by Jennifer Williams

Even though the Kansas Legislature is not in session, Kansas Representative Carrie Barth continues working hard, not only for her constituents in the 5th District, but for all Kansans, with her August 31, 2023, Kansas Republican Party ENERGY Resolution that was presented to GOP delegates at their Summer State Committee meeting in Paola, Kansas on September 30, 2023.

The resolution was passed with a resounding, “YES!” voice vote, with only one “no” coming from a delegate in the Second Congressional District. Representatives Patrick Penn and Blake Carpenter were not in the room for the vote.

Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins were present and also voted in favor of the resolution. It is imperative that these leaders stay the course and not allow energy lobbyists to guide Kansans into a blackout with the companies’ selfish profits in Federal and foreign-funded “renewable” grants and their alliances with the UN Global Agenda.

In fact, the Kansas Republican Party Platform opposes efforts to force communities to engage in sustainable development guidance from the federal government or the United Nations, which are actively attacking our local communities in an effort to implement the Paris Climate Agreement through funding by the European Union and the Global Covenant of Mayors.

Article XIII of the Kansas Republican Party Platform States:

XIII. ENERGY
We support an energy policy which creates a strong State economy with affordable and reliable energy. Kansas residents must be considered first when developing new, potentially expensive technology.

We encourage the development of alternative energy supplies, while continuing to support the oil and gas industry within the state. Ever increasing energy prices are creating new avenues for entrepreneurs and existing companies to develop new sources of energy. New developments in wind, solar, biofuels, and geothermal energy sources show real promise for clean, inexpensive, renewable energy for future generations. Increasing energy sources will inevitably create a more market-based system which ultimately lowers utility prices for consumers.

Kansas leaders should not be allowed to arbitrarily deny permits to build new power and energy-producing plants. Carbon dioxide, one of the most common gases on earth, should not be declared a pollutant nor used as an excuse to deny the construction of new power plants. We oppose so-called Cap and Trade legislation. We oppose efforts to force communities to engage in sustainable development under guidance from the federal government or the United Nations.

As was reported in our recent Evergy series, the energy producer is already allowing ESG rhetoric and the UN Agenda 2030 “Sustainable Development Goals” to guide their investments in Kansas, even rewarding executives and directors with additional bonuses and stock options for implementing the global climate plan.

This is not only a direct violation of the Republican party platform, but an attack on all citizens in the State, as we are seeing with recent reports that the supposed “green” Panasonic plant is actually an energy hog that caused Evergy to request a rate increase on customers in order to supply power to the plant.

The “green energy” project is also responsible for stalling efforts to transition the Lawrence power plant from coal to natural gas, due to the demands of traditional energy sources necessary to power the supposed “renewable” energy plant.

This is not a partisan issue. It’s a money and land grab issue, funding foreign companies with taxpayer-funded grants and tying up valuable Kansas farmland for decades with projects that no company is ultimately held responsible for decommissioning at the end of their useful lives, even violating property rights of farmers affected by the projects.

This resolution will protect Kansas from outside special interest groups by holding all legislators accountable for reliable, affordable energy that stays in our state to benefit our citizens.

Kansas Republican Party ENERGY Resolution
August 31, 2023

Whereas Kansas families, businesses, and institutions require dispatchable, reliable, efficient energy, provided by the most cost effective, market-driven means possible;

Whereas the energy and power markets in Kansas have been seriously distorted by the 2009 Kansas Legislature mandates, despite attempts to moderate the mandates by legislation passed in 2015;

Whereas the primary driver of the legislation passed in 2009 was based on seriously flawed assumptions, namely, the colorless, odorless, essential atmospheric gas, carbon dioxide, CO₂, has materially contributed to global temperature increases, due primarily to human activities;

Whereas abundant data shows these assumptions to be without merit and false. The best available evidence indicates that the contribution of human activities to moderate global temperature increases is approximately 1%¹;

Whereas it is incumbent upon us to elevate the truth, to act in accordance with credible factual data from a multiplicity of sources that unequivocally refute the assumptions that have dominated federal legislation, rulemaking, and policymaking, which have resulted in irresponsibly subsidizing predominantly foreign-sourced ‘renewable’ wind and solar technologies as a solution for climate change;

Whereas the United States, including Kansas, must change course, as it relates to policymaking in the Energy Sector. This ‘change of course’ needs to deny any attempts to ‘fast-track’ irresponsible movements away from historically stable, market-tested, and technologically superior energy and power delivery and towards unreliable and foreign-sourced technologies that imperil our economic and national security;

Whereas irrefutable evidence demonstrates that ill-health effects to mankind and the environment are occurring due to the side effects of industrial scale wind installations. These occurrences are widespread, wherever these installations have been constructed;

Therefore, be it resolved, the Republican Party of Kansas, in view of the preponderance of evidence, will support candidates and legislative intent regarding energy policy that will serve to provide protection to our citizens security, physical health, financial health, access to reliable energy and property rights across all Kansas counties.

Submitted by:

Representative Carrie Barth, Kansas House of Representatives District 5 and

Dennis Hedke, Dennis Hedke Consulting, Geophysicist, and former Kansas House Energy & Environment Committee Chair

1 Koonin, S. Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells us, What it Doesn’t, and Why it Matters (2021)

Over 1600 Scientists Sign No Climate Emergency Declaration

* Efforts for allowing wind mills in Douglas County are currently under way. Attend the upcoming Monday meeting in Baldwin to express your views.

Subcommittee on Wind Mills in Douglas County
Monday, October 9, 2023
7:00 to 9:30 p.m.
at the Baldwin City Public Library,
800 Seventh St. in Baldwin City.