To the editor:

Thanks to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for her courageous veto of the two 700-megawatt coal-burning plants in southwest Kansas. She was concerned that tons of carbon dioxide emissions would have drifted across the state at known risks to community health.

The House barely upheld her veto by only four votes, thanks to the support of minority Democrats like our own Reps. Barbara Ballard and Paul Davis of Lawrence and Tom Holland of Baldwin City. They and the governor want energy conservation to be a key part of any future plan.

Thanks to the veto, perhaps Kansas will meet our energy needs in the future without unnecessary pollution. This should not be a partisan issue, but the Republican leadership chose to make it one and wasted so much valuable time and expense in their fruitless efforts.

Harold Piehler,
Lawrence