Coal cash buys some votes in the Kansas House — but not all

It’s actually kind of entertaining watching Kansas lawmakers re-fight last year’s battle over two new coal-fired power plants for Sunflower Electric Power Corporation out near Holcomb. Last Friday, the House voted on a bill approving the plants; last year the legislature couldn’t override Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ veto, and after last week’s vote the governor issued a statement saying Friday’s 79-44 for/against split showed they still couldn’t override her this year, either.

“If we join together … thousands of new jobs can be created in the green energy sector, and Kansas can be a national leader in both wind energy and bio-fuels production,” Sebelius said in a statement — two days before the official announcement that she is, in fact, bolting for a job in Barack Obama’s cabinet. We have yet to see how coal politics play out for her successor, Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson.

What we do know, however, is how much money in Sunflower Electric campaign contributions our local state reps have banked — and how they’ve voted. Not that the cash has anything to do with the vote, of course.