We're Not in Kansas Anymore

Roderick Bremby is the newest ecological hero.  On October 18, he used his authority (as Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment) to reject an air permit for another giant coal-fired power plant on the plains of southwestern Kansas.

The most remarkable aspect of Bremby's decision was that he based it solely on the carbon dioxide that the proposed coal burning would emit.

As reported in the New York Times and on the front page of the Washington Post, Bremby declared:

"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."

Were administrators like OSU President Ed Ray listening?

Based on his approval of the new natural gas power plant for the OSU campus, it seems that Ed Ray is no Roderick Bremby.  Even as the evidence piles up about the tragic impact of burning fossil fuels, and as the International Panel on Climate Change issues its most dire warning ever, construction continues on the white elephant known as the OSU Energy Center.

Go Beavers!

There's a large sign at the entrance to the construction site on 35th Avenue that lists the names of those responsible for the boondoggle.  I suggest we hold them accountable for their folly.

Back in Kansas, a spokesman for Sunflower Electric Power Company said that Governor Kathleen Sebelius had implied that those who burn fossil fuels are not moral stewards of the land.

An icon of the energy ethic at Oregon State University is a bank of giant blazing lights over an empty Reser Stadium.  Perhaps we can click our ruby shoes and bring moral stewardship back to campus.