LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Opposed to measures
Published: May 3, 2007 To the editor: The proposed Northern Wasco PUD ballot measures would put ratepayers on the hook to pay for two proposed coal plants that are not even permitted, let alone built. The PUD would not only be agreeing to buy coal at some undetermined price but would in fact have to make payments to the coal plant speculators even if the coal plants were never completed or providing any power. It's hard to think of a ballot measure that could make any less sense. This is only more so because Wasco County has such a valuable wind resource. Wind will not provide for all our power needs and wind farms aren't appropriate everywhere, but it's important to recognize, despite the ballot measures' enormous financial risks they would only at best case provide 15 megawatts of coal power. Over 60 megawatts of new wind energy is being built in just Wasco County alone and every dollar that gets invested in local wind energy means local jobs, support for local farmers, and county revenue. It is also worth noting that the smog and air pollution from the Kalama coal plant, if it was actually built, would blow right up the Columbia Gorge each summer. As a result, this may go down as the only recent ballot measures where PUD ratepayers and conservationists can agree on the importance of voting "no." Brent Foster Mosier Columbia Riverkeeper