Kansas Interfaith Power & Light » Recent News

Kansas IPL “Legislator Education Day”

rebmoti — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:59:34 +0000

Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 9:30 AM- 12 Noon
State Capitol, Topeka

It’s been a couple of years since the Clean Energy Days sponsored by environmental groups in Kansas, which Kansas IPL was part of and which brought hundreds of concerned Kansans to the Capitol. There’s a very busy legislative schedule this session and environmental issues aren’t really on it. But our elected representatives still need to know that there are many people of faith from all over Kansas who care about our environment and a clean energy future!

The Steering Committee of Kansas IPL will be going to the Capitol building on the morning of February 7 to introduce ourselves to our legislators and share with them some of the issues of most concern for us: incentives for renewables; low-interest loans for energy efficiency improvements for homes, businesses and houses of worship; extending net metering to rural electric coops and BPUs, and more. Our Advocacy Committee is developing the talking points now and will share them with participants before the event.

If you care about these issues and want to help Kansas IPL build a presence in Topeka, advocating for the issues that are vital to us and to the environment, please make plans to join us on “Legislator Education Day”. Send an email to Kansas IPL Director Rabbi Moti Rieber (rebmotikansasipl.org) letting him know you’re interested in coming, and we’ll make sure you’re kept in the loop before the event.

IPL in Support of EPA Mercury and Air Toxics Standards

rebmoti — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:52:51 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., December 21, 2011 — The EPA has just announced that the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards have been finalized. What follows is the reaction of Interfaith Power & Light’s President, The Rev. Canon Sally G. Bingham:

“This is good news for the religious community across America. The finalization of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards shows us that the 40-year old Clean Air Act is still an invaluable tool to carry out our call to be stewards of God’s Creation and to serve the least among us.

“Clean air is something people of faith have a responsibility to maintain. Thousands of clergy and communities of faith representing Interfaith Power & Light’s network of 14,000 congregations turned out at public hearings or wrote postcards to the EPA urging them to adopt these safeguards. We are delighted that our voices have been heard. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards are long overdue, and we commend this Administration for making clean air a priority. These safeguards are an important and critical step in reducing harmful pollution and protecting human health. Not only will they keep us healthier, but additionally they will help to stabilize the climate that we most certainly need to protect.

“Addressing emissions of mercury and other toxics will help prevent as many as 17,000 premature deaths, 11,000 heart attacks and 120,000 asthma events every year . These safeguards will mean significantly less human exposure to toxic mercury, which poses particular risks to children. Each year, more than 300,000 children born in the U.S. have levels of mercury in their blood high enough to impair performance on brain development tests and permanently affect intelligence. The finalization of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards is welcome news and upholds the commandment to love God and love our neighbor. Loving our neighbor means extending care and concern for our children and future generations who have, as yet, no voice of their own. We applaud you, Administrator Jackson and President Obama, for doing the right and moral thing.”

Sign Up for the 2012 National Preach-In on Global Warming

rebmoti — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:33:06 +0000

This year’s National Preach-In on Global Warming will be over Valentine’s Day weekend, February 10-12, 2012. Clergy of all religions, lay leaders, and green team members from across the country are invited to participate, and when you sign up to preach, teach, or host an event, we’ll make a variety of support resources available in January, including:

Denomination-specific liturgical and thematic notes to help in the preparation of sermons, reflections, devotionals, Bible studies, and youth activities
Ready-to-go sample sermons on global warming
Global warming fact sheet and bulletin inserts
Valentine’s Day postcards for policy makers
Preaching for the Planet 30-minute film in DVD format

All materials are free-of-charge to those who wish to give a sermon or hold an activity. Resources will be sent in January to those who register. Simply fill out the form on the national IPL website. Download the Preach-In on Global Warming Flyer to print and share with others.

5 Things to Know About the Durban Climate Talks

rebmoti — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:22:38 +0000

The 17th-annual UN climate conference begins this week. What can we expect?

By Kate Sheppard / Mother Jones

What a difference two years makes. Heading into the 15th Conference of the Parties, the annual United Nations confab on climate change, hopes were high in Copenhagen, Denmark, that world leaders would hash out a new international agreement on how to address rising temperatures. Now, two years later, many of the same questions remain as negotiators arrive in Durban, South Africa, this week.

Will the United States and leaders of major developing nations like China and India agree to legally binding emission reduction targets? What will come of the Kyoto Protocol, the current pact that guides climate goals set by industrialized nations? (Excluding, of course, the US.) Where will the promised $100 billion in long-term financing to help the poorest nations deal with climate change come from? All of these questions loom as negotiators meet in Durban from November 28 through December 10.

