woodfin

Well, between the re-design of Scrutiny Hooligans and the outages here at BlueNC, this may have slipped past everyone.

Evades question on alternatives,

health consequences, lack of public input;

Calls the Woodfin power plant "a good decision"

{Carol agreed to the interview as part of my "Women in Power" series for BlueNC's Women on Wednesdays. The videos were uploaded Saturday. On Sunday, she called to ask me to "pull" the ones referring to the Progress Energy Woodfin plant. I offered to correct any inaccuracies either in print or by video. She has not responded.}

In her courthouse office last Tuesday, Buncombe County Commission Vice Chair Carol Peterson insisted she and fellow commissioners did not meet secretly with Progress Energy before unanimously approving a $72 million diesel-fired power plant.

Click on the video below the fold to hear her comments.

At meetings and barbecues where the political class comes together to guess at what will keep them in office, the conventional wisdom appears to be (1) ignore the procedural violations leading to the unstudied County Commission decision; (2) tout other environmental projects without mentioning the pollution to be created by the favored diesel power plant; and (3) shut out any alternative energy proposals by barreling ahead with the diesel-fired plant.

To be fair, today's position is a far stretch better than where we were last week. Before that, the Commission's Chair behaved petulantly during public comment and public outcry was met with stony silence and defensiveness. Every single County Commissioner avoided the Mountain Voices Alliance public meeting to educate the community on the implications of the diesel power plant.

What?
You did not know it was Sunshine Week? Okay, I did not either. But I am old enough to remember when we fought for, and won, all the laws on the books about open government--laws which are now ignored routinely at all levels of government.
Let us focus on one, right here in Buncombe County, North Carolina, shall we?
It seems our County Commission, or rather, parts of it, decided when they were approached by Progress Energy, we, the people of Buncombe County did not need to know what they were discussing. And even more perverse, they decided to not include other members of the County Commission, either to avoid having to report the meetings, or because they felt those Commissioners would report the secret meetings.

The proposed Diesel Power Plant in Woodfin has created a groundswell of opposition from conservationists, health officials, entrepreneurs, and advocates of transparent democracy. The Canary Coalition, an air quality advocacy organization, is undertaking legal proceedings to get the Commissioners' secretive backroom dealings out in the open. They're either being stonewalled or they've learned that the Commissioners handed our future over to Progress Energy without any relevant data.

"For two years, beginning in 2004, the Buncombe County government negotiated in secret with representatives of Progress Energy..."

Conservation and open democracy proved to be universal values at Mountain Voices Alliance Clean Energy Task Force, held in Woodfin this past Saturday from 10-1 and again from 1-4. The two sessions drew about a hundred residents hungry for information and options regarding the despised proposal for a diesel-fired power plant in Woodfin. Asheville City Councilman Brownie Newman attended the morning session, and NC Representative Charles Thomas opened the afternoon session.

A half-dozen organizations, including MVA and Rising Tide, spread information regarding a proposed Democratic Party resolution against the diesel plant, the legislative path of the power plant's approval, and initiatives to fight the plant. The groups have come together under the banner of creating a healthy energy future for Buncombe County.

Tuesday, March 6th, the Buncombe County Commission will again convene. All Buncombe County residents are welcome to attend and comment:

"All Commission meetings are open to the public and public comment is taken before every meeting. The pre-meetings begin at 4 p.m. and if you wish to comment, you must sign in prior to 4:10 p.m. You will be called on by the Chairman and given 3 minutes to make comments. Comments are taken prior to the regular meeting that begins at 4:30 p.m."

I'm still trying to figure out if I can juggle my schedule to attend, but if I do attend, here's what I might say in my three minutes:

(866) 908-7236

{For ScruHoo's background on the story - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
{For Mtn. Xpress' background}
{For Mountain Alliance's background}

Ashevillein via the Mountain Xpress discovers a beautiful thing:
.
.
.

"According to the Mountain Express, "Buncombe County government is announcing a new “Whistleblower Hotline,” a place for citizens to report suspected incidents of “fraud, theft, illegal or unethical behavior” by county employees. The toll-free number is (866) 908-7236."
[...]
Incidents worthy of reporting include:
· theft of county property – money, materials, time
· waste or abuse of county property
· inappropriate or unethical behavior by a county employee or employees

Of course we all know that the Buncombe County commissioners who engaged in the back room deals leading to the proposed Diesel Power Plant in Woodfin are "county employees" who engaged in "unethical behavior". Follow me below the fold for action...

{For ScruHoo's background - 1, 2, 3, 4}
{For Mtn. Xpress' background}
{For Mountain Alliance's background}

It's almost pitiable, thinking of the proponents of the Woodfin Diesel Power Plant cowering in the face of so much opposition. Representative Susan Fisher and Representative Bruce Goforth are reportedly livid at the underhanded back room deals that allowed this harmful, unnecessary deal to go down. Republican Representative Charles Thomas called Scrutiny Hooligans to voice his dissatisfaction with the project and his impatience with the sneaky tactics of the County Commissioners who chose to sell our children's health down the road. Congressman Heath Shuler has repeatedly voiced his support for a "Research Triangle for Alternative Energies" in these mountains and is, therefore, a natural opponent of the backwards-thinking project.