.

Legislators wrote and passed four bills that would block the secretary’s decision. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed all of them.

In April 2009, Sebelius resigned to join President Obama’s cabinet as Secretary of Health and Human Services and Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson was elevated to governor. Before the name on his door was dry, Parkinson struck a deal with Sunflower Energy and its supporters in the Statehouse to build one coal plant in exchange for legislators enacting a new energy package that included renewable energy standards.

The new energy compromise bill, passed in May 2009, eliminated Bremby’s ability to reject a permit based on GHG concerns: a gift to Sunflower that got that pesky, health-obsessed secretary out of the way. In return, alternative-energy enthusiast Parkinson won new standards requiring major Kansas utilities to generate 20 percent of their power from wind and other renewable sources by 2020.

Fast forward to September 2010. Leaked e-mails show that a Sunflower vice president told his allies that Bremby was “gaming the process” in order to slow down the permit review and suggested that they communicate with Bremby and the governor to try to “positively change” the situation.

A few weeks later in early November, Parkinson offered Bremby a different job, requesting that he swap his position for that of helping manage Gov.-elect Sam Brownback’s transition. Bremby turned down the offer — and he was out. Many believe Bremby was fired in order to expedite a Sunflower permit before a looming deadline that would raise the cost of building the new plant.

Sunflower had until Dec. 31 to gain a permit under existing standards before the revised Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules kicked in on Jan. 2, 2011. If it got a permit after Jan. 2, Sunflower would be required to tool the plant with the cleanest technology available.

A flurry of activity, including nine state agency staffers who are not eligible for overtime working late nights and weekends, enabled the permit review to be completed last week. Opponents of the coal plant claim that Sunflower and its supporters pressured the agency to work fast, but acting Secretary of Health and Environment John Mitchell denied any such outside manipulation.

On Dec. 16, Mitchell granted Sunflower the permit to construct the 895-megawatt coal plant, which will sell the majority of its electricity to Colorado.

Ironically, the announcement came one day after Colorado declared that it was shutting down several coal plants and would have no coal-burning power plants in the Denver area after 2017.

That’s where Kansas stands in the coal wars. Coal-burning plants are on their way out in Colorado, California, Arizona, Oregon and elsewhere, but here in Kansas we’re staying old school, at least in part. The 7 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions produced by the new plant will contradict the state’s clean energy incentives, but no one said we Kansans aren’t complicated.

Will Gov. Brownback’s energy deals be just as irrational? I doubt Mr. Bremby will stick around to find out.

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