The ruling is the latest chapter in a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club against the Rural Utilities Service (“RUS”), an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, over its ongoing financial support for and approval of the Sunflower expansion. In March 2011, the court found that RUS had failed to consider environmental impacts of the proposed Sunflower plant expansion, in violation of federal law. The government has a financial stake in the plant because of loan arrangements made with plant owners by the federal Rural Utilities Service.

In his decision, Judge Emmett Sullivan emphasized that the expansion will need additional approval from the federal government as a result of changes to the project from earlier configurations. He enjoined the government from issuing any additional approvals pending a full “environmental impact statement” (“EIS”) disclosing all of the environmental and human health impacts of the project, which includes harm to human health as well as contribution to climate change. An EIS must also discuss “alternatives” to a proposed project, such as renewable energy projects and energy conservation.

“The people of Kansas and downwind states will now get their legitimate public health concerns heard,” said Jan Hasselman of Earthjustice who led the lawsuit on behalf of the Sierra Club. “Once the facts of this dirty and dangerous project are exposed to the public, we think that the federal government will have to just say no.”

“The financial and public health risks involved in the development of this project have always made it a bad deal for those of us who will have to breathe dirty air and pay unnecessary costs for this coal plant,” said Lee Messenger of Garden City, an opponent of the expansion. “Sunflower needs to be accountable for the debt it has already created with its existing coal plant, not get in over its head again with another risky and unneeded coal plant.”

“From a public health and environmental perspective, coal-fired power is the most expensive option available,” said Scott Allegrucci of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “We are confident that once the environmental impacts of this plant are considered in light of alternatives, the project’s impacts will be unacceptable and it will be rejected.”

According to recent American Wind Energy Association fourth quarter data, Kansas has the largest number of wind projects under construction in the nation. This decision comes as utility companies and developers across the country are abandoning planned coal plants as unnecessary and too costly and are moving toward a greater reliance on clean energy.

Background:

In this lawsuit, Sierra Club argued that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provided extensive financial support—including writing off millions of dollars of public debt—so that Sunflower could build the new power plant. These agreements left the RUS with close oversight of Sunflower’s business operations and required federal approval to proceed with the Holcomb project. Much of Sunflower’s financial struggles stem from overbuilding capacity at their existing unit, Holcomb I, which is a scenario that could be repeated if Holcomb II is constructed since neither Sunflower nor Tri-State, the Colorado partner, has demonstrated the project is needed. The lawsuit argued that, as an essentially federal project, greater environmental review and consideration of alternatives—like greater conservation and renewables—is required.

Meanwhile, when Kathleen Sebelius was governor, the state rejected the proposed plant because of its potential, massive contributions to climate change. While popular with citizens, the decision upset coal-connected legislators. But, try as they did, they couldn’t overcome Sebelius’ vetoes.

Even when Sebelius left office—and was replaced by a governor who quickly gave Sunflower the green light—the coal lobby was stymied by legal pressures and by Rod Bremby, the state environmental health chief who had first rejected the plant permit under Sebelius. He held the line for three years until finally being fired over the issue. His successor promptly issued the permit last December. An appeal of the air permit is pending in the Kansas Supreme Court.

The grant, from the Mid-America Regional Council under its EnergyWorks KC program, is for “programs that exhibit innovative approaches leading to energy upgrades of existing buildings.” The funding is provided by the Federal government under the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”).

Houses of worship can be some of the most energy-inefficient buildings in our stock, which can present a significant burden to the congregations or denominations that maintain them. Many houses of worship operate on a shoestring budget, and every extra dollar they spend on energy or electricity is a dollar they cannot spend on worship, faith education, care for the poor or any of the other areas of activity that are more central to their mission.

Kansas IPL has found through years of working on this issue that paying attention to these energy efficiency items will have significant benefits for the community’s bottom line – as well as for the environment. Churches can save anywhere from 15% to over 40% of their annual lighting and energy costs by instituting these changes (the return depends on the size of the building and the extent of the improvements).