To read more of this article click here.

Religious Voices Loud and Clear at Keystone XL Protests

rebmoti — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:19:46 +0000

Concerned Congregations Gather to Decry Oil Pipeline

by Catherine Woodiwiss | November 16, 2011 / Center for American Progress

A small tinfoil dove on a wooden pole waved above the orange safety jackets, snappy signs, and a mock pipeline carried by thousands of demonstrators encircling the White House on November 6. Meanwhile, a group of protesters in yellow shirts emblazoned with ‘”Standing on the Side of Love” gathered around as clusters of youth chanted, “Hey Obama, listen to the Dalai Lama” and “No XL pipeline, I’m gonna let it shine.”

As promised in the weeks leading up to the Keystone XL protest at the White House, faith voices had joined the cries against the construction of a controversial oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

To read more from this article click here.

Help us match our challenge grant!

rebmoti — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:49:32 +0000

We’re more than halfway there!

I’m spending my Monday evening with a dedicated group of board members and volunteers making phone calls on behalf of Kansas Interfaith Power & Light. As you know, we’re trying to raise $10,000 by December 1 to match a challenge grant from our national parent organization. This will allow us to fulfill our mission of helping faith communities “green” their spaces and to promote energy efficiency, energy conservation and the use of renewables in Kansas.

Maybe you’re a member of a faith community that is stretching to pay the heat and electricity bills each month. Kansas IPL helps congregations save 20-30% on those expenses with some simple efficiencies, so you can devote more resources to mission or education.

Maybe you saw over 10,000 people joining hands around the White House this weekend to urge President Obama to refuse to oppose the Keystone XL “tar sands” pipeline. Kansas IPL testified at the State Department public hearing in Topeka and got national attention for our principled opposition to this dirty and dangerous fossil fuel.

Maybe you wonder why our neighbors in Missouri get state incentives for energy efficiency while Kansas eliminated its federally funded energy efficiency program. Kansas IPL is working hard to help our elected representatives understand that simple efficiency efforts save critical resources, save hard-earned money, and can help save the one creation shared by all people of every faith.

I hope you’ll get a chance to speak to one of our dedicated volunteers over the phone. Please click the “Donate!” button to make a tax-deductible donation of $25, $50, or even $100 to help us with our mission.

Thank you for joining with us to take action on behalf of all our children and grandchildren.

EPA spars with Kansas over Sunflower coal-fired power plant

rebmoti — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:12:29 +0000

by KAREN DILLON
The Kansas City Star

The long, epic fight over whether to build a coal-fired power plant in western Kansas has taken yet another strange twist:

A federal agency is accusing a state agency of telling tall tales to the highest court in Kansas.

The battle over the Sunflower coal-fired power plant currently is before the Kansas Supreme Court.

The state maintains the pollution levels it allowed in a permit to build the plant are safe for humans. The Sierra Club has filed a lawsuit saying they’re not.

They’re not, the Environmental Protection Agency has told the state in letters and discussions over the past two years.

But in their written arguments last month to the Supreme Court, Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) attorneys may have told a stretcher.

“EPA has no substantial objection to the issuance of the construction permit,” KDHE attorneys wrote.

EPA would not comment for this story, but a letter to KDHE from Karl Brooks, EPA Region 7 administrator, on Monday essentially speaks for itself, a spokesman said.

That letter says that “Kansas incorrectly informed the court” that EPA did not object to the permit.

The letter also said KDHE failed to inform the Supreme Court that it had received three letters from EPA saying the Sunflower permit was not strict enough.

A KDHE spokeswoman said officials would have no comment.

The Sierra Club says it plans to make hay of the inaccurate Kansas statement about emissions in its own Supreme Court arguments.

“EPA has consistently told the state that the permit needed more stringent limits on certain pollutants,” Stephanie Cole, spokeswoman for the Sierra Club, said in an interview. “KDHE not only ignored EPA’s request to amend the permit to include the more stringent limits, but now KDHE is actually attempting to mischaracterize EPA’s position to the court.”

Cole also criticized EPA, saying it was time that the federal agency took stronger action.

“EPA has the legal authority to object to the permit,” she said.

But for now, the EPA appears content to continue to push Kansas to change the permit.

In the letter on Monday, Brooks wrote that EPA continues to believe that the state could amend the permit to include the federal standards for nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide prior to construction of the plant.

Those standards are not unknown to the state, Brooks said. He pointed out that the state recently issued a permit to another facility that did include those standards.

A Sunflower Electric Power Corp. official said the company would have no comment.

The coal plant fight has been ongoing since 2006 under three governors. Originally projected to be three plants, plans eventually were scaled back to one.

