"As you know, a poll's outcome can be determined by the way you ask the questions," said Senate President Steve Morris, whose district includes Sunflower's plan for the new coal complex.
Bob Williams, a Garden City businessman and Sunflower backer, agrees.
"I'm naturally suspicious when people who pay for the poll end up getting the answers they're looking for."
The Sunflower plant is "vital to the economic future of western Kansas," Williams said.
The survey, released by the Land Institute's Climate and Energy Project, was conducted by a national pollster often used by Democratic political candidates, including Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, to test the waters on a variety of issues.
Its results enter the political fray just as legislators prepare to head to Topeka for their annual session.
Sunflower, meanwhile, is contemplating legislation to reverse the permit decision.
The utility's spokesman, Steve Miller, said they are working on approaches prior to the legislative session, which begins Jan. 15.
"We have several ideas in mind we believe could help move the project forward, but these concepts have not been drafted in bill form at this time," he said.
House Republicans supportive of the effort plan to release their agenda at a press conference later next week.
But Speaker Melvin Neufeld, a Sunflower supporter, denies talk among some lawmakers that he has issued an ultimatum that Sunflower's bill be passed before the House can move to other issues.
"He just wants to make sure state policies and rules and regulations are enforced equitably for all applicants," said Neufeld's spokeswoman Sherriene Jones. "Whether for Sunflower, Westar, a wind farm or natural gas. he wants a fair playing field."
Opposed to more coal
The Land Institute has strongly opposed the plants because of their expected output of millions of tons of carbon dioxide, which contributes to climate change.
The 30-year-old institute's new Climate and Energy Project sought the poll to get a picture of Kansans' views as they promote education and dialogue on energy efficiency and wind power, said project executive director Nancy Jackson.
The approach will include the Legislature, Jackson said, which will receive copies of the poll results.
Sunflower, however, says the November poll's release was timed to influence the Legislature's energy policy decisions. The electric utility is launching its own public relations campaign through a new organization named Alliance for a Sound Energy Policy.
It also released statements Friday from the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Kansas Farm Bureau and the AFL-CIO that criticize the permit's denial.
Sunflower also is waiting on the outcome of a lawsuit it has pending before the Kansas Supreme Court. The case seeks to reverse the permit denial, claiming the state regulator's decision was arbitrary.
Another organization, the Kansas Rural Center, which has opposed Sunflower's devotion to coal-fired electricity, is planning a series of public hearings this year in Kansas on community-owned wind farms.
The plan is to hold the meetings in six communities that have access to transmission lines, said Rural Center executive director Dan Nagengast.
They offer greater potential for widespread economic development, he said.
"You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see how that's going to disperse economies in western Kansas as compared to a single coal plant."
A key obstacle to more wind farms in Kansas right now is a lack of adequate transmission lines.
Wind and coal
Morris said legislation is being draft that will address a wide array of energy issues. It will promote wind and solar energy as well as coal, he said. But he is unsure the Sunflower decision could be reversed by lawmakers.
"I don't know that we could do that retroactively," he said.
The Supreme Court might move fast enough to address the issue before lawmakers finish their session, Morris added.
But he thinks the state needs a mix of energy sources, including new coal plants.
Morris doubts those who say Congress in the near future will regulate coal's carbon emissions to the point that it becomes too expensive to use.
"I can't imagine Congress raising everybody's utility rate unless there was an absolute good reason to do that. I can't imagine that happening. It would be counter-productive to the economy and everything. Not to say 20 to 30 to 40 years in the future it won't happen."
Robert Mulch, Scott City farmer, said he's concerned about emissions from more coal plants including mercury and the plants' water usage.
Wind farms don't take such a toll on health and the environment, he said.
"What I'm finding is once you start talking to people and explaining it, then they have a different outlook on it," Mulch said of Sunflower's permit denial. "There's not a lot of understanding."
Mulch prefers wind turbines, offering income to counties and local farmers.
"Our state Legislature needs to invest in transmission and Congress, too."
- Options :
- View Archives