Mary Jo 的个人资料Big Stone | Take 2照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
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11月10日 Big Stone II Stopped in its TracksThe news has been out for days now. I must still be stunned or I would have found something to write before now, right? Well, here's what the good folks at Clean Water Action had to say - Big Stone II - Stopping the Coal Fired Power Plant That Couldn't be Stopped. And Clean Up the River Environment (CURE) upon hearing of the demise of Big Stone II quickly generated 'The Energy Matrix' cheering the fact that we now have a 'game changer,' an opportunity to create a clean energy future for the Minnesota River Valley and beyond. Hooray! Hmmm, maybe that's why I was celebrating instead of writing?!  Congratulations and hope to one and all, and especially to the seventh generation. 9月12日 A New Day for Big StoneI moved cross country last year from the Great Upper Midwest to the Pacific West Coast but my heart and home remain in rural Minnesota on the border of the Dakotas. And great news arrived in San Francisco yesterday, "Otter Tail Power withdraws from Big Stone II" National Deputy Director, Marie Zellar from Clean Water Action called to say. Wow. Did I ever believe that I would see the day? That maybe, just maybe Bill Gates came to his senses and saw that building a coal-fired power plant did not make sense or 'cents' no matter how one looked at it? Yes. It's a new day for Big Stone, for the people, the air, the land, the waters flowing from the start of the Little Minnesota in South Dakota into Big Stone Lake then down the Minnesota river to the mighty Mississipp. Cheers! Bye, bye BSII!
5月9日 Bill Gates and Big Stone II - How Could He?I used to admire Bill Gates . He helped make it possible for me to connect via MSN with new-found friends around the world, all from my rural home a few years back in Graceville, MN - Big Stone County . The first internet connection I had, back in 1999, was a little keyboard unit that hooked up to my television called Webtv. The world was at my fingertips; no matter if a blizzard was raging outside or my car did not start. I was connected.
Now. Bill Gates bothers me. After almost three years with Clean Water Action SD, researching the mind boggling details behind the proposed Big Stone II 600 MW coal plant, does Bill Gates know what he is doing? Does he know that his ownership just under 9% via Cascade Investment LLC in Otter Tail Power's Big Stone Plant Unit 1 and funneling of money into Big Stone II rains down mercury to poison my grandchildren and yours? Does he know that northeast South Dakota's once pristine prairie land will now be filled with DOUBLE the toxic coal combustion, cancer causing waste? If Bill Gates doesn't know where his money is going - perhaps it's time we let him know. Eight Minnesota Legislators recently wrote to Gates offering him the opportunity to see how he could align his values with his investment. In other words, asking him why is he investing in dirty coal that poisons us when he could be investing in wind and renewable energy. Word has it that a reply is coming.
Let Bill Gates hear from you! The world needs wind and renewable energy, not more coal. Come on Bill, be the hero everyone believes in.
William H. Gates III One Microsoft Way Redmond WA 98052 Phone: (425) 882-8080
Cascade Investment LLC 2365 Carillon Point Kirkland WA 98033 Phone: (425) 803-0720 3月11日 Big Stone II: Rising Risk, Lowered WaterCredence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" rings strangely in tune with what's going down with Big Stone II. Just google the lyrics. Ironically, CCR has a whole new meaning beyond the music familiar to many - the new CCR, Consumer Confidence Reports by the EPA, require public water suppliers that serve the same people year round (community water systems) to provide consumer confidence reports to their customers. Its been thirty plus years now since Big Stone Plant Unit 1 came on-line, wonder how long it will take before we know what's leaking into Big Stone Lake and surrounding water tables? See the presentation from the public forum at Agency Village last night, "Rising Risk Lowered Water." [pdf]. You can also find it posted online at South Dakota Clean Water Action (clidk on publications). 3月3日 If a pebble makes a ripple, what do big stones make?If a pebble makes a ripple – what will a stone make? Worse, what will two Big Stone coal plants pumping more mercury into the air and waters around Big Stone Lake make? Most at risk are the children – mercury is a known potent neuro-toxin, but we also pay a high economic cost according to experts who reported on the Public Health and Economic Consequences of Methyl Mercury Toxicity to the Developing Brain (Environmental Health Perspectives, 2005).
On the bright side, environmentalists in Iowa are saying that it will be a lot tougher for utilities to build coal plants after a federal appeals court threw out a federal pollution-trading system that allowed excess mercury emissions at some plants. 2月28日 Border Battle LoomingAs if one coal plant -Big Stone I- next to beautiful, trophy-walleye-producing Big Stone Lake on the Minnesota – South Dakota border is not enough. Does Otter Tail Power really think it can bring on Big Stone II without a battle? The opposition is growing locally against building more coal plants or burning more coal. Besides, we have WIND here on the Minnesota - South Dakota border (video by American Green TV ) not coal. We like our water clean - not toxic. Get the low down of what lies ahead nationally in "Stopping Coal in Its Tracks" by Ted Nace (Jan/Feb 2008 issue of Orion Magazine). The lines are being drawn. Grind coffee - not coal...
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