Climate and energy

Governor Sebelius has vetoed SB 327, the Holcomb/ energy bill, a proposal that would have added an additional eleven million tons of carbon dioxide emissions to Kansas skies (as well as under future carbon caps).

She has also issued Executive Order 08-03, which establishes the Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy Group. Jack Pelton, president and CEO of Cessna Aircraft, will lead the group.

Its charges include: growing the economy, preserving the environment, and taking advantage of Kansas’s own natural resources. It will also offer recommendations on reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and establishing a timetable for doing so, considering the impact of electric generation on community economic development, and diversifying Kansas’s energy portfolio. The process will be facilitated by the Center for Climate Strategies.

The Governor also reiterated her proposed compromise on Holcomb.

Analysis: This veto is not just a no. It is a yes – to a far-reaching energy plan for Kansas. It also includes the possibility of a compromise on coal. It’s a little weird (and a little sad) that it took a veto to get us to the point of developing progressive energy policies that could make Kansas a national leader in climate and energy issues… but hey. You get there how you get there.

Think positive. Kansas can still make good – heck, great – things happen.

Remember that as we fight our way through more incarnations of the Holcomb bill, on through May! Still a long haul, baby.

— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org