By Eli Tate, Kansas delegate

One of the big themes on Tuesday, and the whole convention, is developing alternative (green) energy sources. Nearly every recycling big in Denver is being manned by a cheerful volunteer. Creating a green economy is a big staple on the Democratic platform, because it lessens our dependence of foreign oil, creates jobs for American workers, and is better for the for the environment.

We talked for a few minutes with Mark Parkinson, the Lieutenant Governor of Kansas, Tuesday morning. Parkinson is the former Chairman of the Republican Party in Kansas, who Governor Kathleen Sebelius convinced to run for Lt. Governor as a Democrat. After he was elected, Sebelius put Parkinson in charge of making Kansas one of the progressive leaders in creating alternative energy sources in the U.S.

Kansas has the third best wind resource in the country, and Sebelius and Parkinson wanted to tap into that so that Kansans would be less reliant on oil and coal for their energy needs. Parkinson ignored the resistance of the Republican controlled Kansas State Senate, and met privately with the energy companies in Kansas. They all came on board, and Kansas has gone from garnering 3% of its energy from wind farms in 2006 to 10% of its energy by the end of 2008. That’s an increase of 362 megawatts of energy to 1015 megawatts. They’ve invested $1.3 billion into 650 wind farms in western Kansas in 2008 alone. The energy collected out west is then sent eastward to the more populous part of the state. Kansas is only the 7th state in the country to create of 1000 megawatts of electricity from alternative energy sourcies. It also creates revenue for farmers who house the giant windmills, and utilizes a free energy source that is commonly associated with Kansas: wind.

Parkinson is very genuine and disarming in person, and is funny, articulate speaker. Many Kansans are hoping that he runs for governor in two years, when Sebelius’ term ends in 2010. Parkinson says that decision will come soon after the 2008 election.

“The governor (Sebelius) spends very little time speculating on what is coming next and that’s a good lesson that I’ve learned from her,” said Parkinson.

“It’s about an 18 month campaign, and so I’ll have to figure that out, and the people of Kansas deserve knowing (my intentions) ahead of time.”