Missoula and Helena refuse to buy coal-fired power from Great Falls

Interestingly enough, the Tribune and other Great Falls news media had a total blackout on this story. I'll have to ask the MEIC (several of whose staff receive this Bulletin) why the Montana Green Bulletin is no longer on their mailing lists, but it probably has to do with the takeover of CCE by Republicans and other anti-environmentalists. Let me assure Pat Judge et. al. that I am still on their side.
The theory of this Bulletin is that it's reciprocal. Other groups don't pay me to receive it, and I don't pay them to be on their mailing lists. Since MEIC is member-funded, and a lot of Great Falls CCE people signed up and sent them money, I suppose they thought they could blank me out with impunity, but it is certainly counter to their mission and self-interest to do so. When Jim Jensen stood up to the Schweitzer Administration (or more accurately, Walter Schweitzer, the governor's brother), he got slapped down pretty hard. I defended him strongly, and reprinted the Missoula Independent story which created the furor. Apparently, MEIC is not going to oppose the crypto-Republican Baucus-Schweitzer Machine, again. Gov. Schweitzer, fortunately, has withdrawn support for the Highwood Station if it doesn't sequester CO2. The DEQ and other state agencies have permitted it, however. It is only the RUS funding which is being held up, now, and that is the subject of an MEIC lawsuit (supported by a number of national groups, fortunately).
When, a week or more ago, Col. Liebert (CEO of CCE, whom I recruited for them), informed me that Missoula was considering buying electricity from Electric City Power, I thought he must be confused about some past history, when five major cities, led by Missoula and Great Falls, were attempting to buy the Northwestern Energy distribution system. All he had to show me, then, was that Helena had refused the ECP offer to sell them coal-fired power, which was reported in a Helena IR story. Missoula used to have 2 or 3 Green/New Party activists on its city council. Apparently, the Baucus Machine got rid of them along with pro-life, peace, and other anti-corporate types. It would seem that the whole state is by now pretty much under corporate/Stalinist rule.
CCE no longer has an active mailing list, or anyone keeping up with this information and distributing it to the group (from which I have been cut off in any case, but I still have friends who would share the information with me). Like Sen. Baucus and Rep. Parker, they're apparently too busy suppressing the Green Party. And it finally occurred to me why this is so.
Dr. Reichert is a graduate of UGF, and has served on its board. She is one of its most distinguished alumni. Tim Gregori's uncle, Father Gregori, is also prominently associated with that university, as well as the anti-nuclear movement. Tim is a native of Great Falls, and went to Central Catholic High School, as did Neil "Jerry" Taylor. It was Taylor and Reichert who forced me out (along with the person I had persuaded to become the list manager and outreach person, who no longer wishes to be named in these discussions). As soon as that happened, a different agenda was adopted, and one which is not, in principle, opposed to a local coal-fired generating plant. It only has to be marginally "cleaner" and located away from historically or environmentally sensitive tourist sites, not to mention nearby "trophy home" developments (NIMBY).
Even those modest compromises were repugnant to Mr. Gregori and the ECP staff, and they have fought them all assiduously, but with the dismissal of the Greens, it was clear (to them, at least) that the plant would be built, and the people of Great Falls would be stuck with it. Thus, ECP is still trying to find someone to buy the power, and apparently they had good enough connections in Missoula to make the sale. Now, fortunately, the deal is under review, and will no doubt fail for the same reasons it has failed, here - too costly, and too much environmental harm.
But getting back to energy, one of the major non-sequiturs of the energy debate is that if we don't want nuclear power, then we have to burn more coal! Tim Gregori seems to believe that implicitly. Several prominent long-time "environmentalists" (like Stuart Brand) are now promoting nuclear power for that very reason. On a scale of 1-10, the costs and dangers of nuclear power rate a 10 (if not 100 - an order of magnitude off the scale, because they threaten to end human civilization and all mammalian life, not just a few million people from drought, hurricanes, crop-failures, or flooding islands and the heavily-populated coastal plains). The "nuclear option" of total destruction of the sinful "material world" is apparently a plus for most apocalyptic religious fundamentalists. Christian fundamentalists like James Watt and Ronald Reagan were known to subscribe to that "prophecy."
Even with the proofs for global warming, coal seems marginally less bad than nuclear, if only because many of the problems associated with burning coal are fixable, or will go away after a century or two of not burning it. All that's needed is another Ice Age to take care of global warming, and Rupert Murdoch is probably paying scientists (as well as film-makers) to bring one about. The "nuclear winter" following a major nuclear exchange (say, 200 or more cities destroyed) would also halt global warming, but at the cost of half or more of the human population. Never underestimate the power of global imperialism to apply "technical fixes" to otherwise unthinkable technologies.
The only relevant considerations for businesses (including city governments) planning to buy coal-fired electricity are (not necessarily in order) financial, public health, climate change (requiring carbon taxes to "internalize the externalities") and other non-political factors. They shouldn't have to succumb to the political clout of Boilermaker Unions, or the campaign contributions provided by the coal, railroad, or other industries and their unions. This isn't supposed to be a zero-sum game. Pareto Optimality demands that no one be harmed by public policy decisions, or if they are, that they be fully compensated for their losses.
Using public interest criteria and sound fiscal standards, no one can rationally advocate building more coal-fired (or nuclear) power plants. Both require vast taxpayer subsidies, as well as "creative book-keeping" so that most of the costs and liabilities are ignored or withheld from public scrutiny. Ms. Balzarini, bless her heart, is a master at such creative accounting, but she has never explained to me why she should want to bring this disaster down on her family and friends here in Great Falls. Perhaps the "passive-aggressive" principle has something to do with it. Nearly all political activity in Great Falls seems to be based on precisely that. Make "the other party" do something stupid so that they can be blamed for it in the next election.
In this case, the Democrats and Republicans are more or less equally implicated in the Highwood Station debacle. What they fear most, apparently, is a third party capitalizing on their failure. Again, they needn't worry. I don't know of a single person in Cascade County who is willing to run for any public office as a Green. All we're interested in is transparency, open government, sound science, and getting our civic leaders to implement the best rules and policies for our local citizens (not corporations), rather than continuing the destructive, elitist regime which has existed here for the past 60-80 years - mostly on federal corporate welfare disguised as "defense spending" and corporate agribusiness subsidies.
Coal and nuclear power are far more costly, far more unhealthy, and far more destructive of the planetary environment than any of a number of alternatives, including wind, solar, and most of all, efficiency and conservation (not to mention the virtually cost-free hydropower which is just sitting there, literally within bowshot of the proposed Highwood Generating Station. Existing hydropower is sufficient to supply all of our local needs. We only need to take it back from the corporations which stole it from us - easier done than said).
50% of American energy consumption is pure waste. This is fortunate! We have this much of a cushion to eliminate before we even have to think about generating any more electricity, and we should already be shutting down the dirtiest coal plants and all the nuclear ones, not planning to build more of them. -- Paul Stephens
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