TOPEKA, Kansas, October 18, 2007 (ENS) - Concerned about clean air and global warming, Roderick Bremby, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, KDHE, has denied an air quality permit for two proposed coal-fired generators at the Sunflower Electric Power Corporation plant near Holcomb in western Kansas.

The decision marks the first time a U.S. power plant proposal has been rejected for its potential contribution to climate change.

"After careful consideration of my responsibility to protect the public health and environment from actual, threatened or potential harm from air pollution, I have decided to deny the Sunflower Electric Power Corporation application for an air quality permit," said Bremby.

"I believe it would be irresponsible to ignore emerging information about the contribution of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to climate change and the potential harm to our environment and health if we do nothing," he said.

It was designed to be the largest coal-fired power plant in the United States, to be built at the cost of $3.6 billion. But the power plant with its two 700-megawatt generators has been the subject of months of heated controversy.

Supporters say the new generating capacity would boost the Kansas economy and provide long-term inexpensive power. Opponents such as the Sierra Club argue that the plant's carbon dioxide and other emissions would harm the environment and Kansans' health. They contend that a mix of wind and natural gas power would be a better choice.

Sunflower's president and chief executive officer Earl Watkins, said, "We are disappointed with the Secretary's arbitrary and capricious action." Watkins said the decision "sets aside" the recommendation of the department's professional staff to issue the permit, and said the company is considering taking legal action to overturn the decision.

Watkins said the secretary's decision was based on his opinion that additional carbon dioxide in the atmosphere presents a "substantial endangerment" to the public health of Kansans.

But, Watkins maintained, "Current EPA and Kansas regulations do not consider carbon dioxide a pollutant."

In his decision, Bremby cited the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling this year in the case of Massachusetts v. EPA that carbon dioxide meets the broad definition of an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act. The Kansas Air Quality Act similarly has a broad definition of what constitutes air pollution, the secretary said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recognized the need for public health agencies to take the lead on educating the public about the health impacts of climate change and has adopted priority health actions to prepare for, respond to and manage the associated health risks of climate change.

The decision constitutes a first step in emerging policy to address existing and future carbon dioxide emissions in Kansas.

"KDHE will work to engage various industries and stakeholders to establish goals for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and strategies to achieve them. This is consistent with initiatives underway in states leading the effort to address climate change," said Bremby.

One such initiative currently being undertaken by eight northeastern states is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a mandatory regional cap-and-trade program aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 10 percent, or approximately 12 million tons annually, by 2020.

The expanded Sunflower plant was projected to release an estimated 11 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

"Denying the Sunflower air quality permit, combined with creating sound policy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions can facilitate the development of clean and renewable energy to protect the health and environment of Kansans," said Bremby.

Supporters of the project view this decision as a setback for central and western Kansas. "This destroys the opportunity for $200 million of direct benefit for central and western Kansas cooperative and municipal customers and diminishes the ability to build transmission necessary for additional wind power growth," Watkins said.

"Unfortunately, this decision opens the door to higher rates for central and western Kansas. We reject the Sierra Club's recent assertion that doubling electric rates would be acceptable," Watkins said. "Our farmers, small business owners, senior citizens and commercial customers should not be burdened by higher rates because of political maneuvering."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved.