tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22156824.post5395940779679188489..comments2024-01-25T06:55:55.041-05:00Comments on Hillbilly Savants: Proposed Dominion Power Plant: Economic Boon or Polluting Menace?Eric Drummond Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10651674250848286847noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22156824.post-46890019733974318512007-07-06T11:37:00.000-04:002007-07-06T11:37:00.000-04:00April- Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for posting...April-<BR/> <BR/>Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for posting on this subject.<BR/> <BR/>It is a subject of great consternation for me as well, my hometown of Coeburn also being just over the from the proposed Virginia City site. Coeburn would be subject to the polluting effects of the power plant as well, depending on how the wind blows. <BR/> <BR/>In recent years, Coeburn has managed to revitalize its downtown area, sprucing up Front Street, converting the old Lays Hardware building into a musical/arts venue and attracting several businesses to the storefronts. And if I were a betting man, I'd say the town has seen increases in revenue from this investment. I would hate to see that progress blighted by the increase in pollution that would be sure to come.<BR/> <BR/>Many have high hopes for increased revenue from the power plant. Historically, very few coal dollars actually benefit the local economy. A pittance is paid in taxes, the 13% or so of the local population engaged in the industry have their earnings, but the rest goes to corporate coffers. Similarly, most of the economic benefit from the plant will leave Southwest Virginia. Dominion is located in Richmond. The contractor that won the bid to build the plant, The Shaw Group, is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. <BR/> <BR/>What will come of the Virginia City plant? I hate to say it, but right now it seems almost inevitable. I hope I'm wrong. We all know the coal/energy lobby is as powerful as they come, evidenced by support for the industry at all levels of government. The Wise County Board of Supervisors has already approved a land fill to dispose of the fly ash generated by the plant, as well as approved various tax incentives for Dominion to locate in the county. There are also numerous supporters in Congress trying to slip "clean coal" into the alternative energy debate, complete with subsidies to the industry. <BR/> <BR/>Absent a miraculous shift in political fortunes to change our resource uses, I think several here have hit on an important strategy on which we must focus; consumer education. I was impressed with a <A HREF="http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/powerprofiler.htm" REL="nofollow">tool</A> recently developed by the EPA on energy consumption. It shows the composition your local utility uses to generate electricity and the associated pollutants. I didn't know what my local utility uses to generate electricity, and I bet most others do not either. Coal is consistently above 50 percent, reaching over 70 percent in coal producing areas including most of southwest Virginia.<BR/> <BR/>I think most folks simply are not aware of their electricity use, and therefore, their impact on coal consumption. It has to become part of our national awareness, much like gasoline is becoming. If things don't change, I think we are heading toward an energy crisis that could trigger another economic depression. Consider this <A HREF="http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070702/ts_csm/astubborn" REL="nofollow">article</A>.<BR/><BR/>Sorry to make this local problem so global. It really bothers me that for short-term profits, the long-term consequences of continuing to invest in coal are not being considered; both for Wise County and our nation.Jeremy Petershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14105906795034172230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22156824.post-61853681402002167992007-07-04T11:16:00.000-04:002007-07-04T11:16:00.000-04:00Yes, electricity is not really cheap, and our wast...Yes, electricity is not really cheap, and our wasteful consumption of energy is a disgrace...from cars that get atrocious gas mileage (you don't see many big SUV's in Europe where gas prices are very high) to the fact that we fail to have even minimal tools for saving energy in our own homes. I lived in England thirty years ago, and even back then our hot water heater was wrapped in an insulating blanket, and had a timer on it so that we set the water to be hot when we were going to need it like early morning and bath time in the evening, but it turned itself off the rest of the time. We are doing so little in this country to take the energy crisis seriously it is shameful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22156824.post-16930497886724623512007-07-01T08:24:00.000-04:002007-07-01T08:24:00.000-04:00Well-said, Ms. Cain. The dilemma you feel and obse...Well-said, Ms. Cain. The dilemma you feel and observe is actually more shared than you realize.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Obviously, the St. Paul plant is being built because there is a demand for the electricity it will generate. Coal is said to produce 50% of the electricity we consume, and the demand is increasing. As oil becomes less and less stable as a source of fuel to power the generators, the demand for coal-fired generators will go up.<BR/><BR/>Historically, the power plants that burned the coal dug here in Southwest Virginia were located closer to consumers. The coal has been delivered to the plants in other communities by railroad cars.There is only one other coal-burning plant in the Virginia Coalfields, in nearby Russell County at Carbo.<BR/><BR/>While the protesters certainly have a point, so long as we continue to use electrical energy at the rate we do, and demand that it be cheap, it's going to get dirty somewhere.<BR/><BR/>I believe the very best strategy would be to also address the demand side, not just the supply side. I think this (the power plant) could also become an opportunity to require the very best in lowering the environmental impact/cost of burning coal.<BR/><BR/>For example, is it possible to capture the C02 generated from burning coal, and to sequester it in natural gas wells? We have an abundance of them here in Dickenson County.This carbon sequestration technique could be studied.<BR/><BR/>Can the ash by-products be used to manufacture building materials?<BR/>Can we agree that the coal burned doesn't derive from mountain-top removal?<BR/><BR/><BR/>What are the maximum ways to minimize the adverse impacts, recycle, re-use?<BR/><BR/>I'll leave the demand-side discussions for others, but we coiuld all get by with less.<BR/><BR/>It seems to me that if we want to have jobs, and a clean environment, we need to give up our demand for cheap electricity, and realize it's not really cheap, the true costs are being paid somewhere, by someone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22156824.post-65116628985837073192007-06-26T19:46:00.000-04:002007-06-26T19:46:00.000-04:00Nice, well written post. I've only been to St. Pa...Nice, well written post. I've only been to St. Paul a handful of times but it holds a certain affection with me. My great-grandparents ran a hardware and jewelry store in the bustling downtown area until that area started to dry up. It's a side of the family that I have never had contact with but my dad tells stories of spending weeks there in his childhood summers. I would love to see St. Paul come alive again, just not at the expense of the mountains, health concerns and a temporary fix to a larger problem.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17718782706074838772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22156824.post-41426993578882550352007-06-25T19:30:00.000-04:002007-06-25T19:30:00.000-04:00Hooray April Cain for addressing a tough issue. ...Hooray April Cain for addressing a tough issue. We all want industry to boost the area economy, but what kind of industry and at what price to our environment and our communities? I read with interest a statement in the Richmond Times-Dispatch yesterday by Patrick Farley concerning our current method of creating energy from coal that hit home: "How smart is a system that that converts chemical energy (which is actually stored solar energy) to thermal [energy] to mechanical [energy] to electrical [energy] in order to blow dry someone's hair? <BR/><BR/>As an alternative to coal plants or more prisons, I point to one area that is already being addressed on a growing scale in the region: tourism. Tourism already pumps lots of money into Virginia and Southwest Virginia has two very marketable and unique assets: its mostly unspoiled and peerless geography and its heritage as the birthplace of country music. Parks, trails, nature and country music and music heritage appreciation can be expanded. The Virginia Creeper trail and the Crooked Road are successes to be proud of and vaulted on. I vote for more trails and more authentic country music as clean, mostly green, and job creating areas of enormous growth potential.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com