WICHTA, Kansas (AP) – Gov. Sam Brownback is campaigning on his administration’s efforts to fight against what he calls federal government overreach.
The Republican governor found a friendly audience for his re-election pitch Monday at the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association convention.
Brownback recounted steps the state is taking to fight the listing of the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species. He says the bird’s population numbers are up 20 percent in Kansas.
He also talked about efforts to counter an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to expand the definition of waters of the United States, which he claims would encompass ponds and puddles.
Brownback says water is inherently a state issue, and he wants the federal government to withdraw its proposed rule.
Another area of contention is federal pollution rules over coal.