In October 2007, then-KDHE Secretary Roderick Bremby rejected the Sunflower permit — it was the first time in the United States a permit had been blocked based on concerns over greenhouse gases.

After Gov. Kathleen Sebelius left for a Cabinet position under President Barack Obama, her successor, Gov. Mark Parkinson, reached a settlement with Sunflower and agreed to let one plant be built.

But the plant is on hold because of the Supreme Court case, which may take months more to resolve.

In fact, this summer Kansas gave Sunflower a break — an unusual extension or stay on its construction permit. The extension allows Sunflower to delay construction of the plant until court cases are resolved. Generally permits have an 18-month lifespan.

for original story click here.

US State Dept Hears Testimony on Keystone XL Pipeline – Kansas Public Radio

rebmoti — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:10:17 +0000

Environmentalists lined up in Topeka today (MON) to tell representatives from the State Department they oppose the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline, which would move oil to the Texas coast from Canada. Rabbi Moti Rieber, coordinator of Kansas Interfaith Power & Light, joined the orderly procession of speakers today (MON). The religious and environmental group leader called the 1,700-pipeline “a direct threat” to Kansas’s natural resources because of possible spills. Governor Sam Brownback said he supports the pipeline because it would boost national security by giving the U-S a steady source of oil from a “friendly nation that’s next door.” Labor union members said they support the pipeline because of the jobs it would create. The State Department also is holding hearings in Texas, Montana, and elsewhere this week before deciding whether to approve the pipeline.

Pipeline hearing draws energy rivals – Topeka Capital-Journal

rebmoti — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:08:16 +0000

By Tim Carpenter

Gov. Sam Brownback countered environmentalists’ objections Monday by endorsing completion of a pipeline capable of moving thick crude from western Canada to oil hubs in Texas on the Gulf Coast.

A section of TransCanada’s underground pipeline running through Kansas was completed in February, but the U.S. Department of State is conducting public hearings in states in the path of a proposed expansion to determine whether extending the network would be in the national interest.

The open forum at the Kansas Expocentre attracted more than 200 people. It was a big draw for champions of alternative energy investment and labor union members hired to build the 1,700-mile, $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline.

“Kansas is unique among the states along the XL route in that our section of the pipeline is already in the ground and operational,” Brownback said. “Our state benefited greatly from the construction jobs related to this project and look forward to the potential of many more permanent jobs as the remainder of the pipeline is completed.”

Brownback, a Topeka Republican, said delivery of crude to refineries in the United States promoted national security by reducing reliance on oil from less stable regions of the world.

Incentive to move ahead in Kansas with construction of the Keystone XL section was provided by passage of a 10-year local and state property tax break.

Rabbi Moti Rieber, speaking on behalf of the Kansas Interfaith Power & Light, led about 50 people in a rally calling attention to reasons the Obama administration should refuse to authorize a permit for Calgary-based TransCanada to ship 830,000 barrels each day of tar-sands oil crude through pipe in Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Reiber told people at a rally organized by the National Wildlife Federation that the federal government shouldn’t place greater value on temporary construction jobs than the long-term health of a planet undergoing climate change due to burning of fossil fuels.

“We’re here to stop the Keystone pipeline,” he said outside the Expocentre. “I consider this project to be a direct threat to Kansas’ environmental future. The Keystone XL pipeline represents not energy independence but a new dependence on an even dirtier environmentally devastating form of energy.”

Public hearings are scheduled in states linked to the pipeline expansion proposal. On Monday, meetings were held by the State Department in Topeka and Port Arthur, Texas.

A final decision by the State Department on a permit required for a pipeline to cross the U.S.-Canada border is expected in December. The federal government released in August an assessment indicating the proposed pipeline would have “no significant impacts to most resources along the proposed pipeline corridor.”

National environmental groups have challenged integrity of the environmental impact review, claiming State Department officials maintain unacceptably close relationships with TransCanada lobbyists.

Dozens of members of Laborers International Union of North America — many wearing bright orange shirts — expressed their support for the project inside the meeting hall in Topeka.

“This will create jobs,” said Mitch Rowley, a Topeka member of the LIUNA-affiliated Laborers Local Union 1290.

He said 500 members of 1290 worked on the TransCanada pipeline section finished in Kansas.

Charlie Hunter, biology professor at Southwestern College in Winfield, said he was concerned more than 250 miles of the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer would be lined with new oil pipe.

The existing section of Keystone XL has sprouted a dozen leaks in the past year, Hunter said. A defender of the project said those leaks were in above-ground pumping stations, not from underground pipe.

