Tag: power plant (page 2)

Up until now, there had been two groups interested in killing the power plant.  The seven people of CEI, all locals who believed Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, and a man from Traverse City who gets his money from San Fransisco, Tom Karas (Michigan Energy Alternatives.)  However, the Planning Commission meeting attracted more outsiders.

In a January 3, 2008 article in the Advance titled, County continues to support Wolverine's plans, Wolverine's Director of Community and Government Affairs, Ken Bradstreet, outlines the realities of the need for more power in Michigan.  The proposed baseload plant satisfies the Department of Energy as clean coal technology.  Bradstreet offered, "Those that oppose projects like this across the country aren't really helping the environment, because they are forcing us to continue using plants that should be retired."

There are two things I disliked about the events leading up to this point in this story.  One, I disliked the lie that CEI was feeding township members that they were just a group of "folks" who'd like to ask a few questions on the coal plant, and two, I don't like it when people with agendas give information on one side of a topic I care about.  So, I decided to refute Veselenak's speech.

A member of the Citizens for Environmental Inquiry (CEI), Bill Lewis, continued to raise questions on the opinion page of the Advance, this time raising the geological significance of where the plant would be located.  This is the first time the word "karst" entered the fray.   His argument, that careless surface activity on karst land can quickly impact water resources, was weak.  The company had just hired a slew of environmental engineers, harbor engineers, and conceptual power plant designers.  Three companies whose 2500 employees know more about the different problems  related to geological issues.  As an aside, all of the arguments posed by CEI included the words, "probably," "likely," and "possible," while trying to convince the public.

A member of the Citizens for Environmental Inquiry (CEI), Bill Lewis, continued to raise questions on the opinion page of the Advance, this time raising the geological significance of where the plant would be located.  This is the first time the word "karst" entered the fray.   His argument, that careless surface activity on karst land can quickly impact water resources, was weak.  The company had just hired a slew of environmental engineers, harbor engineers, and conceptual power plant designers.  Three companies whose 2500 employees know more about the different problems  related to geological issues.  As an aside, all of the arguments posed by CEI included the words, "probably," "likely," and "possible," while trying to convince the public.

The city of Rogers City has a newspaper that publishes once a week called The Advance.   It is a little annoying to read old news on Wednesday nights, (old news because the rumor mill is a lot faster,) but it is very accurate, professional and a great example of what newspapers should be.  I have spent some time at the local library to read past Advance's  to refresh my memory of how Wolverine Power Company became a household name here.