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
Comments
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toe (anonymous) says…
The cave is the house everyone will live in without power.
TopJayhawk (anonymous) says…
You forgot about Jimmy Dean and "Big John" Remember? "At the bottom of this mine lies one Hell of a man.....big john...
grimpeur (anonymous) says…
Guess Sebelius didn't recognize coal mining as the career of the future.Doesn't anyone read Money magazine anymore?
SettingTheRecordStraight (anonymous) says…
What magical make-believe world is the LTE writer living in when he says, "perhaps Kansas will meet our energy needs in the future without unnecessary pollution"?
jafs (anonymous) says…
If we don't start finding better ways to generate energy, our sources will run out.Also, if we were more mindful and used less, alternative sources like solar and wind would be more practical.Our "energy needs" are not fixed amounts, but vary with our actions.It is currently feasible to use solar power to generate the electricity one needs, especially in areas with "net metering".Perhaps if we invested a little bit in alternative energy generation, we would see more of it - Westar seems able to charge people for their costs of building new plants, etc. Why couldn't the same happen with other technologies?
jason2007 (anonymous) says…
Ok...how does CO2 cause "known risks to community health"? Maybe it's an environmental, greenhouse risk but not a health risk. It's not like CO2 is a known carcinogen or that it causes dandruff or something....This is typical "I believe it is bad, therefore I will paint it with a broad brush of rhetoric that has absolutely no foundation in truth.....oh, and I also want change just for the sake of change" junk.
kappyblu (Kaprelle Bradley) says…
Jason2007---CO2 has always existed. The problem is that the levels are too high. Of course it's an environmental problem that greenhouse gases are on the rise. You think that's not a health risk? Global warming--polar ice melting, weather patterns changing (and not for the better), do these ring a bell?Our bodies breathe out carbon dioxide, correct? Imagine you are in an enclosed space. Trapped. Eventually you are going to breathe in all the available oxygen. You will suffocate because all that's left is the CO2. You will die because the CO2 levels are too high. Do some research and educate yourself. http://www.aip.org/history/climate/co...
jason2007 (anonymous) says…
Kappyblu: Come on...you're arguments are tired and irrational.Global warming is not a health issue it is an environmental issue that has effects on the climate. My point still stands: CO2 does not cause cancer, HIV, glaucoma, or any other health issue. Name one, please. (nothing but the sound of silence as Kappyblu frantically dials Al Gore's number)The author's letter is way off base using scare tactics to back up his weak points.And "what-if" scenarios are for children. We do not live in an enclosed space so please stop trying to make irrational thoughts fit in a rational box.
kappyblu (Kaprelle Bradley) says…
"Global warming is not a health issue it is an environmental issue that has effects on the climate."And the climate affects your health. Period.