Climate and energy

As a few various media outlets have already reported, the long-awaited “how exactly is the Kansas legislature going to react to the KDHE denial of the Holcomb coal plants?” energy bill was introduced into the Kansas legislature today (LJWorld). In the House, the bill number is HB 2711, I believe. I don’t think it’s posted yet but you can check the Kansas legislature online yourself later on.

To sum up – it’s a giant buffet of a lot of things that, on the surface, climate and clean energy advocates dream about. Carbon offsets. Increased fuel standards for state vehicles. Energy audits, green buildings, net metering and easy interconnection… except, whoops, someone poured chocolate sauce all over the lovely spread. Even on the mashed potatoes.

That seems a little weird. Then you get a little closer, and just as you are about to grab a plate and dig in, you get a real strong whiff -

And honey, that ain’t chocolate.

(Oh, come on! Mud. I mean it’s mud. What did you think I meant?)

Since that metaphor surely primed everyone for a little hardcore intellectual analysis, let’s give it a shot: First and foremost, it’s really hard to build new coal plants that will spew 11 million new tons of CO2 into the air, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I think therapists refer to this phenomena as “magical thinking.” Part of being a grown-up, though, means realizing that it is not in fact possible to have your cake and eat it, too (especially when it’s covered in mud). The fact that the bill can even propose such a combination argues for (but is not limited to):

1. Some really fuzzy math, including especially creative ways of counting emissions, and/or
2. A very narrow definition of what constitutes a power plant affected by this legislation, and/or
3. A delusional estimate of the upcoming price per ton of carbon under federal carbon legislation (the current standard estimate in most studies is at least $50 per ton), and/or
4. A better than one-to-one carbon offset ratio, a mitigation strategy that I have a little problem believing that any electric utility would go for. Of course I could be wrong.

Having recently read through way too much of this session’s proposed energy legislation, though, this bill – and its unexciting mix of mud and chocolate – does seem to fit a general trend. The energy powers that be know that because of climate change, their industry is no longer going to be able to do business as usual. They don’t like this. Since Kansas itself often tends to be a state that takes a good hard look at change before it goes along with it (which generally I feel is wise) the industry has lighted on us as their battleground, and they are using our legislators to advance a corporate agenda at odds with the good of our state and the nation.

They know generally what the public increasingly wants – fuel efficiency, energy efficiency, net metering, renewable energy – and they use all the yummy stuff to entice us. Then they drizzle all over it with mud. They take the “green” concepts, use that as their title, and then write extremely regressive legislation that in fact moves Kansas backwards in terms of energy policy, not forward at all.

You want net metering? Here’s your bill, but we can make net metering so ugly and unattractive that no homeowner or small business owner will ever explore the option of renewables. You like energy efficiency? OK, but you also have to choke down two – and possibly even three – new coal plants. We’ll make promises, but we’re not actually going to compromise or change. We’ll throw up a bright shiny object, you scamper after it, and then we’ll keep on just doing what we do.

(Is it just me – or is this a very insulting assessment of Kansans’ basic intelligence? I object.)

However. As much as this buffet is not to my particular taste, it is entirely likely that other folks will at least try a bite. Which is entirely their right, although I admit I don’t understand it.

What gets me, though – whatever those individuals may choose, Kansas as a state deserves so much better.

We deserve chocolate!

— Maril Hazlett

Want to learn more about climate and energy in the Midwest? Check out www.climateandenergy.org.