Kansas

• Author: J.W. Drury
• Published date: 01 December 1979
• Date: 01 December 1979
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/027507407901300408
• Subject Matter: Articles

271

Solar

Energy

and

Gasohol

While

no

earthshaking

developments

have

been

seein

in

Iowa

on

the

energy

front,

there

are,

nonetheless,

issues

that

have

drawn

considerable

public

attention -

solar

rights

and

the

marketing

of

gasohol.

The

issue

of

interest,

which

is

related

to

the

development

of

solar

energy,

is

the

concept

of

property

rights,

that

is,

individual

rights

to

solar

access.

When

solar

energy

becomes

a

factor

for

competition,

some

expect

a

question

of

externality

to

arise

around

which

future

court

battles

between

neighbors

may

focus.

Simply

stated,

where

should

the

line

be

drawn

when

construction

of

solar

equipment

in

one

home

takes

away

the

potential

opportunity

of

its

neighbor

for

solar

energy?

Who

should

have

the

overriding

right,

or

else

what

kind

of

compensation

should

be

arranged

for

the

deprived?

The

legislators

so

far

have

not

come

to

a

definitive

conclusion,

and

the

issue

will

certainly

be

on

the

agenda

for

the

coming

year

as

the

state

Energy

Policy

Council

plans

to

propose

its

position

again

to

the

legislature

along

with

a

number

of

incentive

programs

for

the

use

of

solar

energy.

When

discussing

new

sources

of

energy,

one

cannot

exclude

gasohol,

at

least

not

in

Iowa

and

Nebraska,

the

home

of

gasohol.

Already

quite

popular

and

yielding

a

higher

profit

margin

than

regular

gasoline,

the

future

of

gasohol

appears

bright,

especially

as

the

OPEC

countries

continue

to

jack

up

the

price.

In

the

coming

year

a

major

gasohol

factory

will

be

constructed

in

Sioux

City,

Iowa,

which

will

be

the

first

in

the

nation.

Cur-

rently,

corn

is

used

as

the

source

for

the

alcohol,

which

is

blended

with

the

gasoline;

coal,

plentiful

in

Iowa,

will

be

considered

for

possible

use

in

the

future -

depending

on

the

profitability.

Though

cursory

and

selective,

these

comments

summarize

major

legislative

and

administrative

developments

in

Iowa.

It

appears

that

initially,

at

least,

the

legislators

in

1980

will

closely

examine

the

report

of

the

Governor’s

Economy

Committee

and

try

to

tinker

with

the

administrative

processes

as

much

as

possible.

Kansas

J.

W.

DRURY

University

of

Kansas

The

1979

session

of

the

legislature

was

involved

in

three

particularly

emotional

issues.

One

of

these

was

a

death

penalty

bill.

In

previous

years,

the

two

houses

had

been

unable

to

agree

on

such

a

bill.

However,

this

time

the

legislature

was

able

to

agree

and

sent

a

death

penalty

bill

to

the