2.4.2008 6:13 AM

Coal Plants Get "Greenwash"

Kansas Officials Call Lax Pollution Control Green

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Photo: Thaddeus Robertson

By Dan Shapley

The Wichita Eagle has called the bluff of Kansas legislators trying to approve two coal-fired power plants that fail to meet modern standards of pollution control in an era when global warming is a real and present danger.

"State lawmakers introduced bills on Holcomb last week that they promoted as a 'fair' compromise that balances environmental and energy needs," an editorial today reads. "But despite some 'green' features, the bill would essentially allow the two 700-megawatt Holcomb plants to go forward with lax regulation. That's a greenwash."

The governor, too, has called the compromise – modest carbon dioxide reductions that Sunflower Electric Power Corp. can forgo if it pays an even more modest fee – a sham.

This is where the rubber meets the road on global warming and the future of energy. The Eagle is asking the right questions: Could Kansas account for growing energy demand by investing in energy efficiency? If a new power plant is needed, is coal the best answer, when alternatives exist?

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