I've expressed my own concerns that, as Hyperion, TransCanada, and DM&E have their way with our legislative and executive branches (and are lawyering up to get their way through the judiciary), our state motto is turning into "Anything for a Buck." Gladys Baldwin of Mitchell notes what such thinking may cause us to lose:
Letter to the Editor:
Maintain clean air, water in South Dakota
Gladys Baldwin, Mitchell
Published in the Mitchell Daily Republic
Thursday, April 03, 2008
To the Editor:
Big industry is taking over our beautiful tranquil state. How much longer will we enjoy fresh air, good water and fertile farm ground?
The Hyperion, aka Gorilla project, in Union County will use from eight to 12 million gallons of water daily. Where will all the water come from? Will it come from the Missouri River of the Lewis and Plark project?
Vermillion voters may take this issue to court despite the fact that a Union County panel approved the project. This project would take 3,300 acres of fertile farmland out of production. Sioux Falls is already talking about rationing water this summer.
Then there’s the Trans-Canada Keystone Pipeline. This 2,148- mile pipeline would transport 590,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Canada to Oklahoma. It’s been approved by the PUC and will run through 10 eastern South Dakota counties.
Landowners have discussed going to court to challenge approval of the pipeline by the PUC. This would be the first oil refinery to be built in the U.S. in 25 years.
Also we have the DM&E railroad project to deal with. It will haul coal from Wyoming through South Dakota to eastern markets. Through an eminent domain process, families will again lose their precious farmland.
It remains to be seen how long South Dakota will be famous for clean air, water and good soil.
Bless you, Gladys. It's nice to know it's not just the local Lake Herman radicals club that thinks such things. Now if only such thinking would come from our elected officials.
Cory:
ReplyDeleteAnd if South Dakota had absolutely no jobs or economic development, our state would be even more tranquil.
If you get elected to the school board, you might want at least a little economic activity to exist in Lake County so it can be taxed to help educate the kiddies. Tranquility is nice but it don't pay taxes.
I'm just sayin'.
Cory, I don't know if you've visited many of South Dakota's small towns recently, but there are many that desparately need economic revitalization. We have to accept that the family farm isn't going to a long term sustainable way for South Dakota to be booming economically and we need to see what else we can do in an economically competitive manner.
ReplyDeletePeople need jobs, these companies are offering to provide them. What's wrong with that?
Clearly we have to take some steps to increase the supply of oil in the United States in the next couple of decades while we ramp up alternative energy. The refinery project and the pipeline are doing that. Enough with the environmental fear mongering.