Under the terms of the Energy Stewardship project, churches and other houses of worship will receive an energy audit to determine their energy usage and areas where improvements will be most effective. They will then receive a matching grant of $3,000 to: a) replace 50 fixtures of outdated fluorescent lighting with more-efficient T-8 lighting; b) install timed thermostats, allowing for significant temperature setbacks when the building is not in use; and c) perform other energy-efficiency improvements as determined by the audit. The goal is to save the community a minimum of 15% of its annual energy usage, and this will be monitored using a program developed by the federal EnergyStar program.

Houses of worship in the Kansas counties of Johnson, Wyandotte, Leavenworth and Miami are eligible to apply, with work on the first churches scheduled to begin in March. Outreach will be through direct contact, the media, and denominational structures.

Lawrence, KS, January 18, 2012 — Kansas Interfaith Power & Light (Kansas IPL) joins with faith and environmental groups all over the nation in voicing support for President Obama’s decision today to deny permission for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

On September 26, 2011, Kansas IPL Director Rabbi Moti Rieber led several clergy leaders and other people of faith in testifying against the Keystone XL at the State Department’s hearing in Topeka. Our arguments then, as now, were that the Keystone XL poses a danger to the ecology of the state of Kansas by transversing some of the most ecologically sensitive areas of the state, including the Flint Hills and the Ogalalla Aquifer, which supplies drinking water and agricultural irrigation to millions of people in the region. Also, the tapping of this source of oil would open a spigot releasing hundreds of thousands of pounds of carbon into the atmosphere, adding to the climate change that is already occurring and leading to what renowned NASA climatologist James Hansen called “game over” for the environment.

Since then the arguments against this project have only grown stronger. The dirty-energy industry is trying to frame this as a jobs issue, but the facts are these: despite the inflated claims, the pipeline will provide mostly temporary construction jobs, and few of those (and virtually none in Kansas); and there is far more potential for job development in the transition to wind, solar and other clean, renewable and domestic sources of energy. Taking this far-sighted approach would be better for Kansas, better for our country, and better for the earth’s climate.

In fact, it can fairly be said that Canada would get the jobs, China would get the oil, and Kansas and the other pipeline states would get the pollution – and higher prices at the pump. We thank President Obama for making the right choice – denying this permit.

Rabbi Rieber is available to comment on this story.

What follows is a statement from Interfaith Power & Light’s President, The Rev. Canon Sally G. Bingham:

“Interfaith Power & Light applauds President Obama for demonstrating leadership in deciding against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. His actions today will help to ensure a clean, healthy and safe world for our children. Transporting dirty tar sands oil through the heartland of America will unnecessarily risk catastrophic damage to ecosystems and aquifers that millions of people depend upon for their livelihood. People of faith are called to be good stewards of God’s Creation, and to love our neighbors and take care of the vulnerable among us.

“For months, faith leaders have been speaking out against the Keystone XL pipeline at State Department hearings and in letters to the Administration and Congress. It is of great concern that Keystone 1 has had many more leaks than expected, and the 1 million gallon tar sands oil spill into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River in 2010 was a national tragedy. An EPA spokesperson said he has never seen anything like it – a heavy crude mixed with chemicals that sinks instead of floats, greatly hampering the multi-year clean-up effort.

“Our nation is on the cusp of a clean energy revolution. According to a Brookings¹ report released in 2011, more than 2.7 million people are working in the U.S. clean energy economy right now. Bloomberg New Energy Finance reports that in 2011, America surged ahead of China² on clean energy investments. The new proposed fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks will save 2.2 million barrels of oil a day by 2025 – about double the amount the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would have delivered, and without the risk.

“People of faith strongly believe that we need an urgent response to the climate crisis through continued implementation of better clean air safeguards, construction of a renewable energy grid, and more robust energy efficiency and renewable energy standards. The Keystone XL would only slow the pace of this clean energy transition, continue with business worse than usual, and hasten global warming. We can and must model a way forward for the world, create jobs, and care for God’s Creation. Thank you Mr. President for making the right and moral choice to set us in that direction.”

Click here to download the calendar as a pdf. Happy holidays!

