KS Coal-fired power plant: denied. A pretty big deal.

[Rick Yoder <ryoder@mail.unomaha.edu>]

hi, all, sorry for cross-posting

Yesterday at the Region 7 P2 Roundtable
meeting, news that the The Kansas Department of Health and Environment
(KDHE) rejected the expansion of Sunflower Electric Power Corp's plant,
based on CO2 emissions.  Part of the statement by KDHE Secretary Bremby
announcing the decision, "it would be irresponsible to ignore emerging
information about the contribution of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases to climate change and the potential harm to our environment and health
if we do nothing."

great coverage here, with statements
by KDHE Sec'y, KS gov, and some audio
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/323833.html

This is a pretty big deal.  A really
big deal.  Stunning.  Those of you who know my affinity for the
"Tragedy of the Commons" framework will understand how much I
respect the actions of this individual state to forego some local benefit
for the sake of the global commons.  This action demands some real
intelligent design on the part of power plant capacity engineers.

Maybe our Nebraska DEQ Director Linder
 and Governor Heineman, who have been  acting like they are in
some regulatory race to the bottom, scuttling the innovative work of their
staff to limit mercury emissions, and approving coal fired power plant
expansions in Nebraska willy nilly will take note.  I'm not holding
my breath.

have a good weekend

rick

Richard Yoder, PE Director, P2ric.org University of Nebraska at Omaha 6001 Dodge Street, RH308 Omaha, NE 68182 vox: 402-554-6257 fax: 402-554-6260 http://www.p2ric.org/

P2RIC, the Pollution Prevention Regional Information Center, is a proud member of the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange, P2Rx.org.