Jim Krause, TransCanada’s director of field operations for the Keystone project, said in testimony the company was committed to a development protective of the environment and supportive of the nation’s economy.

“We will build and operate the pipeline safely,” Krause said.

In addition to Brownback, the Republican leaders of the Kansas House and Kansas Senate endorsed the project.

House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, said the project would create thousands of “high-quality domestic manufacturing and construction jobs.”

Proximity of Canada as a crude oil trade partner and the security provided by such a business relationship can’t be ignored, said Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton.

“We cannot risk the integrity of our economy,” Morris said. “The closer to home we can acquire our energy resources the better.”

TransCanada applied for the pipeline permit in September 2008. After completion of the environmental impact statement, the State Department launched a broader review of economic, energy and foreign policy factors of consequence to expansion of the oil pipeline system.

Under the plan outlined by TransCanada, about 850 miles of new pipe would be installed from the U.S. border in Morgan, Mont., across western South Dakota and to Steele City, Neb. It would connect to recently completed pipe in Kansas that extends to Cushing, Okla. An additional 480 miles of new pipe would be built to link Cushing to Port Arthur, Texas. A 50-mile spur would carry crude to Houston.

AP article: State Dept. hears from Kan., Texas on oil pipeline

rebmoti — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:03:51 +0000

(This article appeared in newspapers and websites all over the country, including the Kansas City Star and the Huffington Post)

by MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER

TOPEKA, Kan. — Environmentalists told officials from the U.S. State Department on Monday they opposed the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, claiming it would move a “dirtier” and “environmentally devastating form of energy” from Canada through Kansas and other states to the Texas coast.

Rabbi Moti Rieber, coordinator of the Kansas Interfaith Power & Light, said he and others in his coalition disagreed with the State Department’s report, which said there are unlikely to be any serious environmental problems with the proposed 1,700-mile pipeline. Rieber said he strongly opposed the pipeline, which he called a “direct threat” to the Kansas environment.

“Exploring tar sands will keep us hooked on this form of oil for another 50 years,” Rieber said. “The Keystone XL pipeline represents not energy independence but a new dependence on an even dirtier environmentally devastating form of energy.

“An energy policy that moves the nation toward an even dirtier form of oil and involves such devastation of God’s creation represents a profound moral failure,” he said.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback kicked off the meeting, attended by about 200 supporters and opponents. Brownback said that while he supports exploring alternative energy sources like wind and solar, he also supports building the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline because “for the foreseeable able future we’re going to need oil.”

“I think this is an important security for the United States,” Brownback said. “I have been at the front end and the back end of this pipeline. I have been where the oil sands are developed and processed in Canada, and I’ve been to oil refineries in Kansas where they use the oil sands,” he said.

“The idea of us being able … to have that oil source from a friendly nation that’s next door rather than shipping oil in tankers from half way around the world in a many times unstable environment is a good thing for us. It’s a good thing for America, a good thing for Kansas.”

David Barnett, financial secretary for the Pipeliners Union 798, of Tulsa, Okla., said losing the pipeline would cost his members “up in the millions of dollars” in paychecks.

“If common sense prevails it should get approved,” Barnett said before the three-hour meeting began. “We have the world’s best welders, pipefitters … ready to build this project, and I think this project will start literally the next day once they decide.”

Several other members of labor unions, citing high unemployment figures and tough economy, also said they want to see the project move forward.

The pipeline would move tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, and hook up to Calgary-based TransCanads’s existing pipelines and move oil to Oklahoma and the Gulf of Mexico.

The meetings Monday in Topeka and Port Arthur, Texas, kick off this week’s series of hearings on the Keystone XL pipeline with meetings Monday in Topeka, Kan., and Port Arthur, Texas.

Officials from the State Department said they don’t plan to answer any questions, reserving most of the time for comments from the public.

Other meetings have been scheduled this week in Montana, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Even in that deeply conservative state there is growing concern about the pipeline’s effect on the Ogallala Aquifer, a vast subterranean reservoir that spans a large swath of the Great Plains and provides water to much of Nebraska and seven other states.

The State Department, which has to approve the pipeline because it would cross the U.S.-Canada border, is expected to decide by the end of the year. The sessions are likely to focus on the department’s final draft of its environmental impact statement on the pipeline, which found that special conditions put on the pipeline would result in a project with a “degree of safety greater than any typically constructed domestic oil pipeline system under current regulations.”

TransCanada and its supporters say the pipeline would mean tens of thousands of U.S. jobs and more energy security for the country.

“If the activists feel that they’re facing an uphill battle, it’s because the facts don’t support their overheated rhetoric,” TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard said earlier. “It has been shown that the outrageous claims these groups have made aren’t true.”