Apparently, those who have been bemoaning the decision of Kansas Secretary of Health and Environment Rod Bremby to deny Sunflower Electric Corp. permission to build two large coal-fired power plants near Holcomb really don’t have much to worry about.

According to a news report of a speech given by Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson last week in Topeka, there isn’t any need for those in western Kansas to lose any sleep over the rejection of the multimillion-dollar investment and the thousands of jobs the coal-fired plants would have contributed to the western Kansas economy.

A news story on the front page of the Topeka Capital Journal reporting Parkinson’s speech said, “Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson on Thursday declared the future of Western Kansas’ energy industry to be bright and dismissed claims the region needed a massive coal-fired power plant expansion to prosper economically.”

The news report continues, “Stiff breezes blowing through that region would support dramatic expansion of industrial wind farms, he said, at a Rotary Club speech in Topeka.

“Fifteen to 18 Kansas ethanol plants in operation, construction or on the drawing table are west of Salina, Parkinson said, and these will help fuel the area’s economy.

“‘We have tremendous opportunities for alternative energy,’ he said.”

The lieutenant governor said statements by critics of the KDHE decision that the outcome of the denial would be slower development of electrical lines is a “total myth.”

So, Bremby’s denial of permits for the coal-fired plants is not going to hurt western Kansas and won’t cause any slowdown on development of transmission lines throughout the western part of the state.

Apparently, other jobs soon will be available to absorb the loss of the power plant jobs and offset the lost wages and additional county and state taxes those jobs would have generated.

Parkinson, who has his eye on the governorship after Sebelius leaves office, has told those in western Kansas not to worry; everything will be fine.

It’s good to be optimistic and present a positive story, but, at this time, it seems there is justification for those in western Kansas to worry about their economy and to wonder just how long it will take for wind power and ethanol production to make up for the lost jobs, taxes, wages and revenues that would have been created by the coal-fired plants. There also is reason to wonder how much power can be generated by such systems and how soon those sources can match the energy that the coal-fired plants would have produced.

Also, wouldn’t it have been nice to have Kansas build one of the nation’s most environmentally clean coal plants?