Climate and energy

The Kansas Energy Council (KEC) has posted its proposed policy recommendations for the 2009 legislative session. The summary is below, and the full text is found here (.pdf).

The comment period runs from September 11 through October 10. Comments can be mailed to
Director Liz Brosius, Kansas Energy Council, 1500 SW Arrowhead Road, Topeka KS 66604-4027 or emailed to l.brosius@kcc.ks.gov.

Two public hearings will be held, one in Hays and one in Wichita. If you plan to attend and make comments, then prior to the hearing you must submit a written copy of your remarks to Director Liz Brosius.

• Friday, September 19, 2008, 9:00 a.m. to noon, Fort Hays State University, Robbins Center, One Tiger Place, Hays
• Tuesday, September 30, 2008, 9:00 a.m. to noon, Wichita State University, Marcus Welcome Center, 21st Street and Mike Oatman Drive, Wichita

The Council will finalize its recommendations at its last two meetings – 12 November 2008, and 10 December 2008.

PROPOSED RECOMMENDATIONS

At its meeting on August 13, 2008, the Kansas Energy Council (KEC) approved 15 preliminary policy recommendations for release to the public for review and comment. From September 11 through October 10, KEC staff will receive written public comment on the preliminary recommendations. The Council will meet again on November 12, 2008, and December 10, 2008, to discuss and approve their final recommendations the 2008 Kansas Energy Report.

1. Encourage federal funding of research and development of generation technologies that can provide base-load power while achieving reduced CO2 emissions.

2. Encourage the Kansas Bioscience Authority to allocate some of their funds to research and development related to biomass-fueled electric generation, including the analysis of carbon footprint.

3. Endorse collaborative development of advanced generation technologies in Kansas that can provide base-load power while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Such collaboration could be between Kansas utilities, between Kansas utilities and regional utilities, or between Kansas utilities and other investors.

4. Endorse policies that promote declines in greenhouse gas emissions, not policies that merely shift emissions within or between regions.

5. In addition to demand-side management, the Kansas Legislature and KCC should encourage utility investments in base-load generation plants’ energy conservation and efficiency and carbon capture experiments and technologies.

6. If a cap-and-trade policy or carbon tax is passed, it should be done at the federal level.

7. Reduce maximum speed limit from 70 mph to 65 mph on Kansas highways.

8. Increase fines for speeding by 50%.

9. Reduce “exemption” for speeding violations to 5 mph over limit.

10. Undertake statewide initiative (public-private sector) to encourage more energy efficient driving.

11. Establish minimum energy efficiency standard for all majority State-funded new construction (standards under consideration include LEED Platinum, 20% above IECC 2006).

12. Encourage State agencies and managers to develop guidelines for telecommuting for appropriate state employees, giving broad discretion to managers on how such an option would be applied.

13. Urge Congressional delegation to include agricultural sequestration as an offset in any federal cap-and-trade policy.

14. Increase state agency and private sector efforts to educate farmers (and agricultural landowners) about the benefits–reduced CO2 emissions, energy and dollar savings—associated with no-till agriculture and existing state and federal conservation programs.

15. The State of Kansas should adopt a goal of increasing energy efficiency such that the rate of growth in electricity peak demand and total energy is 50% less than it would have been absent the energy efficiency initiative.

— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org