Tag Archives: sam brownback
More Dirt on Sunflower Electric’s Coal-fired Power Plant
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. Continue reading
What’s your plan, Governor?
Gov. Sam Brownback has received praise for declaring Kansas’ Flint Hills totally off limits to wind energy development. There is no question that this pristine prairie environment must not be spoiled or endangered, but we have some concerns about what happens next. We do not doubt Brownback’s sincerity in guarding those hills, but he now must demonstrate that he is equally committed to capitalizing on his state’s vast wind energy development potential. It is much easier to declare where wind turbines cannot go than it is to open opportunities for their development. Continue reading
Expansion of Protected Area Kills Cowley County Wind Project
Whether turbines should be in the Flint Hills — and it appears they mostly will not be — is part of the dialogue over how best to leverage the sprawling, environmentally sensitive tallgrass prairie that Brownback has called “an ecological jewel. Continue reading
Elections Alter Climate and Energy Landscape
At the state level, regulatory efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions could lose steam.
Roderick Bremby, the top environment official in Kansas, resigned Tuesday as Sen. Sam Brownback (R) cruised to victory in the gubernatorial race. Three years ago, Bremby was the nation’s first official to reject an air permit application for a power plant because of carbon dioxide emissions. The outgoing governor, Mark Parkinson – a former Republican who took over in 2009 when Kathleen Sebelius joined the Obama Cabinet – gave Bremby a choice of leaving immediately or overseeing the transition to the conservative Brownback. Bremby left. Continue reading
Pass Renewable Energy Standards
Federal approval last week of a cost-sharing plan for an electricity transmission line in Kansas was a key step in profiting from our state’s strong winds. Now what’s needed is for Congress to boost the market for wind energy by approving federal renewable energy standards. Continue reading
