Letter: Coal seems pretty clean from a distance
At the January meeting of Lincolnland Economic Development Corporation, Greg Merle said, “there’s no such thing as dirty coal.”
I confirmed his statement with him in person after the meeting. As a coal trader, coal probably seems pretty
But I wonder if he is aware of the effects that strip mining coal has on our area, with the short-term and long-term damages it causes; of the
From his home on the east coast, coal may not seem dirty. But here in coal country, it certainly is. Randy Vaal Southwestern Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life Santa Claus
Mr. Vaal you spent months talking about the dangers and pollution levels of the Riverview Energy project only to have the IDEM and the US EPA tell the citizens of SW Indiana that they have no concerns with the project.
Now you are spending your time making personal attacks on Mr. Greg Merle. You tell the citizens that the Riverview Energy project is a “straw to gold dream scheme”. You point out that “From his home on the east coast, coal may not seem dirty”. Now that you have lost on the arguments, based on the merits of the facts, you want to impugn Mr. Merle because he may have money. I find your hypocrisy funny, as you make fun of him living in the east, from your lake front home, in a gated community in Santa Claus Indiana.
Men like Mr. Merle are willing to take a huge financial risk in order to create jobs. They pull other men and women along who are willing to take the risk with him and benefiting from his risk they gain wealth as well. That is capitalism. That is how this country became the greatest economic power on the planet, it is why we have more billionaires and millionaires who became rich not because they wanted to make money but because they wanted to create jobs. People like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates have more money then they could ever spend but they stay at it to create good paying jobs around the world.
Semi-trucks, boats, trains are nowhere near being ready for alternative fuels. America is still trying to get the electric automobile affordable. We are America, we will get there. Until then we will be adding 78M people by 2058 and we will need 3.5-4.5 million more semi-trucks to just get our goods to market. That will require a huge increase in diesel fuel. If you want to keep supporting endless wars in the middle east to get fuel, we need to be energy independent here in America. Of course, we could outsource our carbon footprint to Canada to supply it or perhaps maybe another country like China or Mexico that have a terrible carbon footprint, or we could own it by making our own diesel fuel here in America. Haven’t we outsourced enough of our carbon footprint already to third world countries?
You spent 30+ years on the oil and gas business and it must have been a good life. You now find yourself retired living on a lake front home in a gated community and doing everything you can to prevent your neighbors from living the type of dream you have. How many people in Spencer county could afford a lake front home in Santa Claus Indiana? More can, if the Riverview Energy project moves forward.
Daryl Hensley, Jasper IN.