Power plan for Ulster would dirty air for profit

Dear Editor, Coming soon to my and your neighborhood: more methane, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and other air pollutants.

GlidePath, a company from Illinois, proposes to build the Lincoln Park Grid Support Center, a peaker power plant that would produce, annually, the same amount of emissions as the entire town of Ulster. The power produced isn’t needed for local consumption, but for the grid downstate and certainly will not lower our utility bills.

GlidePath chose the town of Ulster because, unlike the area it would serve, we have relatively clean air. They will collect profits while polluting our air, all from their offices in the Midwest.

A gas-fired peaker plant, with diesel backup, the project would also have lithium ion battery storage. There would be no restrictions on how often the fossil fuels would be used. Drifting pollutants won’t stop at the borders of the town of Ulster; they would probably affect the air of everyone reading this letter.

National Geographic cited Ulster County for its environmental achievements, with county government now getting 100 percent of its energy from renewable resources. County Executive Michael Hein believes our local environmental reputation will “positively impact Ulster County’s $533 million tourism industry.” Ulster County has become a leader in the statewide plan to have 50 percent of all electricity come from renewable sources by 2030.

The retrogressive GlidePath proposal is now in front of the Ulster Town Board, acting as lead agency of the environmental review. They must tell GlidePath that our clean air is not for sale! Lowell Thing

Town of Ulster, N.Y.