To the editor:

There are so many reasons why the proposed coal plant expansion in western Kansas should NOT be approved that it is difficult to know where to begin.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, hopefully, will see the rightness of rejection to the coal industry and not cave in to the dollar signs that are waving in front of her eyes.

The future for Kansas is wind energy, not coal. We have one of the top five areas where persistent wind is present, and we must take advantage of it. This energy can be used for Kansans and it can be exported, if need be. The ingenuity needed to transport the energy is available but someone needs to have the guts to pay for it so Kansans can breath cleaner air.

One other important reason to reject the coal expansion is that all the pollution will be in Kansas and points east (Oklahoma and Missouri) but all the energy will go west to Colorado.

Want another wonderful reason to reject the coal proposal? How about the high loss of water in the Ogallala Aquifer? All that water that Kansas needs to grow the crops that feed the world will go to the coal plant instead. Bad idea.

Joleen Bechtel,

Lawrence