Negotiations for power plant should be public
I have watched with dismay over the last three months as CEO Jeff Keffer of Longview has made dishonest claims that the expansion of Longview will offer clean carbon energy, and Mon County Commissioners have closed ranks around Commissioner Tom Bloom, who made false allegations against the Sierra Club to deflect its criticisms of the power plant’s expansion.
The commission is negotiating millions in tax breaks for Longview behind closed doors. Given that Bloom received his fabricated allegations from CEO Keffer, establishing collusion between commissioner and CEO, the negotiations should absolutely occur under a critical public eye. Commissioners are accountable to the public, not Longview.
Commissioner Hawkins pushed back against the Sierra Club’s concern over air pollution emissions from the new gas fired plant, including over three million tons of greenhouse gases. He claimed, “the best and easiest way to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to plant trees” (DP-1-23).
Of course, the easiest way to reduce CO2 is not to emit it in the first place. A typical mature hardwood absorbs only 48 pounds of CO2 annually, requiring 125 million trees to mitigate three million tons of CO2. Trees, moreover, do not store methane, a virulent greenhouse gas emitted in the production and transportation of natural gas, and chronically underreported by the natural gas industry.
Why should we, the public, subsidize Longview and its polluting infrastructure, when the only long-lasting result will be more toxins in our air and water?
Katherine B. Aaslestad
Morgantown
Coronavirus could affect 180 days of school
I really hope that the state Legislature has given some forethought to the coronavirus and the havoc it could deal to our public schools and the education of our students. Specifically, what would be the impact of an extended closure during the final part of this school year?
The Legislature has a preset day in early June by which the “school year” must conclude. Additionally, it has mandated there must be 180 instructional days in a year. With these limitations, can we still have a complete year of school if they have to close for an extended period during this last part of the year?
There have been a lot of articles in our local paper about the work of our Legislature and all the different bills and several dealing with public education. I’ve seen several dealing with offering an elective class on “History in the Bible.” I’ve also seen a lot of print on allowing non-public school children to play on school sports teams.
Both are well and good but what happens if the students can not complete 180 days of instruction before early June, either because of bad weather, the flu or heaven forbid, the coronavirus?
There appears to be a real possibility of extended school closing due to the spread of the virus. WVU has already canceled the business students’ trip to China; in France the Louvre is closed to visitors; Japan has closed its schools until the end of March; and the list gets bigger by the day.
I hope the Legislature has built in an exception to the 180 days or are now working on it. I’m not sure any county in the state could close down their schools for 14 days (the quarantine period) and still meet the 180-day requirement. What happens to school grade promotion and graduation if our schools have to close for two weeks or more?
I certainly hope that better minds than mine have thought of this potential problem and already have a “Plan B.” (The solution may be a modified Arctic Academy.)
Tom Talerico
Morgantown
Good Samaritans help collapsed woman
In the crazy world of bad news all around, I would like to give a story of thanks and joy. My defibrillator went off in a local grocery store parking lot on Feb.28. I passed out and hit the pavement. Soon Angel Chris awakened me, helped me to my feet and put my groceries in my trunk. An unknown angel man called the ambulance for me and sweet Angel Anne stayed and talked to me until the ambulance came.
The world can be a frightening place, but in Morgantown, we have the kindest people. Open your eyes and you will see all of the angels in your life. Mine — all of them — make me love life.
Laura Cunningham
Morgantown
