There is little question that our nation’s economy currently is Americans’ No. 1 issue or concern. Various polls tied in with the upcoming presidential election show the economy is the top issue, with Iraq, the environment and other matters fading into the background.

A year ago, Iraq clearly was the No. 1 issue as critics of President Bush’s policies were having a field day saying the war was a lost cause, that there was no chance for an American win and that troops ought to be withdrawn as soon as possible. Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama even set specific timetables for when they would have troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now that the war seems to be turning in favor of the U.S. effort, the strident anti-U.S. crowd has quieted down and switched to other anti-Bush crusades. The economy is the matter of most concern among those trying to decide for whom to vote in the presidential election.

During the first seven years of Bush’s administration, the economy was good, if not very good. More people were working than at any time in our nation’s history and most benchmarks showed growth and improvement in the lives of most Americans.

However, over the past year, the energy “crisis” has jumped to the No. 1 cause for alarm as the cost of gasoline hits the pocketbooks of millions. In addition to fuel prices, most any product using oil has skyrocketed in cost. Many are saying the public is due for another severe shock when cold weather and heating bills arrive this fall and winter.

The energy crisis has impacted the costs of many food products as efforts to supplement regular gasoline with ethanol have spurred a far greater demand for corn. This has created a shortage, or perceived shortage, and raised the prices for corn as well as wheat and other foods.

Finger-pointing is the name of the game these days with many trying to shift the blame for the growing inability to feed America’s ever-growing thirst for and consumption of oil. The facts are, vast domestic oil deposits are off-limits to American exploration; few, if any, major oil refineries have been built in the United States in the past 30 years; and nuclear energy has been pushed to the back burner because of fear of nuclear accidents and the growing cost of such facilities. Environmental issues have played a significant role.

Even if all the above issues could be resolved overnight and corrective actions initiated, it would take years before there would be major increases in the supply of oil or the development of alternative forms of energy.

This being the case – and in light of today’s need for more energy to power the nation’s economy – it is puzzling that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and a sufficient number of Kansas legislators were able to stop construction of a coal-fired power plant in western Kansas that could have served as a model for the entire country. Kansas had the opportunity to be a leader, not a follower, and it flunked the test.

There is enough coal buried beneath U.S. soil to meet the fuel and energy needs of this country for the next 100 years or perhaps much longer. The trouble is those opposed to coal for energy base their concerns on greenhouse gas emissions. Coal is a dirty fuel in their eyes, and no matter what the engineers and designers said about the design of the proposed Holcomb coal-fired plants, the governor would not budge. Even though majorities in both the Kansas House and Senate favored the power plant proposal, there were not enough votes to override her vetoes.

What a wasted opportunity.

Kansas has all the ingredients to be a national leader in the fuel and energy business. The state has large coal, oil and gas deposits, plenty of wind and sun, and a nuclear power plant.

Why not take advantage of the knowledge, skills and national reputation of a number of Kansas University, Kansas State University and Wichita State University faculty members and scientists and engineers at Kansas City’s Midwest Research Institute to develop a research project to maximize the potential of coal, gas, oil, wind, solar and nuclear energy? It’s all in our backyard. Why not make Kansas the leader in this effort?

Along this line, consider the many benefits to Kansas, its residents and the nation if the country’s cleanest and most efficient coal-fired power plant were to be built in Kansas.

Fear of the unknown, the unwillingness to be a leader, self-serving political aspirations, small thinking and other factors all combined to halt development of the Holcomb project. How many chances does Kansas have to be a leader in an extremely important, nationally important effort?

Granted, protecting the environment is important. However, this writer finds it difficult to believe there are many individuals who deliberately want to foul our air. Those opposed to the coal-fired plant act as if those favoring the plant have little concern or interest in protecting the environment and that, even though the proponents say they intend to build a clean plant, they really can’t be trusted or believed.

This nation must come up with answers to make this nation less reliant on foreign oil and meet the growing power demands of an expanding economy, and this challenge is not going to be met within a reasonable time period by timid, doomsayer, negative and what’s-in-it-for-me individuals.

We need more dreamers, positive thinkers, optimists and highly motivated individuals to show what can be done with vision and hard work. They need to be given a chance to demonstrate what they can do for the benefit of the public.

The Holcomb power plants offered such an opportunity. When the nation needs to develop its own resources, consider what the coal-fired plant in western Kansas could have done. Consider the network of transmission lines emanating from the plant that could be used if the state develops a meaningful wind energy system.

It is both disappointing and frustrating that Kansas passed on the opportunity to be a leader in the energy business. To a great degree this was the result of politics rather than the merits of the opportunity.

Kansas can’t afford such small thinking.