Published in the New York Times, 3/20/2008
By Felicity Barringer
Utility executives in Kansas were shocked last fall when a state
environmental official rejected two coal-fired power plants because of
the millions of tons of carbon-dioxide emissions they could produce. In
a state where coal generates 73 percent of the electricity, the
pro-coal forces were unable to work their will.
That ineffectiveness will be underscored as early as Friday if Gov.
Kathleen Sebelius, as expected, vetoes an effort by the Kansas State
Legislature to ensure the plants are approved. A handful of lawmakers
seeking a new energy policy are blocking the attempt to override.
The struggle over those plants is an example of a growing trend in
climate-change politics. In the absence of clear federal mandates for
emissions from smokestack industries, states that have been proving
grounds for new environmental approaches to energy are becoming
battlegrounds as well. The remainder of the story can be found at
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/us/20energy.html?ex=1206676800&en=6ca72fa77749e57a&ei=5070&emc=eta1
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