Topic: The Obama Administration needs to decide if the Keystone XL pipeline will receive its permit for construction. If built, Keystone XL will lock us into a future where we are dependent on one of the dirtiest and costliest fuels in the world. It’s time we invest in real solutions for our energy security.

Action: Submit a comment to the US State Department & President Obama urging them to say NO to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline .  Instructions, sample letter, and questions/talking points are available through this Take Action page.

Why: If the Keystone XL pipeline is approved it would lock the U.S. into a dependence on this dirty fuel and drive a massive expansion of the tar sands operations in Alberta, Canada.  Because Keystone XL would deliver tar sands oil to the Gulf Coast, America’s largest oil refining and transport hub, it would effectively open international markets to dirty fuel extracted in Canada and pumped through the United States.  The added capacity of Keystone XL and the other two pipelines that have been built recently could more than triple consumption of tar sands oil.  If expansion of tar sands goes unchecked, it will be impossible to reach goals to reduce global warming pollution and avoid future climate disruption.

Bottom line: Please take a moment to get informed, including very simple step-by-step guides to action.  We need to say NO to dirty tar sands oil.  Instead, we should say YES to made-in-America clean energy that will create jobs and reduce global warming pollution. American clean energy innovation will put Americans to work and make us more energy independent.

The National Wildlife Federation Action Fund has been in the lead on coordinated action regarding the proposal for the Keystone XL pipeline.  Much of the information provided on this page is courtesy of this organization.

Attend a public meeting, click here http://online.nwf.org/site/Survey?ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&SURVEY_ID=23360

There are public meetings scheduled in each of the states through which the Keystone XL pipeline would pass.  In Kansas, the public meeting to receive input on the proposed pipeline and its environmental impacts is set for Monday, September 26, 2011, 12:00pm – 3:30pm, resuming from 4:00pm to 8:00pm at:

To review or download the U.S. Department of State public notice related to the pipeline public hearings (description of the proceedings, time allotted for comments, deadline for submitting written comments, etc.) click here.

For more and updated information, check out recent NWF Wildlife Promise blogs:  http://blog.nwf.org/blog/tags/keystone-xl-pipeline/

For a PDF of talking points related to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, click here.

For a PDF sample letter opposing the pipeline, click here.

For a recent statement from national IPL president Rev. Canon Sally Bingham on the tar sands issue, click here.

For recent reporting regarding local, bipartisan opposition to the pipeline in Kansas and Nebraska, click here, here, here, here, here, and here.

A comprehensive description of the proposed project and up-to-date information regarding the public meetings are available at www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov. The final Environmental Impact Statement, including a summary of public comments received during two prior public comment periods, will also be available online.

In order for comments to be considered, they must be submitted by midnight on October 9, 2011.  Written comments can be submitted by the following methods:

• online at www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov
• emailed to keystonexl-nid@cardno.com
• faxed to             202-269-0098      , or
• mailed to:

Priority contact on this project is to the U.S. Department of State, but copying the member of the House of Representatives that represents you in Congress is also a good idea.  If you have time, remember to contact both Kansas Senators (Roberts and Moran) as well.

Find your members of Congress here.

As it says on the petition on tarsandsaction.org: “The tar sands represent a catastrophic threat to our communities, our climate, and our planet. We urge [President Obama] to demonstrate real climate leadership by rejecting the requested permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and instead focus on developing safe, clean energy.”

Tar Sands oil is a particularly climate intensive form of fossil fuel produced in Alberta, Canada and then – if this pipeline goes into operation – piped down to Texas for refining and export. The pipeline will go all the way down the middle of the country, including through some of the most sensitive ecosystems in the country – including through the Flint Hills and the Ogalala aquifer! From production, to transport, to refining – tar sands oil is an environmental disaster, and that’s why stopping this pipeline has become such a flashpoint of environmental action.

And this decision is the president’s alone! No need to get it through Congress at all – with a stroke of his pen, President Obama make a strong statement in support of our earth, and help us finally say “no” to adding more and more carbon to our already over-carbonned atmosphere.

