Lawmakers oppose clean power rule saying federal government is overstepping its authority

Sen. Forrest Knox alluded to the American Revolution on Thursday when he recommended that Kansas fight new federal rules on clean power.

Knox, R-Altoona, is a member of special legislative committee overseeing the state’s efforts to comply with the Clean Power Plan, a directive from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aimed at reducing carbon emissions as a way to slow climate change. The policy requires that states submit their own plans to the EPA by September 2016.

Kansas has opposed the policy in court – so far unsuccessfully – but will be moving forward with developing a plan in the meantime.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Jeff Chanay presented an update on the state’s legal efforts to block the rule on Thursday during the committee’s first meeting.

Knox, whose district ranges from the Flint Hills to Wichita’s suburbs, asked whether moving ahead with a plan would undermine the state’s case in court. Chanay said that it would not and that it would be safer for the state to proceed with crafting a plan in accordance with the rule.

Knox responded by asking whether “over 200 years ago any lawyer recommended the unsafe thing of opposing the king.”

Asked about his revolutionary comments afterward Knox said “this is only one issue. There are many issues where the feds are overstepping.”

“Industries will not take the chance of opposing the federal government. Sooner or later a state legislature will if it keeps moving this way,” Knox said.

The federal rule sets a goal of reducing carbon emissions from power plants by 32 percent of 2005 levels by 2030. Each state must submit a plan to the EPA on how it will curb emissions.

While the committee’s long-term task is to approve a plan to submit to the federal government in 2016, the majority of the first meeting was spent discussing the directive to craft a plan rather than the plan itself.

Chanay said that the rule was “clearly unlawful” and meant to systematically dismantle the coal industry. He said it violated the 10th Amendment, which reserves powers not granted to the federal government by the Constitution to the states.

A federal district court declined to hear a lawsuit brought by Kansas and other states before the rule’s publication, but Chanay said Kansas would join a new lawsuit once the rule is published and seek to have the deadlines stayed.

Rep. Dennis Hedke, R-Wichita, told Chanay he “hit the nail on the head” about the federal government’s overreach and told him to “keep the pressure on.”

Tom Gross, an official with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, called the requirements on Kansas stringent and reminded lawmakers that if the EPA accepts the state’s plan then it will become federally enforceable.

Moti Rieber, an environmental activist from Overland Park, said that the state was moving forward with the plan “kicking and screaming” but said that “there doesn’t seem to be any intention to not comply.”

Rieber, who is the director of Kansas Interfaith Power and Light — a group that promotes environmental stewardship on religious grounds – said it was unfortunate that lawmakers were not discussing the rule’s purpose: fighting climate change.

“I’m going to get a drink every time they say the word ‘climate change’ and I’ll be sober by the end of the day,” he said.

Zack Pistora, lobbyist for the Kansas Sierra Club, agreed.

“I would like to hear a little bit about the benefits of the plan,” Pistora said. “Should we upgrade our energy system to the 21st century? Yes. Should we use less water? Yes. Should we be more clean and economically productive? Probably.

“You know, we haven’t talked about those things. Should we do something about climate change?”

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Lawmakers oppose clean power rule saying federal government is overstepping its authority."