To the editor:

In view of the state’s recent denial of the permits to build coal-fired electric generation plants near Holcomb, NASCAR should consider itself lucky. After all, it got the Kansas Speedway done before Gov. Sebelius was in office. If it had applied today, I can imagine the process going like this:

NASCAR: We’d like to build a speedway near Kansas City, Kansas, and hold NASCAR races there.

Governor: Will the races be noisy?

NASCAR: Of course they will – it can’t be helped.

Governor: Too much noise is bad – you can’t build there.

NASCAR: What do you mean “too much”? What standard are you using?

Governor: Oh, we don’t have a standard, at least not yet. We just don’t like noise.

NASCAR: @%*#?$

On a more serious note, in my opinion, the governor has made two missteps in this matter. First, she has subjected the state to an expensive legal fight, which it will almost certainly lose. Second, she has missed an opportunity to work with the utility in implementing new technologies to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions. While such technologies inevitably will be developed, thanks to our governor, it will not happen here.

Jeff Southard,

Lawrence