Sunflower

Sunflower Electric Corp. today submitted a revised permit application to build a new coal plant in Holcomb, Kan., reviving a long-running effort to break ground on a locally polluting facility that would send most of its electricity to customers out of state.

The saga first drew national attention in 2007, when the head of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment rejected Sunflower's air permit request, making history as the first state official to base the rejection in part on the potential dangers greenhouse gas emissions pose to human health and the environment.

Six days after succeeding Kathleen Sebelius as governor of Kansas, Mark Parkinson announced a deal with Sunflower Electric Corp. that would allow construction of an 895 MW coal-fired power plant.

The surprise deal seemed like the end of a long, drawn-out battle, with the coal industry outlasting the steady opposition and multiple vetoes from the former governor, who left the unresolved matter behind when she became the U.S. health secretary.

But it now looks like the battle might not be over after all and that Gov. Parkinson's back room deal might unravel.

A decision is imminent from the EPA on what Sunflower needs to do to secure a permit to finally build its power plant, and the expected verdict is stark: start over.

Three vetoes weren't enough to make the Kansas Legislature rethink its push for building more coal-fired power plants.

Now lawmakers have a fourth veto to chew on – plus an imminent ruling from Washington that could make their legislative maneuvering moot, and signs that a key coal power player is losing interest.

In Washington, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is expected to issue a finding this week that greenhouse gases endanger the public health and welfare. The proposed finding passed its White House review yesterday, right on schedule, and it goes to the heart of the Kansas case.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, meanwhile, vetoed the state legislature’s fourth attempt to clear the way for Sunflower Electric to build two huge coal-fired power plants in the western part of the state.

Sunflower supporters in the legislature are still defiant and considering an override attempt, but it might not matter for two reasons:

While other states are backing away from coal power, the Kansas Legislature seems dead set to clear the way for Sunflower Electric to build two huge, coal-fired power plants on the state's western plains.

To get those power plants – and the 11 million tons of CO2 they'll produce each year – lawmakers will first have to circumvent Kansas Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby. They tried three times last year and were slapped down by the governor's vetoes. Now they're trying again, and they might have the votes this time to succeed.

Bremby made history a year and a half ago when he became the first state official to refuse to issue an air permit based, not on sulfur or mercury emissions, but on the potential danger posed by CO2.

In denying Sunflower's request for the air permit, Bremby wrote:

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.

To get around Bremby, coal-supporters in the Kansas Legislature are going after the secretary's very authority to regulate power plant emissions. The House Energy and Utilities Committee could vote as early as today on a bill that would prevent the Health and Environment secretary from regulating any power plant pollutants that are not regulated by the federal government.

CO2 is not on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list, at least not yet.

The EPA has the authority to regulate CO2 under the Clean Air Act, it just needs to make the move. As Kansas Sierra Club legislative director Tom Thompson told us:

Everybody’s saying, ‘Damn it, why doesn’t the president and EPA issues some carbon regulations and rules?’

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