A Dirty Deed in Kansas, USA
by Simran Sethi, Lawrence KS on 10.29.06
I moved from West Harlem, New York, to the Kansas heartland and thought, if I couldn't get fresh sushi at least I would breathe cleaner air and get closer to nature. The truth is I spend most of my TreeHugger time in front of a computer, but more disturbing still is this. . .
Sunflower Electric Power Corp is poised to build 3 coal-fired plants in Southwest Kansas, outside of Holcomb. While the new plants would increase Sunflower's total generating capacity nearly seven-fold, most of the new power would be exported to Colorado. According to the Sierra Club, only 8% of the energy generated by the plants would provide electricity to Kansas, while the hearty winds of Kansas will blow pollutants like mercury and fine-particle emissions all over the state.
If built, the plants will belch out about 13 millions tons of carbon dioxide a year, to become the largest new source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Global warming, anyone? These plants would be the equivalent of putting an additional 2 million additional gas-powered cars, light trucks and SUVs on the road. And the expansion could increase the mercury emitted from coal-fired power plants in Kansas by up to 80%. (Mercury's a neurotoxin that can affect the brain, spinal cord, kidneys and liver. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, up to one in 10 women in the U.S. already have enough mercury in their bloodstreams to harm developing nervous systems in fetuses.)
And what does global warming look like in the country's breadbasket? Droughts in Western Kansas, water depletion, storms, flooding, and crop failure all over the state. The good news is Kansas has the 3rd greatest wind potential in the U.S. Unfortunately Governor Kathleen Sebelius has done little to encourage wind expansion in the state, despite her proclaimed support of renewable energy. In the name of protecting the state and the planet, please send a shout-out to her office and register your dissent.
Toto thanks you.
Well written and thought out article. We're having a similar problem in Texas and the governor is on/off with regards to renewable energy.
it seems very difficult to get these people to understand alternatives to coal/nukes.. and apparently in the States there's room being made for coal to fuel the new biofuels push... up here in Ontario they were promising to close down 5 major coal plants... now they say they cant, but even if they will, they're pushing to accept the possibility of new nuclear plants to replace the coal. Instead of pushing the governments to consider wind & solar instead of coal, which they can't seem to comprehend, how about the next best thing? Get them to see a possible win-win situation by adding algae CO2 boiconverters to the stacks.. that way at least 80% of the pollutants wont get into our lungs, they get the green PR, and they even get a secondary product (biodiesel) to sell on the market, win win win...
This drama of conflict is being acted out in hundreds of communities throughout the US.
It may be hard living in Kansas for lack of treehugging, but the truth is, that's where a treehugger can make a huge difference. Chances are every time you speak, you're not preaching to the choir.
As a Kanssan myself I take exception to Charlene's comment. There are green and grey people everywhere. I just wrote about conservation here. One of our bigger problems in this world is people making sweeping generalizations about a person's color, age, gender, and yet geographic home. I thought better of TH readers.
I did not claim that there aren't any environmental people or actions in Kansas, I have been to Kansas, I've been a lot of places, I definitely know better then to make any sort of generalization. I was simply responding to the poster of this article who found the power plant issue disturbing, and I was cheerfully pointing out that their voice is most valuable and needed for speaking out in opposition of this coal plant. (and by saying this I am in no way inferring that the majority of the population in Kansas is in support of the coal plant)
Use less energy. Wind and photovoltaics or concentrators will not replace the dirty coal and diminishing oil and natural gas. We must use less energy.