Power plant proposals under scrutiny

Students are organizing to express concerns over coal-burning power plants

By Mary Sorrick

Published on Wed., February 20th, 2008

The Holcomb coal power plant proposal has motivated many University of Kansas students to get politically active.

Campus groups such as KU Environs have traveled to Topeka to voice their concerns about the proposals submitted by Sunflower Electric Power Corp. The groups are participating in a large effort spearheaded by the Greater Plains Alliance for Clean Energy, or GPACE, a Kansas organization dedicated to sustainable energy.

The proposals passed through both the Kansas House and Senate without changes, but could still face a veto from Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. If they aren’t vetoed, the proposals would allow for the construction of two coal-fired power plants outside of Holcomb in southwestern Kansas.

The proposed plants meet national environmental standards, and the provisions within the state House and Senate bills block Rod Bremby, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, from issuing further emissions regulations without legislative approval.

James Roberts, Overland Park senior and volunteer for GPACE, has been organizing Kansas students to talk with legislators in the capitol about the proposals.

“The overall effort is to make Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives and Liberals know that this is not an issue that pits environmentalists against economists,” Roberts said.

He said 25 to 30 students from the University went to Topeka on Feb. 6 and 7, when the Senate was debating the legislation, to support oppositional testimony against the proposals in front of the Senate Utilities Committee.

“There’s the need for a real forward thinking energy discussion in this state,” Roberts said. “We want to show that environmentalism is not a divergence from progress and growth.”

Brian Sifton, Kansas City, Mo., senior, was the only University student to volunteer to testify before the Senate Utilities Committee on Feb. 7.

Sifton, an environmental studies major, said he spoke to the utilities committee about the negative effects the coal plants could have in the future.

“It is an issue of our generation,” Sifton said. “In 50, 60, 70 years, we’re dealing with environmental changes the most.”

Sifton said his testimony in front of the Senate was the peak of his political activism.

“Someone needs to say something from the perspective of the youth,” Sifton said. “The people making the decisions aren’t going to be the ones left with the effects.”

Sam Funk, Holcomb senior, said his stance on the Sunflower Electric proposals had put him in the minority among his friends from home.

“I think I’m one of the very few people from Holcomb to oppose it,” Funk said.

He has been to the capitol twice with GPACE — once to talk with Anthony Hensley, Senate Democratic leader, and again to hear testimony against the proposals on Feb. 7.

Funk, who’s a part of the fourth generation to live on his family’s farm, said his investment in Holcomb had been the driving force for his involvement in the coal plant debate.

Even though the House and Senate both passed the coal plant proposals, Funk said he was still hopeful that a veto by Sebelius would force legislators to cap carbon dioxide emissions.

He said he also supported efforts to build wind turbines in western Kansas as a source of cleaner energy.

Roberts said he continued to push for renewable energy sources and organized students to advocate for higher emission standards.

“We have such an incredible opportunity at hand,” he said. “There’s an interest to see change, and energy policy is absolutely the way to do that.”

Anyone interested in joining the coal plant discussion with Kansas legislators can contact James Roberts at rigby@ku.edu.

—Edited by Russell Davies

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