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Energy bill goes to SebeliusTOPEKA, Kan. (AP)--An unusually expensive public relations and lobbying battle continued this year as legislators considered a bill allowing two coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas. The bill, which also reduces the power of the state's top environmental regulator, went March 6 to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. The Senate approved it, 31 to 7, a day after the House passed it. The measure is a response to the denial of an air-quality permit in October for Sunflower Electric Power Corp., by Sebelius' secretary of health and environment. Sunflower wants to build the two coal-fired plants outside Holcomb, in Finney County. The secretary cited the plants' potential emissions of carbon dioxide, which many scientists link to global warming. But Sunflower's supporters argue that the decision represented an attempt to regulate CO2 when the state never has had any rules in place. The decision blocking the $3.6 billion project touched off competing mass media campaigns. Sunflower and a group tied to the Hays-based utility spent $127,000 on media advertising in January, according to a report this week by the state Ethics Commission. Extensive media campaigns led lobbyists to report a record $1.17 million in spending last year. The advertising in January pushed lobbyists' reported spending to nearly $272,000--more than double the amount reported in January 2007. 3/17/08 Date: 3/13/08
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