Climate change Archives | Page 8 of 8 Voice For Liberty

Jul

Wind Production Tax Credits Aren’t Free of Cost

Nancy Jackson of the Climate and Energy Project in Kansas has some tips for citizens and candidates to use when talking about global warming. The article Tips for citizens and candidates - talking about the Production Tax Credit contains warnings about what will happen if the Production Tax Credit (PTC) isn't extended beyond its scheduled expiration date at the end of 2008. Thousands of jobs and billions in investment will be at risk, the post says. Whether these tax credits are desirable is one issue. But what is not at issue is that these tax credits come with a cost.…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

KEEP’s Goal is Predetermined and Ineffectual

Earlier this year, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius created the Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy Advisory Group, or KEEP. Its goal, as stated in the press release announcing its creation, is to "...explore opportunities in all sectors of our economy to accomplish the goal of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions..." Nancy Jackson of the Climate and Energy Project echoed these marching orders in her recent Wichita Eagle opinion piece. This predetermined goal, difficult as it will be to achieve, means nothing to the earth's climate. What Kansas could do, even if we took the most drastic measure possible, is canceled by…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Jack Pelton, Leader of Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy Advisory Group

Earlier this year, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius created the Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy Advisory Group (KEEP) and appointed Cessna Aircraft Company chairman, president and chief executive officer Jack Pelton as its leader. This was a smart political move by Governor Sebelius. She appears to have put the planning for our state's energy future in the hands of an independent, skeptical businessman, someone who will be concerned about the bottom line. Someone who won't be overly influenced by the emotional appeals of environmentalists. Kansans need to understand, however, that Jack Pelton may not want to, or be able to, exhibit…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Kansas Climate Profile: Cause For Alarm?

The Science and Public Policy Institute has released a series of state climate profiles. The Kansas Climate Profile is very interesting to read, especially in light of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and the creation of the Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy Advisory Group, or (KEEP). One of the things that I've not been able to understand is how people believe that what we do in Kansas -- like denying a permit for a coal-fired power plant -- can have any impact on the global climate. After all, we are just a small part of the planet, and some large countries…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Wikipropaganda On Global Warming

CBS News picks up on a National Review Online story about the idealogical bias of Wikipedia when it comes to the subject of global warming. On Wikipedia, regular folks like me who make changes to articles are known as "editors." When we make these edits, they are subject to review and possible revision or deletion by other Wikipedia editors. There's a certain give-and-take, based on Wikipedia culture and some rules, that governs these activities. But Wikipedia has some special people known as administrators, who have great power in controlling the content of Wikipedia articles. When these people have biases, there…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Rasmussen Poll on Kansas Coal Plant

What is the attitude of Kansans toward coal-fired power plants? Opponents of these plants have polls purportedly telling us that a majority of Kansans are opposed to them. See the press release Kansans Support Denial of Coal Plants, Want Wind Power for New Electricity from GPACE, a group headed by Scott Allegrucci, a former actor and son of Joyce Allegrucci, the former campaign director and chief of staff for Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. But also see Kansans’ Opposition to Coal Plant: Look at the Poll for a look at the type of questions used in this poll. Now a Rasmussen…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Kansans’ Opposition to Coal Plant: Look at the Poll

We've been told that Kansas public opinion is against the building of a coal-fired power plant in western Kansas. See the press release at Kansans Support Denial of Coal Plants, Want Wind Power for New Electricity. I would encourage you to view the questions that appeared on the poll cited in the press release. Here's one, where people were asked which statement comes closer to their point of view: Statement A: Now more than ever we need to commit to alternative energy sources such as electric power generated by wind. We have the technology, if we only have the political…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Kansas environmental policy is full of uncertainty

In a January 17, 2008 Wichita Eagle editorial, Nancy Jackson of the Climate and Energy Project of the Land Institute claims that Roderick L. Bremby, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, did not create regulatory uncertainty when he denied the permit for the expansion of a coal-fired power plant in Kansas. A dubious claim made in this editorial is how "Neither Bremby nor Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is 'out front' on this issue [carbon emissions]." Jackson claims that Bremby was just following an inevitable trend towards more regulation of carbon emissions. But this is in direct opposition to…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Who Owns and Runs the KEEP Website?

The Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy Advisory Group (KEEP) has an impressive-looking website located at ksclimatechange.us. Just by looking at it, you'd think it was an official State of Kansas website, complete with a photograph of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and our state seal. But who actually owns this website? A check reveals that the domain name is registered to a Thomas D. Peterson of Fairfax, Virginia. He also owns a few other domain names, including mnclimatechange.us, scclimatechange.us, flclimatechange.us, and wiclimatechange.us. These, of course, are websites for the states of Minnesota, South Carolina, Florida, and Wisconsin. What does this mean?…

Jul

By Bob Weeks

Earthjustice in Kansas: The Press Release

I've recently learned that the radical environmentalist group Earthjustice played a role in the rejection of a coal-fired power plant in Kansas. I didn't learn that from any Kansas news source, but only from Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, and only then long after the permit for the plant was denied. See Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius at Earthjustice. Now I see Earthjustice's press release Kansas Rejects Massive Sunflower Coal-Fired Power Plant. What did Earthjustice do in Kansas, and how did they do it? These are things Kansans need to know. To that end, I've filed a request under the Kansas Open…

Jun

By Bob Weeks

Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy Advisory Group: Good for Kansas?

Yesterday's Wichita Eagle editorial by Randy Scholfield (Climate group could help state) supports Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius and her hand-picked Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy Advisory Group (KEEP). Together with an earlier article in the same newspaper (Climate group to assist state on energy plan, June 22, 2008), Kansans have plenty to be worried about as our governor seeks to burnish her national reputation as a green governor as she makes plans for her post-gubernatorial career. The Wall Street Journal got it just right in a recent editorial The 'No, Nothing' Democrats: "Ms. Sebelius is a Democratic wunderkind and her…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Are you polluting Kansas?

Lost in the debate over the building of a coal-fired electricity plant in Kansas is the fact that China builds a plant like this every week to ten days, according to the New York Times. Nonetheless, newspaper editorial writers like Randy Scholfield of The Wichita Eagle want to saddle Kansans with higher utility bills and a stifling regulatory structure. There is no doubt that other forms of producing electricity are more expensive than coal. Mr. Scholfield's newspaper is full of stories of woe about how people can't pay their bills when the price of natural gas or gasoline goes up.…

Oct

By Bob Weeks

Global warming: the real threat

Those sounding the alarm over global warming are full of evidence of rising temperatures and man's contribution to them. Rarely, however, do I read of what these advocates proscribe as the cure for global warming, and if one is given, we don't often hear of the grave damage the cure would do to our economy and standard of living. The following article by George Resiman explains what caps on carbon dioxide emissions mean in terms of our economy. I wish that Roderick L. Bremby, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, had read this article before making his…