EPIC E-NEWS
May 28, 2008
May 28, 2008
EPIC Board, Members, friends of East Phillips, and folks who helped work for clean air for the people of South Minneapolis.
Two pieces of Good News:
First, Xcel Energy decided not to buy power from the Midtown Burner! This makes it the law and means that Kandiyohi will find it next to impossible to secure the financing to allow them to receive a loan for the project to go ahead. They would be very hard pressed to make the Burner Project work. (Check out the email address at the end of this message)
Second, Governor Pawlenty signed the bill to require a cumulative impact study of all pollution sources in the Burner site area to see if the totality passes muster in the Phillips and surrounding area before any permit can be signed allowing any power plant to be built. This means that Phillips is protected from this sort of thing and either awaits a future when clean energy can be provided and/or simply will not have any sort of similarly polluting industry here period.
Does this completely stop this project? I hesitate to say yes, because there are always possibilities that something will squeak through. We need to be watchful, more than we were this time, but it makes the future look quite pollution free from this source anyway. The Midtown Burner looks nearly laid to rest.
Thank you to those of you that lobbied faithfully with us, provided information, encouraged us when we felt we could not do this, wrote many letters and made many calls. This was a huge group effort. Thank you EPIC Board and members for your work. Thank you Womens Environmental Institute, Thank you Little Earth Staff and residents for your support. Thank you Sisters of Holy Rosary and St, Paul's Lutheran Church for your letters and prayers. Thank you Metro Urban Indian Directors, Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center, Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota, the Hispanic Baseball League, Midtown Phillips, Phillips West, Ventura Village, 16th Ave. Block Club, the Alley Newspaper, Seward Neighborhood Group, Minneapolis Residents for Clean Air, Standish-Erickson Neighborhood Assoc'., St. Paul Neighbors Against the Burner, Rep. Karen Clark, Senators Linda Berglin and Patricia Torres-Ray, Council Members Schiff, Lilligren and Gordon and the many others who supported our effort too numerous to name and many whose names we don't know.
This was a great united effort. However, two things: we need to remember that we are not done. Again, this could come back, though with great difficulty. But even if it does not, we need to remember that we have made a commitment to press on toward ridding Phillips of all pollution period!! and creating a neighborhood does not drag our population down with further difficulties, but sustains and lifts them up in every way, providing them with an environment of healthy air, healthy soil, healthy homes and places of business, healthy parks and water. We owe this to our children, and this is especially true since Phillips has a greater percentage of the next generation than almost anywhere else in Minneapolis. I hope we can continue with the same unity of purpose toward these future goals. Again, we owe it to the children, the elders and everyone in between.
Thanks again,
Carol Pass, Board Chair, for EPIC
Check this out:
http://www.finance-commerce
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