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Feb. 25, 2020Topeka, Kan. |  By: AP

As climate changes, activists struggle for Kansas' attention

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Environmentalists are struggling to get Kansas lawmakers to even discuss climate change as a serious issue.

They're pushing the issue in a state where energy production remains an important industry and some top Republicans question the widespread scientific consensus that human activity is warming the planet. 

States like Virginia, Minnesota and California are setting goals for eventually getting all of their electricity from renewable resources, but Kansas proposals on energy efficiency and encouraging farmers to capture and store carbon dioxide have languished.

And House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins said lawmakers have other priorities, adding, "The planet goes in cycles, and it's a natural cycle."