Voice For Liberty

Tag: KEEP

  • 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 the independence necessary to formulate sound energy and environmental policy in Kansas.

    In a Wichita Eagle editorial on May 18, 2008, Pelton said he believes that carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced: “We are tasked with helping develop a plan to ensure Kansas energy needs are met now and in the future through policies and technologies that reduce the state’s carbon footprint.” To me, this sounds as though he’s already formed a conclusion — and one that happens to agree with our governor’s.

    That agreement with Governor Sebelius may not be a coincidence. Other motives may be a factor. That’s because earlier this year, the State of Kansas approved $33 million in incentives for Cessna, with Wichita and Sedgwick County adding another $10 million. The governor signed the legislation in a televised ceremony at Cessna’s facilities in Wichita. This award to Cessna is part of $150 million in aircraft incentives the state authorized.

    (As is often the case with economic development incentives, the state won’t directly give Cessna the money. Instead, it will issue bonds that Cessna will repay with its employee withholding taxes. Confusing maneuvers like this allow governments to say they aren’t actually giving money to companies. Instead, they’re merely issuing bonds which will be repaid, never mind what they’re being repaid with.)

    His company having received a gift like that, how could Pelton turn down the governor’s request to lead KEEP? Given Kathleen Sebelius’ national political ambitions based on her green environmentalist credentials, how can he be expected to do anything that would ruffle her feathers?

    When you combine these factors with the fact that KEEP is being facilitated by The Center for Climate Strategies, Kansans should be very skeptical of the conclusions and recommendations that will emerge from this process.

  • 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 show no inclination to slow down their production of increasing quantities of greenhouse gases.

    Just how small is the contribution of Kansas to global carbon dioxide emissions? Vanishingly small: “… even a complete cessation of all CO2 emissions in Kansas would be entirely subsumed by rising global emissions in about one month’s time.” So we in Kansas could stop all production of carbon dioxide from all sources, and in one month our sacrifice would be canceled.

    Another interesting item from the report is this: “Future projections indicate that Kansas will be less impacted by rising global temperatures — natural or otherwise — than any other state in the country.”

    As KEEP conducts its meetings that are directed by a group with a clear ideological bent, will it be exposed to information like this?

  • 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? For me, it raises a question as to who is really running KEEP. Will the process be something that will benefit the people of Kansas, giving full recognition to what makes Kansas different from other states? Or is Kansas just another cog in the extremist Center for Climate Strategies machine?

  • 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 name is circulating for a cabinet post in an Obama Administration, maybe even Vice President. She’s representative of the party’s ‘no, nothing’ wing, which knows only what energy it wants to ban or limit, not what it is going to offer in place.”

    Randy Scholfield does a good job inoculating Kansans against the concern they should justifiably have about the reputation of the Center for Climate Strategies, the group that will help KEEP formulate its plan. But I feel that the nature and track record of this advisory group may push a misguided energy policy on the people of Kansas.

    Kansans need to know more about KEEP, its members, and its processes as it develops its policies and recommendations. As I learn more, there will be future posts on the Voice for Liberty in Wichita that will present a comprehensive look at KEEP.