Council says no to coal plant

By Diane Chiddister

After four months addressing a complex energy issue that sparked intense community interest, Yellow Springs Village Council on Monday night came down on the side of combatting global warming. In a vote of 3–2, Council said no to an ordinance to sign on to a 50-year contract for a coal-powered plant to provide the Village’s baseload power needs.

2008 council goals At their Jan. 22 meeting, members of Village Council unanimously voted on the following strategic goals for 2008: 1) Establish a plan that improves the economic condition of the community. 2) Develop a vision for comprehensive land use 3) Deepen democratic decision-making processes with active citizen participation and effective representative governance 4) Be a welcoming community of opportunity for people of diverse race, culture and income. 5) Develop a comprehensive policy that will address global warming and reduce the carbon footprint of our community. 6) Strengthen the Village as an excellent employer and provider of services within a responsible fiscal framework. Council will begin a discussion on specific ways to meet these goals at its next meeting, on Feb. 4.

Council members Lori Askeland, John Booth and Judith Hempfling voted against the ordinance that would have committed the Village to a contract with AMP-Ohio for the proposed AMPGS coal-fired plant in Meigs County. Voting in the minority for the ordinance, which had been recommended by Village Manager Eric Swansen, were Karen Wintrow and Kathryn Van der Heiden.

In statements before the vote, all Council members spoke of the complexity of the decision, given the unknown factors regarding the future cost of coal-powered energy and the future availability of alternative energy sources. Several current Village energy contracts will expire in 2012, leaving the Village at that point with a need to purchase a substantial amount of its baseload power on the market.

For those who voted against coal power, the known crisis of global warming outweighed the unknown factors. Coal plants are, in this country, considered the leading source of the carbon dioxide which contributes to global warming.

“I feel we are at a historic place of transition, a place of a new paradigm,” said Council President Hempfling. “If we believe Al Gore and other experts, we are at a tipping point. How is it possible to keep going in this direction and keep building new coal plants? It makes no sense to me.”

Council member Booth also invoked the need for a new way of thinking regarding energy use.

“If we’re looking at trying to avoid contributing to global warming, we need to have a different mindset than the status quo,” he said.

Wintrow and Van der Heiden also stated their support for alternative energy and their distaste for coal-powered energy sources. But they supported signing on to the AMPGS plant, they said, because they believe that Ohioans will still be using coal power in 50 years since alternative energy sources are currently less available, more expensive and not suited for baseload energy needs.

“Having this contract gives us financial breathing room and a certainty that allows us to invest in renewables” in the future, according to Wintrow.

The majority of villagers who spoke to the issue urged Council to vote against the ordinance. While some had framed the issue as a choice between the environment and affordability, Council does not need to engage in either/or thinking, according to Dimi Reber.

“If we decide to vote on the side of our conscience, it doesn’t mean we abandon those in economic difficulty,” she said. “It means we need to be creative.”

Looking back over all the technological changes of the last 50 years, villagers can safely assume that huge advances in energy sources will take place in the next 50, according to Byron Dann.

“In the next several decades science and money will meet the needs of finding energy that is not as polluting,” he said.

Yellow Springs can make a difference by voting against coal plants, according to Ellis Jacobs, who said that AMP-Ohio still does not have enough participants to move forward with the plant, and that other communities are still wrestling with the issue.

“This is not a done deal,” he said. “What you do tonight will reverberate around the state.”

Speaking for the coal plant, Brian Chase stated that the Village would save money and ensure a reliable source by signing up with AMPGS, since it could take decades to come up with alternative energy sources.

The AMPGS plant debate began in mid-September, when Swansen recommended that Council sign on to the plant before Nov. 1, the date at which AMP-Ohio preferred that commitments be made, although the actual deadline is March 1, 2008. In the special meeting in late September, AMP-Ohio representatives presented their arguments for the AMPGS plant.

That previous Council voted 3–1 to commit to the coal plant in an emergency measure at its last meeting before the November election, a vote that was found to be invalid since four votes were needed to pass an emergency measure. Responding to villagers’ concerns that they had heard only one side of the issue, Council then put off making a decision until villagers felt they had heard all sides, including that of the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, which came to the village last week for a special meeting.

In a presentation before the vote Monday night, Swansen again recommended that Council commit to the plant. Using figures provided by AMP-Ohio, he stated that the contract for the AMPGS plant would save the Village about $58 million in 50 years, comparing cost differences between the AMPGS plant and market prices.

Several villagers questioned those figures, stating that the AMP-Ohio figures did not take into consideration many of the cost variables which they believe will be in play in coming decades.

In other Council business:
• Council heard a yearly report on Planning Commission by John Struewing, the commission president. Struewing urged Council to address the question of growth/no-growth as soon as possible.

• Council unanimously agreed to renew its memberships with Greene County Emergency Management and the Dayton Hazardous Materials Response Team.

• Council authorized Swansen to begin advertising for bids for the two cabooses which are parked on the bike path near the the Corry Street parking lot, in an effort to remove them from that spot. The cabooses, formerly the site of Caboose Bike and Skate, were donated to the Village years ago and are now unused and falling into disrepair.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com