Article
published Oct 2, 2007
Highwood folly
Citizens
of Great Falls and Montana, wake up!
August
2007 should be a warning to us. We have endured one of the warmest summers on
record and certainly one of the worst fire seasons in memory. The science is
clear. Our planet is indeed getting hotter. The greenhouse gases we put into
the air are at best accelerating a natural cycle and are probably the entire
cause of our local and global crisis.
As
smoke obscured the mountains from view and choked our noses and lungs, we are
reminded that this haze is what we might "enjoy" many days of the
year if we build a coal powered generating plant at Highwood. Recent visitors
to China report that most of the time the skies are gray. Even on clear days
the sun doesn't shine through the airborne grime in this country that depends
on cheap coal for its industrialization.
A
coal-powered generating plant in the Great Falls area is one more chink out of
the legacy of clear skies and clean air we should leave our children and
grandchildren. Do we want Montana to become like China where milky gray days
are the norm? Do we want the Rocky Mountain Front obscured by haze and smog
from a coal-powered generating plant in our midst?
Great
Falls leaders and electrical co-op officials should give up on the folly of
building the Highwood generating plant, a project that will contribute to an
already mounting natural disaster in our state.
Ñ James P. Bell, M.D., Choteau