A week ago today, several CALP/MVCAC members made the trip to Charleston
for our final appeal to the WV Supreme Court to overturn the Public
Service Commission's approval of Longview's siting and transmission line
certificates. The road to our day in court was, in fact, much longer
than a 160 mile drive down I-79, because it really was the culmination
of the effort to stop Longview that we began organizing in late 2002 and
continued through the PSC's review from 2003 until now. As you have
probably heard, the Supreme Court voted 4 to 1 not to hear our appeal.
The justices' decision was a bitter disappointment given the many good
arguments and the weight of evidence on our side. Although Longview
still needs more permits, the Supreme Court's decision is the end of the
road for challenging the PSC's approval of Longview's certificates.
This truly was a battle of David versus Goliath, and the big money and
political influence wielded by Longview's proponents outweighed the
public's welfare. It has been a reminder that the people who ultimately
make the big decisions that influence our communities and environment
often fly under the public's radar. Too few people are aware of the
irresponsible decisions made by our County Commission, the pro-business
appointees on the Public Service Commission, the corruption and
incompetence of the Supreme Court justices, or the myopic lobbying by
the construction trades. With West Virginia now being "Open for
Business", we need to be even more vigilant and active in protecting our
communities and environment. I am certainly looking at the recent deluge
of election flyers from the Affiliated Construction Trades in a
different light now.
So, where does this leave us? First of all, as Jim Kotcon has
frequently reminded us, "we haven't lost--they haven't built Longview."
We have been successful in delaying the construction of Longview, and
perhaps it never will be built. Although coal-fired power plants are a
hot commodity these days, the delay might have bought enough time for
potential investors to want to take a closer look at whether it really
is a good idea to build a new coal-fired power plant with out-of-date
technology. Some utility companies are beginning to push for
higher-tech, cleaner coal-fired power plants in anticipation of new and
costly regulations that are likely to come into effect during the
lifetime of the power plants. Perhaps those concerns will diminish the
interest of investors in Longview. Second, our experience with Longview
has greatly increased the local awareness of air quality issues, and we
must continue to work on these issues. Our opposition to Longview was a
reactive effort--it's time to be proactive.
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Now, for the important part!
Thanks to the all of the people who:
*wrote letters to our County Commissioners, the DEP and the PSC
*spoke out in favor of better air quality
*made donations to help stop Longview
*handed out flyers
*attended countless organizational meetings
*wrote letters to the editor opposing Longview
*generally helped raise public awareness of our concerns about air
quality
A special thanks must also go to Phil Gaujot, our fearless lawyer who
led us through the legal jungle of the PSC & Supreme Court. Phil
displayed a lot of passion and professionalism in preparing for the PSC
& Supreme Court and going toe-to-toe with the lawyers for Longview. He
ensured that we left no stone unturned in developing our case against
Longview, and, judged on its merits, we should have prevailed.
Thanks,
Bill Wonderlin
