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Kansas lawmakers slam cap-and-tradeWICHITA, Kan. (AP)--Republican members of the Kansas congressional delegation criticized a proposal to cap greenhouse gas emissions, saying Aug. 17 that the plan would be devastating to rural Midwestern states that generate most of their electricity from coal-fired plants. The lawmakers found a supportive audience at the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association convention in their opposition to the suggested "cap-and-trade'' limits. U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback assured them the measure had little prospect of passing the Senate. "There is no more devastating piece of legislation for rural America, for the Midwest, for agriculture, for farmers and for small business than this piece of legislation at a time like this economy--bar none,'' said Rep. Jerry Moran, Earlier this summer, the House passed a bill that would impose the first nationwide limits on greenhouse gases and require electric utilities to produce at least 12 percent of their power from pollution-free sources such as wind and solar energy by 2020. The House bill would set up a system in which limits would be placed on greenhouse gas emissions and a market would be created where businesses could buy and sell permits to pollute. Rep. Todd Tiahrt urged the group of oil producers to focus their lobbying efforts against the measure on "red state Democrats'' from places like Nebraska, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado and New Mexico, where they do business.
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