If you have watched TARGET ZONE 'What are we breathing?" you know that I am not excited about the idea of putting a power plant in a city not far from my home.
I know that the emissions are not healthy for people or the environment. Natural gas and diesel fuel will be burned. Tankers will deliver hazardous material using two lane roads. Homes will lose value,(who would want to live next to this thing?) Sewer Water will cool the turbines and who is studying how this will affect our air. The more you find out the more you Question.
How much is the health of our community worth? Will we sell our children's health for a few dollars? Do the math. Isn't a power plant a profit machine. Why else would money be invested in a project that a majority of community leaders are against. Who will actually benefit from this plant. Are there other ways to produce or save this electricity?
In the next few months the city of Brockton's future will be up for sale.
So what are the alternative's. Where are the business that could turn this around and clean up the air, water and the earth? It's debateable. The power plant say's it will clean the air but the opponents point to the Final Environmental Impact Report where ton's of emmission are listed. It will burn a Huge amount of gas and oil. Can this clean our air? Who do you listen to? Who do you believe?
What about ourselves? Not taking anyones word for it but researching and forming our own decisions. When we understand the issue we have a clearer understanding of what will happen and what needs to be done.
Let's figure out financially what is in Brockton's and The Target Zone communities best interest.
What about Green business. Can the union start thinking Green! Can we start building Green, creating Green Collar jobs? There must be grants to make the old buildings more efficient. Insulating homes. Wiring alternative renewable energy systems. Tankless water heaters.
Their are many business opportunity in this new Green economy. Some area's in the country are working on ways for energy providers to profit on saving energy. We ourselves could profit because a watt saved is a watt earned, a negawatt. Efficiency is the new growth area, a business opportunity. LED lights... Electric cars... Cheaper and more efficient solar panels and wind turbines. This whole new sustainable movement is the great opportunity.
So how does this help us now?
We are the answer. If we all started conserving as much as we can, turning off lights, unplugging our electronics, making our homes, schools and building more efficient, starting up sustainable businesses, building renewable energy infrastructure, we could eliminate the need for this plant, and with the money we save conserving we could keep the country's budget on track.
Let's move together into a new era. Can you picture what it could look like?
Dan Brielmann
