Defense of OSU gas plant doesn’t hold up to scrutiny
Letter writer Mandolyn Newell’s defense of the fracked gas plant proposed for Ohio State University is as wrong-headed as the proposal itself. Several points:
· Newell claims the plant will reduce emissions compared to the current grid. However, the Columbus grid is changing, as Community Choice Aggregation for 100% renewable energy takes effect by 2022 and will jump start a clean energy industry in Central Ohio.
· The claim of reduced emissions accounts only for gas burned onsite, not emissions from methane flared during fracking or leaked in transport. As a greenhouse gas, methane is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. New research finds methane emissions from fracking wipe out the advantage of gas over coal.
· Most of the claimed reduction in emissions is attributed to “green hydrogen,” which the university says will replace gas in 10 years. Yet the university admits this technology is 40 times more expensive than gas, and no one knows if it will be viable in a decade.
· The university has not seriously considered renewable energy. The price of solar has fallen 99.5% and the price of wind 95% since the 1970s. More than 50 cities nationwide are powered by 100% renewable energy. If they can do it, so can Ohio State.
· If built, the gas plant would emit 40 tons of fine particulate matter annually in Columbus. Exposure to air pollution increases the risks of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, as well as coronavirus. This would significantly affect the health of students, faculty, staff, medical patients and the surrounding community.
As the city of Columbus moves to 100% renewable energy, it makes no sense for Ohio State to build a fracked gas plant. With the fracking industry in economic free-fall, one wonders: Was this plant proposed to guarantee a large customer to the fossil fuel industry for decades?
Cathy Cowan Becker, chairwoman, Ready for 100 Columbus, Grove City
Sending in secret troops is the last straw; voters must oust Trump
I agree completely with the Friday Dispatch editorial “Portland troop deployment doesn’t faze Portman.” Unmarked federal agents are unconstitutional bullies carrying out the whims of our deranged president. It is horrifying for our countrymen to be abducting and holding protesters exercising their First Amendment rights. And let’s not forget why they are protesting. Congress is not addressing the issues of equality and freedom for all minorities.
Nov. 3 is a critical date for all of us. We must #VOTEHIMOUT.
Fritz Monroe, Dublin
Once again, Portman proves incapable of standing up for basic decency
Congratulations to The Dispatch for Friday’s editorial calling out Sen. Rob Portman’s obsequiousness in the face of his party’s abdication of decency and any attempt to govern seriously.
Portman has spent the past three-plus years pretending to be some sort of tortured soul when presented with the manifest incompetence and grotesqueness of the current administration. When Portman was asked to comment on the president’s use of force to clear peaceful protesters so that he could stage a photo op in front of a church, Portman’s response was “I’m late for lunch.”
Rob Portman is not only late to lunch, he is late to his conscience and to courage. He is inherently incapable of meeting this moment in our nation’s history. I applaud The Dispatch for drawing attention to this fact.
Kristie Barbour, Columbus