Climate and energy

Happy Monday. Today will be a bit long for the CEP blog. The House Energy and Utilities Committee meets at 9:15 to go over a net metering bill that is not limited to solar; Rev. Thad Holcomb will offer the prayer for the opening of the House session at 11:00; and the conference committee on the Holcomb (hey! we have an amazing naming coincidence going on here) bill meets at 3:30. I will be at that one if (a) my fingers still work, and (b) I can figure out where it is.

John Hanna’s article (picked up in Business Week) is about as comprehensive a summary of what’s currently going on with the Holcomb bill as you could possibly wish for. Just to cherry-pick some good stuff, Westar has come out with a very interesting position:

Meanwhile, Westar Energy Inc., the state’s largest electric utility, released a comprehensive energy policy that said the link between greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and global warming has become a “mainstream belief” requiring “fundamental change” in energy production.

Westar’s full policy can be found here (.pdf).

Interesting documentary on the recent rise of the creation care movement (Boston Globe). That film may not ever make it to Kansas, but that is why we have Netflix.

Kansas schools are getting into wind power (Hays Daily News). KDHE Secretary Rod Bremby spoke in Salina over the weekend, defending his decision to deny the permits for the proposed Holcomb expansion (Salina Journal). Quotable:

He pointed out that since January 2003, his office has approved 2,900 air quality permits, including 179 since his decision involving the coal plants.

“There’s never been any uncertainty,” he said. “There’s only been one denial.”

While Bremby didn’t expect his decision to be popular, he didn’t realize how many legislative leaders say they don’t believe in climate change.

“I’ve been stunned,” he said. “I understand that people have their own individual beliefs, but what about the National Academy of Sciences?”

He listed some of the other organizations that agree humans are accelerating climate change — the Geological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, the American Institute of Physics, the American Meteorological Society.

“These are the top scientists in the nation,” he said.

And I keep seeing little articles like this one pop up all over the KS media – constituents all over the state are coming to see their legislators at gatherings like this one reported on in the Hutch News. Yes! Yay! Go. Get involved. Whatever your perspectives on climate and energy issues, get involved in the conversation.

Finally, regarding manure. Of more than one variety. Reprinted from I believe the Wichita Eagle, this letter to the editor:

State Senator Tim Huelskamp and Representative Don Myers have become fond of stating that CO2 can’t be a pollutant, because we breathe it all the time.

True, CO2 is essential for plant life. But so is manure. And every farmer knows that too much manure kills plants. If any of us were sealed in a small space capsule for a few days, the CO2 we exhale would become so concentrated that CO would form, and death would result. I suspect that neither Mr. Huelskamp nor Mr. Myers would disconnect the furnace or hot water tank vents in their homes, or run their car engine in a closed garage. Any of these actions would give them lots of CO2 to breathe.

The excess CO2 we generate by burning coal and other fossil fuels winds up in the ocean of air surrounding our planet, increasing the effective thickness of our greenhouse gas blanket. As the blanket becomes thicker, more solar heat is trapped, and we have global warming. To keep the 11 million tons of CO2 from the proposed Holcomb expansion from adding to global warming would require 13,000 square miles (16% of the area of Kansas) of new pine forest (per EPA).

Simply stated, “Like manure, a little CO2 is good, too much is bad.” Please, Mr. Huelskamp and Mr. Myers, let’s limit the manure and the CO2 ….Bill Wentz, Valley Center, KS.

— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org