green energy

In August, Planned Parenthood opened a clinic in Pittsburgh, Kansas — just five miles from the Missouri border. But workers don't expect demand at the clinic to decline after Missouri voted to lift it's current abortion ban. Plus: Midwest builders are using wood in a new, climate-friendly way to construct high rises.

City Manager Brian Platt first announced plans for a solar array at Kansas City International Airport, potentially the largest of its kind in the world, more than two years ago. But little has seemingly happened to move the progress forward.

As part of its sweeping green infrastructure plan, Kansas City is transitioning to LED streetlights. The new bulbs are more efficient, last longer and reduce carbon emissions. But environmentalists say that the real solution to reducing carbon pollution is to shut down the coal-fired power plant that provides energy to Kansas City.

Sedgwick County looked poised to clear the way for the Chisholm Trail solar project. But nearby residents expressed concerns about pollution, pushing regulators to extend a temporary ban on utility-scale solar developments.

The Kansas Sky Energy Center is projected to supply enough energy to power 30,000 homes annually for 25 years. The proposal faces pushback from local landowners over the loss of prime farmland and an overloaded stormwater system.

While solar power increased, wind energy fell in 2023 in Missouri and Illinois, according to a new report from Climate Central, a nonprofit that analyzes and reports on climate science.

Some Kansas counties are considering tighter regulations on solar farms as the industry sees significant growth in the state.

For years, Invenergy has been working through regulatory approvals and acquiring land easements to build the 800-mile high-voltage transmission line, which will carry renewable energy from wind-swept western Kansas across Missouri. The transmission line is expected to have the capacity of roughly four new nuclear power plants.

Kansas City Manager Brian Platt has an ambitious goal to make the city a nationwide leader in sustainability, including an effort to build the largest municipally-owned solar farm in the country. "We've got too much to lose at this point with health and quality of life issues that we're seeing around here," Platt said.

The utility, which serves 1.6 million customers in Kansas and Missouri, is drawing criticism from environmental groups for keeping open its oldest coal plant. Evergy also said that Kansas City's clean energy goals are “incredibly aggressive” and too expensive.

In February 2021, Texas and wide swaths of North America were shut down by Winter Storm Uri, which caused massive blackouts and left millions of people without power for days. The winter storms exposed vulnerabilities in our country’s electrical grid, and underlined the pressing need for a more reliable energy system. Is a recent breakthrough in nuclear fusion a possible path forward?

In February 2021, Texas and wide swaths of North America were shut down by Winter Storm Uri, which caused massive blackouts and left millions of people without power for days. The winter storms exposed vulnerabilities in our country’s electrical grid, and underlined the pressing need for a more reliable energy system. Is a recent breakthrough in nuclear fusion a possible path forward?