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Posted on May 18, 2007
Craig Volland, Sierra Club, 913-334-0556
Nick Persampieri, Earthjustice, 301-346-7903

Citizens Ask State to Factor in Global Warming to Coal Plant Decision

Last month the Supreme Court in the landmark case Massachusetts v. EPA, ruled that carbon dioxide and other global warming pollutants are regulated under the Clean Air Act. The Court also ruled that the EPA cannot refuse to regulate these pollutants for political reasons. In the first challenge since the ruling, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice are asking the state of Kansas not to issue a permit for the massive coal-fired power plant proposed in Western Kansas unless it requires substantial controls for carbon dioxide.

"The Supreme Court sent a clear message- it's time to take action on global warming," said Nick Persampieri, Earthjustice attorney. "We need to be looking to cleaner energy, not the same polluting World War II era technologies."

The proposed 1400 MW Sunflower plant near Holcomb Kansas, would emit about 10 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, the equivalent of 1.75 million cars per year on Kansas highways- and over 90% of the power produced would be sold out of state. This single coal plant would offset almost half of the carbon dioxide cuts being made by northeastern states as part of their Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Sierra Club and Earthjustice are pushing the coal plant developers, Sunflower Electric and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, to invest in Kansas' abundant wind resources and efficiency instead of investing in more dirty coal plants.

"Ranked third in the nation for wind resources, Kansas has a remarkable opportunity to be part of the solution and become a leader in clean energy," said Craig Volland of the Kansas Chapter of the Sierra Club. "Scientists tell us that we need to reduce our global warming emissions 80% by 2050- that's a do-able 2% reduction per year. Investing in wind energy can help get us there."

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