Today’s visit to the commission hearing at the ADEQ was quite interesting. The discussion was whether Entergy should receive at least a five year variance for implementing a scrubbing retrofit on the White Bluff coal plant. Entergy wants this variance, because the EPA may soon be setting standards that are tougher than what Arkansas currently has. Entergy may have to shut White Bluff down! The electric utilities in Arkansas are looking to further delay the recognition of the irreparable harm they are inflicting on the environment and its inhabitants when combusting coal for electricity.
Now that I have been in the trenches with the electric utilities off and on for eight years I start to recognize their principal proponents who always show up when things might not keep going their way. The record of the utility companies is well established. They pretty much control the Arkansas legislature and they have squashed or at least minimized all incentives to promote the adoption of renewable energy while simultaneously mounting successful efforts at protecting their little slice of heaven on earth.
The ADEQ now stands as John Q. Public’s last line of defense in protecting the air we breathe and the water we drink. If we allow the electric utilities to delay further recognition of the incredibly harmful impact that we already endure as a result of coal fired electric generating facilities, we have no one else to blame but our own ignorance of the situation. The electric utilities we must hope are scared that the tide is starting to turn and the subject they would rather not discuss has finally been exposed. The hymn of the electric utilities is that they want to “protect their ratepayers.” Their successful delay tactics are simply leading to much higher electricity prices for their ratepayers in the future. Mother Nature is not going to send a monthly billing statement in the mail. The damage that our environment is experiencing is cumulative. The negative health effects are cumulative. We should not allow business as usual to continue. Positive change always has a transition period. It is time that for the ADEQ to send a signal that the tide is turning and protecting Arkansans is exactly the issue.
Our utility bill is not the only expense we incur paying for our coal fired electricity. Inaction to protect our air and water quality will be the biggest missed opportunity, and one that we will have a hard time explaining to our children.
If you would like your voice heard on this issue please write to:
Doug Szehner
Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, 5301 Northshore Drive, North Little Rock, AR 72118-5317
Downwind from White Bluff
PS: I'll be in Conway tonight pushing for consideration to make the 2010 Conway Ecofest completley solar powered. |
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Taking a Dim view of Solar Energy |
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