It's always disheartening (for all parties) when political expediency determines policy rather than ethics, science, or conviction. But that said, the deal that Governor Parkinson made with Sunflower Electric has quite a few up-sides to counteract the construction of the one coal plant he agreed to.
According to the Climate & Energy blog, on Monday, Gov. Parkinson agreed to allow Sunflower Electric to build one of the two coal plants in exchange for some significant concessions from both Sunflower and the Kansas Legislature. Of course, much of the information on the deal is preliminary, and uncertainties always emerge in implementation of such plans - you know, supposed guarantees, contingencies, follow through, hedging, etc, the old political game. We'll see. And it is unclear at the moment how we as citizens can hold all parties to the terms of this deal.
Read the CEP blog article here
Gov. Parkinson’s deal with Sunflower Electric « Climate and energy