“It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly… who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt, 1910.
The Green movement has no proposals for solving the energy crisis; they’re too busy deepening its thrust and broadening its reach. They have stood in the way of virtually every power plant proposed in the past 30 years, blocked drilling, and boarded refineries. In fact, their only true “alternative” is to turn the world’s greatest bread basket into a basket case.
And so it is in Kansas. Governor Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, has vetoed two bills that would have overturned a decision by Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby to block the building of new coal-fired power plants.
One argument against the power plants is that Kansas does not need more electrical capacity. However, as the Wichita Eagle reports, that is simply not true:
“Kansas does need more generating capacity to support a 1.5 percent annual increase in demand, according to estimates made by the state’s largest utility, Westar Energy. This is especially true for ‘base load,’ the nearly constant portion of electrical demand.
“Conservation could help slow the pace at which demand increases, but the increasing spread of high technology accelerates the demand for power. And any increases in population or industry — both of which are economic goals for the state — would create more demand for power…”
The article also refutes the contention that the move to build the new power plants is simply a way to make more money (“obscene profits,” we believe, is the Hard Left’s official obloquy for such fruits of commerce) :
“Sunflower, Midwest Energy and Tri-State Power, the partners in the proposed project, are nonprofit cooperatives. They are owned by their customers. Any revenue generated in excess of operating costs is returned to customers as dividends.”
And it takes apart the arguments of opponents who prefer wind power:
“Wind is free. Harnessing it for power is not. Neither is transmitting it where it needs to go… Rising construction costs have been cited as the reason for delays on several coal-fired generation projects. Those rising costs also affect wind farms, which must pay for concrete, steel, transportation and manufacturing.”
“At current prices, wind is cheaper than natural gas or nuclear power, but about four times more expensive than coal, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency… Wind also has the disadvantage of being neither predictable nor dependable. That requires back-up power capacity — primarily natural gas plants — that can be turned on or off with the wind. Building that infrastructure is expensive.”
In other words, the proposed coal power plants are the single best most productive – and cost effective – option for Kansas at this point in time, and the most cost-effective. Which makes one wonder about the rebellious Ms. Sebelius.
Or does it?
The brave pioneers who carved this nation out of the wilderness (yes, Kathleen, they cut down trees) overcame overwhelming odds because of the hope that lied within them. Their succeeding generations built on that hope to erect “alabaster cities, undimmed by human tears.”
And all the while, it was the derring-do, the sense of rugged individualism – the unquenchable spirit of what Teddy Roosevelt called “great enthusiasms” – that saw them through to make America great, and the world a better place in which to live.
Ms. Sebelius and her fellow bilious, bumptious Greens share no “great enthusiasms.” Theirs is the dark side, the half-empty glass. For them, the sky is falling on their fleeing heads. And above their dusty desks hangs the ominous placard: “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.”
But those who “cut the coal,” the men and women unafraid to enter the arena, deserve better from the eternal naysayers who demand not victory, but only defeat.
The fact is: Every problem this country has ever faced has been solved by its resilient people’s once-vaunted “American ingenuity.” And Americans from all walks of life are now getting sick and tired of being told by politicians to curl up in the fetal position and learn to live on less.
So, put that in your plants and smoke it, Ms. Sebelius.
ALG CTA: We urge journalists across America to encourage their audiences to contact the Kansas State House and Senate to persuade them to override the Green Governor’s veto of new power plants in Kansas – because a victory for freedom anywhere is a victory for freedom everywhere.