How you can help:

• Get knowledgeable about this issue. Visit tarsandsaction.org and 350.org for lots of good information about the tar sands and this pipeline. Sign the petitions there.
• Call the White House and let them know that you are asking President Obama to stop this pipeline. The number is 202-456-1111.

• Every state the pipeline is planned to pass through will have a hearing before the decision is made. The hearing in Kansas will be on Monday, September 26, from 12-3:30 pm and from 4-8. Come to the hearing, sign up to make a statement in support of our earth and our clean energy future! We have all the background information you need to make an intelligent and informed statement on this important issue

Contact Kansas IPL Statewide Coordinator Rabbi Moti Rieber for more information.

“Interfaith Power & Light strongly opposes the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline on moral grounds because of the extraordinary threat to the global climate, the environment, and to America’s water and food supply. An energy policy that moves the nation toward an even dirtier and more dangerous form of oil, and involves such devastation of God’s Creation, represents a profound moral failure.

“It is misleading for the U.S. State Department to call its latest draft the ‘final’ Environmental Impact Statement prior to the completion of the public input process. There are many important environmental, economic, health, and security implications that must be fully examined, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has promised. Interfaith Power & Light sees several reasons why this project is not in the national interest and feels that full consideration of these concerns must not be short-circuited.

“While the project is being framed as a solution to America’s energy needs, the pipeline is actually aimed at America’s Gulf ports and global export. The project will deliver to the world’s markets very dirty, very difficult to extract oil from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada. Tar sands oil emits up to 82% more carbon pollution than conventional oil according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Leading scientists have registered their opposition to this project, stating that exploiting the tar sands, on top of conventional fossil fuels, will ‘leave our children and grandchildren a climate system with consequences that are out of their control.’ How the report can then conclude the project will have ‘no significant impacts’ defies common sense. We don’t have to do this. The new fuel economy standards for cars and trucks proposed by the Administration will save an estimated 2.5 million barrels of oil a day by 2030 – more than double the amount this pipeline will deliver, and without the risk. As Americans and people of faith, how can we allow this to happen? God gave us the responsibility to be good stewards of Creation and to love our neighbors both local and global.

“All citizens in all impacted localities must have a chance to weigh in during the State Department public hearings in September and October. What new insights will be revealed? The proposed path of the pipeline runs directly over and through nation’s largest aquifer. The Ogallala Aquifer provides 30% of America’s drinking water and irrigates the nation’s Midwest and southern farms — a region known as America’s Breadbasket because it produces so much of our nation’s food.

“Proponents are quick with reassurances of safety and reliability, but TransCanada’s Keystone I has experienced a dozen leaks in its first year, including this spring’s 500-barrel gusher in North Dakota, which forced the Obama administration to shut it down. A similar oil pipeline ruptured in the Yellowstone River last month, spilling 42,000 gallons of crude oil that has contaminated the once pristine waterway for 80 miles. All of this in the wake of the Gulf tragedy makes one wonder, when will we learn that oil and water don’t mix? Risking contamination to our precious water and food resources is morally irresponsible.

“This project undermines American values and global leadership on the issue of climate and environment, and jeopardizes life on the planet. We look to President Obama to lead America into a time of exciting and hopeful change fueled by a clean and sustainable energy future for this and generations to come.”

The Keystone XL Pipeline would permit the Alberta Tarsands mining project, an enormous environmental disaster, to continue. The Tarsands project extracts dispersed globules of bituminous petroleum laden with heavy metals. Every step of the process is energy-intensive. Refining the bitumen after an arduous and expensive extraction process requires gargantuan amounts of water and emits high toxin levels. To heat it sufficiently to flow in pipelines, the mining company must burn methane.

The pipeline would further wreck native lands in Canada, which are already heavily impacted by the mining project. It would flow through prime ranchland and near critical bodies of water in the US. A rupture in the proposed pipeline would create a spill of an estimated seven million gallons of oil. Building the pipeline for what is essentially a land-locked source of low quality oil would cause a huge increase in CO2 emissions. The Keystone XL Pipeline would augment the collateral damage involved in the complex mining process. The production process for tars and oil creates three times the emissions of conventional crude, on average.

