August 7, 2008

Thunderstorms are something I’ve always found enjoyable. Serpentining through the Ozarks on a two lane highway in the middle of a thunderstorm is about as good as it gets. But there is another kind of storm brewing in this state, one which has thunderheads made of soot instead of rain. This storm will wreck untold havoc unless we stop it at its source: the coal plants.

Two days ago we had a very successful screening of Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Now we are on our way to Little Rock to show the film again, and excite the capitol’s populous into joining the fight to preserve our climate.

Yesterday in Fayetteville we had the first public meeting regarding the two coal plants proposed in the region. Many of the people who attended the screening the day before were there, along with the mayor of Fayetteville, Dan Coody. Amongst others who joined us was Dr. Bells who drove up from Ft. Smith. He expressed great concern over the health effects of these coal plants, and demonstrated that this is an issue that effects all Arkansans.

The meeting last night showed a great willingness by the people of Fayetteville to organize and unite not only against these coal plants, but to encourage and promote a new energy future no longer based on the archaic burning of fossil fuels. Many alternatives exist to give us cheaper and cleaner methods of energy generation. The threat to global climate change from these proposed plants is bad enough, but the threat to public health and local economies posed by coal plants makes the unnecessary risk of these plants much worse.

The people of Fayetteville are ready and willing to stand up and demand a better solution to our energy needs. Hopefully the residents of Little Rock will join the fight with as much vigor and enthusiasm as the citizens of Fayetteville.

Last update: 08-08-2008 15:10