We can still look up and see this!In the coming years, it will become harder and harder to find areas in this country that will be able to attract visitors and residents looking for "natural" surroundings. By that I mean clean air, water, forests and mountains, and very few strip malls.
We are fortunate enough to still have this in Mason County. It is like having gold in the bank and must be protected. It must be protected from $hortsighted developers and politicians who would destroy it in the name of "economic development," or "jobs".
When you hear a corporation, or a developer, or a politician using "jobs" as justification for their plans...watch out! It usually means they don't really have any other justification for their plans that they are willing to admit publically. "Jobs" sounds much better than "we are going to rape the environment, pollute and makes tons of money," doesn't it? And what does economic development really mean?
We should redefine what development means to making use of resources in a way that leads to healthier and happier citizens. Toward that end, Mason County could become a refuge for folks wanting to escape the torments of big city life, or a location for authentically "green" businesses. We are perfectly positioned to become a haven for visitors and new residents seeking a respite from what is usually called "economic development" (see definition of "jobs" above).
There are obstacles to this vision of the future. They are the $hortsighted, harmful, promoters of "any growth is good growth," which is like a cancer in any community that is concerned about the quality of life.
Two current local projects come to mind as examples of the wrong kind of economic growth...the Adage and the new Simpson Incinerators. Both of these pollution generating cancers serve only one real purpose, to make money for a corporation. They are not intended to improve the quality of our lives.
We are at a cross roads here in Mason County at this moment. If these incinerators are built, I fear for the possibility of genuine development being created here. Genuine economic development promotes a community's sustainable, life affirming goals.
Whose goals are being promoted now?
Photo by Christine
So the reasonable standard for whether a business is "allowed" to come here, or "allowed" to stay here (Simpson's existing biomassacre plant) should be:
ReplyDeleteHow does this improve the quality of our lives?
How does it improve the quality of the lives of the citizens of Shelton or Mason County to have Adage, or Simpson, or Solomon here?
In order to persuade those who still think Adage, Solomon and the existing Simpson biomass incinerator are good ideas, that these are really bad ideas, that is the question we need to ask them: How does this improve the quality of our lives, or the quality of your life?
I heard a candidate, well, Jerry Lingle, the other night talk about how to bring jobs and revenue to this community and he talked about tourism. Is he frigging kidding? With two proposed biomass plants to add to the existing one, we are going to attract tourists?
And his no-Adage position has now become a maybe-Adage position.
How does he, or anyone else, propose to promote tourism in a community whose claim to fame is being last in health in the State, and whose air is not safe to breathe?
Insanity; I feel my head beginning to blow again!
Edward Abbey -"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell"
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I plan to vote for Brenda, I had a nice conversation with Jerry about Adage and how he wanted them to go away. I felt like if he were elected, we would still be represented in our fight against the biomass industry. Well, I was very disappointed to learn that Jerry is "waffling" now. I am concerned because he seems to be quite popular with Shelton voters. I have been trying to get the word out, starting today, that if you were going to vote for him, and you are against ADAGE, you might want to change your mind.
ReplyDeleteWe moved here -- to Shelton -- regardless of the higher so called crime rates -- because of the BEAUTY AROUND US EVERYWHERE! You have the Douglas and Cedar Trees near at hand; you have the Puget Sound so close wherever you travel; you have the Olympic Mountain views and Mt. Rainer here and there as you go along the highways (or at your homes, if you are so lucky.) You Are Blessed.
ReplyDeleteWe moved from Beautiful Colorado: A Sister State. But, you have the water: the Puget Sound close at hand always. We had to travel to larger bodies of water called: Lakes.
You Have CLEAN AIR. Until you live in a place like Denver, Colorado, we do not truly believe that you folks can really appreciate what "Clean Air Means" in its entirety. Our cars were covered on a weekly basis in a black-smudge or they call it "black tar" from the trucks, etc. exhaust. We could not clean our car by just going through the local car wash. When we stopped for gas and cleaned our windshields, they were black, our hands got black, and our windshields were never cleaned until we washed them with detergent and water by Hand! Our home furniture was covered with a black film!! And, we lived 10 miles from downtown Denver!!! So, yes, my husband and I will fight for the right to continue to enjoy the clean air that Mason County offers us: we so Value the opportunity. But, we Know for a Fact What Awaits Us if we lose this fight. Trucks coming down Shelton Springs Road, passed the High School and Junior High pose a threat to our children in the "black tar or sludge" they will be breathing constantly ever more. We care. We know the difference first hand.
God Help Us All!
Thank you for drawing such a clear picture for us of what dirty air really means. We have levels of poisons right now that are dangerous, but much of what is most harmful to us we cannot even see.
ReplyDeleteThat will not be the case if we get an Adage and a second biomass burner in the harbor: We will have black sludge, like you describe, with dump trucks going by every 10 minutes, and so much of that dirty truck traffic is going to go right by our schools and retirement communities. Those are the folks, children and the elderly, who are most vulnerable to the increased levels of particulate matter.
We have plenty of passionate and committed folks on the side of the air-breathers, but your ability to really speak to what bad air is is very valuable.
To the comment above, yes, Jerry Lingle has become surprisingly "unavailable" (right now), and straight answers like "maybe" will have to comfort the citizens of the county until after the election.
But have no fear, when Jerry Lingle is elected, he is going to be available to you and me 24/7/365, he said so Tuesday night!
Then again, he also said "maybe," which was pretty disappointing following his previous passionate positions against Adage, because he had spoken to so many folks who were against it and because he is going to listen to us.
Jerry Lingle is listening to different "folks" these days, the folks with money; the folks who can write $800 checks to his campaign. And everybody's favorite Port Commissioner (well favorite after Jay Hupp, of course), Tom Wallitmer.
If anyone wants to see our environmental future under the Simpson and Adage incinerators, travel to Quesnel B.C. Canada. This once beautiful town nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains could easily be Shelton's sister city. Biomass and lumber mills have turned the air thick and property values have declined 40%. Truck traffic through town is unbearable, and, still, the chamber of commerce claims that it is a good thing because more people have jobs. Unbelievable. Business interests have become the people's enemy.
ReplyDeleteStill working out how we can breathe jobs; maybe the Hupp or Senator/Commissioner ShelTon can help me with that little piece of the biomassacre puzzle!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWow, that must have been hard to do.
ReplyDeleteI am, of course, looking at my keyboard right now and it is quite a stretch for me to type a "f" instead of a "p"; literally, that is quite a stretch. Hard to make such a typo...
Is that one of those little things that, like Jay Hupp likes to say, is supposed to "fly under the radar."
Good for you noticing that little "mistake."