The President, with advice from the State Department, will make a decision by the end of this year about whether to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built from Alberta to Texas. James Hansen, a leading US climate scientist, states that burning the Alberta oil pool could push atmospheric CO2 levels over 600 ppm. The effect on planetary climate resulting from such an extreme rise in CO2 would be unprecedented in recorded history, threatening human societies and causing the extinction of many species of plants and animals.

Approved by the Steering Committee of Quaker Earthcare Witness, August 14 2011

The application for Resourceful Kansas is live on their website, www.ResourcefulKansas.org.

A portion of the organizations attending the seminar will be selected for a free energy assessment.  Be sure to read the ‘application info’ tab and don’t hesitate to contact the organizers if you have any questions.

Seminars will also be conducted on October 29, 2011; January 25, 2012; April 25, 2012; July 25, 2012; and October 24, 2012.

If you register to go, please mention that you heard about it from Kansas IPL!

Note: The following article was written first for an Episcopal readership, at Trinity Episcopal Church of Lawrence, Kansas, in October 2010. It was also published in Networking: Newsletter of the Episcopal Network for Stewardship, in May 2011. Below is a slightly edited version. Kansas IPL thanks Nancy Hanson for permission to reprint this article.

Caring for Earth’s natural environment is an essential, though often underemphasized, aspect of our Christian stewardship, obeying God, and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Put simply: Caring for the environment — It’s a Christian thing to do!

Why? Because a healthily functioning natural environment is, by God’s design, what sustains human life — and the life of all God’s beloved species — on this planet. We humans are not separate from the rest of nature: we are part of it. By God’s design, we humans rely for our existence on the balance of nature, which includes the interaction and interdependence of all life forms and natural elements of Earth’s all-encompassing ecosphere. Our own actions must be part of that balance. In fact, by God’s design, we humans are to participate in this community of life forms as its caretakers and preservers.

According to Genesis 2:15, the Lord put humans on the earth “to till…and keep” the place where he put them, and to have “dominion” over the other creatures here. “Till” in Hebrew is “abad,” meaning “work, serve, be a servant to, keep, be bonded to.” “Keep” in Hebrew is “shamar,” meaning “guard, protect, watch over, attend, observe, save.” And we know that having “dominion” over something means one is in charge of it — and responsible for its care.

Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves — and caring for the natural environment is an essential part of that love. What we do to the natural environment, we do to ourselves, our neighbors, our children, and all generations who follow us on earth. Earth’s air and water — and the elements they carry — have no boundaries. By their continual circulation since the beginning of our planet, we are connected with one another and with every life form that has ever existed in Earth’s ecosphere throughout history.

As Episcopalians, we acknowledge our responsibility to defend creation when we pledge at our baptisms to “renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God” (Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, pg. 302).

Unfortunately, we humans haven’t been doing a very good job of serving, guarding, and protecting God’s creation, or saving God’s creatures from destruction. We have allowed ourselves to become very careless and unwise about both our taking from earth’s God-provided bounty, and our giving (mostly dumping!) back. We over-fish the oceans and pollute rivers and seas with eroded soil, sewage, toxic run-off, and trash. We destroy biodiversity with our deforestation, mono-crop farming, suburban sprawl, and wanton “harvesting” of Earth’s bounty. And we further upset the balance of all of Earth’s ecosystems by dumping into the air billions of tons per year of carbon-containing, planet-warming greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas).

It took millions of years for Earth’s natural processes to capture the carbon out of the atmosphere and sequester it in earth’s crust. It has taken us humans less than 200 years to extract so much of this carbon out of the earth and spew it back into the atmosphere that we are endangering the very balance of nature that sustains us. Our greenhouse gas emissions have caused Earth’s atmospheric content of carbon dioxide (CO2) to rise to 390 parts per million (ppm) — already beyond the 350 ppm considered the “safe” level to maintain a healthy planet. (Info from 350.org.)

Now — what can we do to be better stewards of God’s creation?

