To the editor:

People of faith are called to be responsible stewards of God’s creation. That’s why Kansas Interfaith Power & Light supports the most effective state policy we have for the development of clean energy in Kansas: the renewable portfolio standard.

The RPS requires that utilities generate or purchase 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. This market-based policy has led to an explosion of wind-energy development in Kansas, including more than 2,800 megawatts of installed wind energy equaling about $7 billion in investment since 2001, as well as the direct or indirect creation of 13,000 jobs in Kansas.

The benefits of the RPS include increased diversity and security of our energy supply; reduced volatility of power prices; local economic development resulting from new jobs, taxes and revenue; and environmental improvement as we move away from polluting forms of energy toward cleaner and safer ones — all at a reported increase of between zero and 1.7 percent on customers’ utility bills.

That’s why it’s so disturbing to see efforts in Topeka to roll back or cancel the RPS — testament to the influence of fossil-fuel money on our political system.

On behalf of God’s creation, clean energy and good jobs for Kansans, we ask our legislators to support a policy that helps develop one of the most successful economic sectors in Kansas; that provides jobs, economic opportunities, and tax revenue all across the state; and that incentivizes the development of clean, homegrown and unlimited sources of energy.