Coal Plants are a Bad Deal for Parkville
The new coal plant proposed at Nearman Creek, just across the river from Parkville is a bad situation for this city and for Platte County in general.
I literally have stacks of information of coal-fired power plants. Rather than bore you with numbers, I’ll just point out the obvious. They’re dirty, they’re unhealthy and they’re archaic. Think about it – we’ve put men on the moon, but the only way we can figure out how to turn the lights on is by burning dinosaur dust. But they’re cheap, and Kansas City is tailor-made for them, our train lines go straight to the coal fields and so we just keep getting them.
In order to have coal power, you need a large amount of water to cool the turbines. Obviously, the Missouri River, one of the great workhorses of American industry, fits the bill nicely. It also works well on the back end of the equation – after the water has been used to cool the plant off, it gets returned to the river. The problem is the water is both warm, and completely contaminated with heavy metals like arsenic, lead and mercury.
Ditto for that plume of smoke coming out of the stacks you see. In fact – and I’m sure we’ll be getting plenty more information on this over the coming weeks – every single body of water in Missouri (including Weatherby and Riss Lake) is considered to be contaminated with mercury. So if you fish in those lakes and eat the catch, know that there is a lot of mercury in what you’re eating.
Hey, we all know a little dirt won’t hurt, but it’s something to think about when you’re carrying a child to term. Mercury can interfere with brain development.
There are certain realities to the situation. Those who read this space regularly know that I run conservative. My position on the environment and on this coal plant will run counter to what many conservative politicians will say about the plant. As Parkville and Platte County are largely represented by Republicans, I wouldn’t count on a great deal of help in this matter, should said parties try and fight this project off.
Addressing that quickly, the “environment” has turned into a political football and it’s ridiculous. You can have a capitalist society that doesn’t destroy every natural resource, you can make protecting the health and well-being of every citizen a priority and it won’t hurt your Contract with America or your Patriot Acts. In fact, the environment became an issue during Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency (he was a Republican) and the Environmental Protection Agency was started by Nixon. As much as I love the guy, it was our boy Ronnie that really pushed the issue over to the left side, he of “trees cause pollution” fame. (Yes, they do emit ozone so he was partially correct…they also litter every autumn.)
Basically, you’re going to hear a few sides to the argument as the plant moves along on course to completion. The majority of residents will think of their health (those selfish people), BPU will tell us that they will build the cleanest coal plant they can but that it is a fact of life, the EPA will run a little dog and pony show but they’ll get their permits, and a bunch of people in KCK will say that it’s creating jobs – and even though a typical McDonald’s employs more people, these will be union jobs with benefits.
Those fighting against the plant will be called names like “tree-hugger” (ouch!) and they’ll be accused of rampant NIMBY-ism (not in my backyard). They’ll call you a hypocrite because you drive an SUV and wear leather belts. They’ll say that global warming is a myth, dreamed up by Al Gore. They’ll say that there is no proof that mercury leads to autism, even though the number of autism cases rises in near proportion to the amount of coal plants we build in this country. They’ll say we’re living longer, not counting the fact that we’re also living sicker, and with more medicines and pills and doctor visits than at any time in our history. In short, their arguments are weak.
I’ll make the position of The Luminary on this issue quite clear – we’re opposed to the plant. We don’t want it in our backyard. And you can bet that we’re going to cover every single aspect of the project, and attend every meeting we can. What we won’t do is accuse BPU of doing something wrong – this is their job, it’s what they do. We’re also off to a fine start. Susan Allen, their pubic affairs officer was honest and easy to work with on the story. They have the information our residents in Parkville need, and having a professional relationship from the onset is key.
And that’s where we are, folks. At the onset. Saddle up and pay attention. It’s going to be a rough ride.