Page 29 - Flathead Beacon // 9.30.15

UNCOMMON GROUND MIKE JOPEK HOPE AND PEACE
GUEST COLUMN DUANE ANKNEY
WHAT LOSING COLSTRIP REALLY RMEANS FOR MONTANA
EMEMBER WHEN OUR COUN- employed, but of course breaking and try had an “all of the above” fixing windows doesn’t create economic energy policy? Man, how times growth.
POPE FRANCIS VISITED THE United States offering an optimis- tic message of hope to millions of people around the world. His message instilled faith that we could do better to care for our common home and its people.
Too often we get mired in the familiar old dogma of bashing others who simply hold a differing opinion than ourselves.
Sen. Jon Tester escorted the Pope into a joint session of Congress. Tester said, “I hope his comments inspire Congress to work together to make America and the world a better place.”
Republicans who are in control of Con- gress were mulling whether to shut down government again because they do not favor funding health care programs like Planned Parenthood.
These health care clinics provide treatments for nearly millions of mostly younger people annually including hun- dreds of thousands of cancer screenings and millions of lifesaving tests. Fed- eral law already prohibits funding for abortions.
The GOP likely smartened up recall- ing the last shutdown over health care, which weirdly attempted to repeal tax breaks and subsidies for people to pur- chase health insurance.
Locally in Whitefish, some still bash the decision to build a new downtown city hall. As anyone like me who has toured the old decrepit building can attest, the time has come to rebuild a proper town hall.
The old city hall is some 100 years old, and served the community well. But the asbestos-laden building was now sim- ply a piece of junk. Oddly in a commu- nity laden with multimillion-dollar res- idences, a new and efficient city hall will seem small in comparison.
The city hall bashing is a faux contro- versy ginned up to politically make it look like incumbent city councilors Richard Hildner and Frank Sweeney are not up to the task of leadership. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It’s familiar political nonsense similar
to past years when similar voices advo- cated against rebuilding the streets and sidewalks of downtown Whitefish. After reconstruction downtown Whitefish became a greater place, increased its sense of community, and business is up.
Hildner and Sweeney let Whitefish vote to permanently conserve 3,000 acres of Haskill Basin. Whitefish voters agreed, supporting the ballot measure by an unheard of 84 percent margin. This Hildner and Sweeney solution signifi- cantly lowered property taxes and per- manently conserved the land producing drinking water for a growing city.
Hildner and Sweeney do a good job at holding the line on property taxes. In fact, Whitefish has been squirreling away urban renewal funds for many-many years in order to replace the dilapidated town hall. A new and energy efficient city hall will be built with no new taxes.
Katie Williams is a new and bright candidate offering fresh hope for White- fish. Williams is a current manager at the Great Northern Brewing Company and an articulate spokeswoman.
At 28 years old, Williams offers younger voters a reason to return bal- lots in two weeks for upcoming city elec- tions. Too often the issues facing young families are all but forgotten in a resort community.
Many local workers find the cost of rent in places like Whitefish way too high, and finding an affordable home to purchase is an opportunity for the lucky.
Younger voters are the next generation and it’s time for people like Williams to seek the reins of leadership. Williams offers a kind approach to politics.
The Pope was at the White House offering a message of love, hope and peace as I typed these words. We may not always politically agree with everything the Pope or candidates like Williams say or do, but it’s time to acknowledge that plenty of good happens when we act on the words of people like Tester who advo- cate working together to make the U.S. and world a better place to live.
change in a hurry. The outright war on coal being waged by the Obama admin- istration and the radical EPA has taken our country from a trend of energy inde- pendence to one where many experts worry we could experience periodic blackouts.
Montana is unfortunate to occupy an especially bad spot in the president’s plan to fundamentally redesign how Americans get energy. The president has chosen to implement a winners and los- ers strategy. Anything that involves coal is definitely a loser. With Montana’s eco- nomic dependence on coal, all Montan- ans are going to feel the pinch.
At this point it’s unclear whether our major generating facility, Colstrip, will continue to operate. Obama’s environ- mental cheer squad is certainly clamor- ing for Colstrip to be shut down.
For Colstrip to get tossed on the scrap heap would be an economic disaster. The economic activity created by Colstrip supports nearly 5,000 jobs and is one of the largest economic drivers in Mon- tana, contributing almost $700 million to our economic output annually.
Colstrip is the largest source of the electricity used by Montanans. For decades Colstrip has provided low-cost, reliable electricity that powers agri- culture, industry, commerce, and our homes. Losing Colstrip means most Montanans will pay a lot more for their energy. In addition, taking plants like Colstrip off the grid brings into ques- tion the reliability of 24/7 energy deliv- ery that we’re accustomed to.
I’ve seen too many environmental- ists claim that the president’s plan will create jobs in Montana. Supposedly, by destroying jobs related to coal, we can generate new jobs in wind and solar. In economics, this is known as the bro- ken window fallacy – it’s like saying an economy can create jobs by paying some people to break windows and other peo- ple to fix them. It looks like people are
The president’s plan doesn’t cre- ate new jobs. It just replaces existing jobs with hollow promises. The infra- structure we’ve created around min- ing, transporting, and burning coal for electricity supports thousands of work- ers. Wind and solar don’t require the same types of manpower; they rely on technology (which is why they’re more expensive).
As the adage goes “wind turbines don’t have parking lots.” A 300 MW wind farm would requires 16 to 18 full- time employees. A similarly sized coal generator employs more than ten times that many.
Losing Colstrip and reducing the amount of coal mined in Montana would create a huge hole in our tax base. The president’s plan will result in a combi- nation of state budget cuts and poten- tially huge increases in property taxes on Montana homeowners and small businesses. Colstrip alone accounts for about $115 million in annual tax collec- tions; the mining industry for hundreds of millions more.
You have to ask, why are we doing this? Why are we self-inflicting wounds to the sector of our economy that sup- plies energy to every other sector of our economy?
We had it right before. America needs to get serious about an all-of-the-above energy policy. And that’s not to say that we shouldn’t address climate change— we need to be the world leader in devel- oping the clean coal tech that will solve this problem.
The president’s energy plan is incred- ibly destructive and it needs to be stopped. It is important that we contact our congressman and both U.S. senators, tell them to make some noise. It is very important that our governor and attor- ney general file a lawsuit against the EPA. I hope you’ll join me in trying to save Colstrip and the Montana economy.
“TOO OFTEN WE GET MIRED IN THE FAMILIAR OLD DOGMA OF BASHING OTHERS WHO SIMPLY HOLD A DIFFERING OPINION THAN OURSELVES.”
Mike (Uncommon Ground) Jopek and Dave (Closing Range) Skinner often fall on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to political and outdoor issues. Their columns alternate each week in the Flathead Beacon.
“THE PRESIDENT’S PLAN DOESN’T CREATE NEW JOBS. IT JUST REPLACES EXISTING JOBS WITH HOLLOW PROMISES.”
Duane Ankney represents Senate District 20, which includes Colstrip. He is the vice chairman of the Senate Energy Committee.
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
29