Lots! Here are some basics:

Reduce our “carbon footprint” —i.e., our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Do anything — at home, in our work, at our place of worship, in recreation, in travel, etc. — that reduces consumption of energy from fossil-based fuels. Find suggestions here.

Use water with respect and care. The amount of water on earth does not increase, but the number of people on earth using water continues to multiply — from around 250 million in Jesus’ day to more than 6.8 billion today, and growing!

Be environmentally focused “consumers”: Buy less stuff — only what we need. Choose locally produced products, energy-efficient appliances and vehicles, stuff with the least packaging, non-toxic household/lawn/garden-care products, and “fair trade” items. Always bring our own reusable shopping bags. Refuse “disposable” plastics (including Styrofoam and single-use water bottles), and products that endanger species. Buy American-made (the U.S. has environmental laws other counties don’t) and cruelty-free (no testing on animals) products.

Don’t pollute — air, water, soil, or our homes. Dispose of toxic products (including medications) at local household hazardous waste sites – and never dump such products down the drain! Check for local waste recycling and disposal services on the Internet and/or local telephone directory. There may be a “Household Hazardous Waste” heading in one’s local city government listings.

Recycle everything we possibly can. Give away stuff we don’t use, to someone who needs it.

Repair and re-use when possible, instead of buying new. Look up recycling centers and services in our local telephone directory and on the Internet.

Join and support an environmental protection organization. Our voice is strengthened by joining with others’. Good organizations include Audubon Society, Environmental Defense Fund, National Parks Conservation Association, National Wildlife and Parks, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Kansas Interfaith Power & Light — and many others..

Eat less meat! Participate in “Meatless Mondays” and gradually increase the days. Information is available here. Avoid unnecessary leather and other animal products. Far more natural resources are used, and environmental pollution caused, to produce a pound of meat than to produce a pound of vegetable protein. And animal cruelty in our factory farming industry defies description. Info is here.

Be environmentally focused citizens and voters. Support and vote for public office candidates with proven pro-environment records. (See League of Conservation Voters, www.lcv.org, and Republicans for Environmental Protection, http://www.repamerica.org/). Speak up for strong laws and their enforcement to protect healthy air, clean water, natural habitats, and endangered species; and to prevent cruelty to animals. Remind our government leaders that a healthy natural environment is required to sustain our nation’s food production, financial structure, commerce, public health and safety, homeland security, transportation and communication systems, civil order, and peaceful international relations.

Learn more! Treat ourselves to a constant, humble openness — of our senses, mind, and spirit — to the grand and whimsical wonders of the natural world around us. Understand our intimate connection — through circulating water, air, and earth’s elements — with the multitude of Earth’s life forms, ancient, present, and future. Find our connection, as followers of Christ, to the creative forces of our incomparable water planet Earth. Let Christ’s Spirit flow in our veins — and act as the Spirit leads us….

Special challenge to creative thinkers looking for interesting work: Can you create or provide a service, action, or product that saves energy? Conserves water? Reduces pollution? Preserves healthy soil? Contributes to justice in sharing the world’s goods? Encourages habitat protection or kindness to animals? Affects public policy toward preserving a healthy natural environment? Could this become your occupation?

What more can YOU add to this list?

Trinity Environmental Stewardship Team (TEST) has been active at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lawrence, Kansas, since 1989. Their work and mission is centered on educating individuals become conscientious stewards of the natural environment and includes projects to institute energy efficiency measures in the parish facilities. On a diocesan level and beyond, TEST encourages the activation of “green teams” in more parishes, participates in Kansas Interfaith Power and Light, and is involved in community events promoting earth care, such as an “Awakening the Dreamer” symposium co-hosted with a local Congregational church.

More information about TEST’s vision and mission, the Millennium Development Goals, and what you can do to help, can be found in their brochure posted on TENS’ website. For assistance and support in starting your own environmental stewardship team, contact Kansas IPL coordinator Moti Rieber at rebmoti<@>kansasipl.org. Nancy and other dedicated volunteers throughout the state will be happy to assist you with resources and materials.