Economic development affects the whole community

My response to Brad Lofton's previous mail to me and Sunday's exchange between Brad Lofton and Leigh Touchtom; I copied the VDT and the usual list.

-jsq

From: "John S. Quarterman"
To: blofton@industrialauthority.com
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:06:31 -0400

Brad,

So you can't provide a journal citation, thus your assertion that the stack of slides about CO2 was peer-reviewed is false.

Your assertions of environmental group support are equally dubious, as Leigh Touchton has demonstrated. Meanwhile, you ignore plain statements of opposition from medical groups such as the American Lung Association.

Dr. Tom Manning is a chemist whose specialities have little to do with renewable energy. At least three times as many VSU faculty oppose the biomass plant, as you know from reading their LTEs in the VDT.

You say you want people helping you. OK, what are these "other renewable energy projects"? You complain that people don't get involved until late, so please tell us now, so we can get involved early.

For that matter, I have repeatedly sent you a lead for solar venture capital which could be pursued to enlarge the Wiregrass Power LLC solar plant. Yet you fail to even acknowledge receipt. That doesn't seem like you want assistance.

I hope with its 1 mil of tax money VLCIA can come up with something better than this biomass plant. If VLCIA paid for a regional renewable energy plan, that might indicate some seriousness on its part that might attract clean energy and supporters.

Economic development affects the whole community, not just selected stakeholders.

-jsq

Comments

[Leigh Touchton]

Tonight at the VBOE both Brad Lofton and Col Ricketts talked about the tax incentives, basically 30% of the cost of the building of the plant is subsidized through tax breaks. Then there is of course the sales tax breaks on the growing and selling of the trees, courtesy of Tim Golden's legislation. But then both men stated with straight face "The plant is privately funded."

Ricketts was adamant about the money this plant would bring to the VBOE. Neither man ever addressed the PM 10 and PM 2.5, or the health consequences of the plant. Neither man ever said one word about the American Lung Association or the American Cancer Society. I watched the VBOE members and wondered if any of them thought the life of a child was worth the thousands of dollars of revenue from this plant.