Spark It Up!!!: LTE-Dominion Plant Best Way To Meet Energy Needs

A great letter by Archie Maggard.

I made the trip to Richmond for the last hearing on the Dominion power plant. I was surprised by all the people from the Chesapeake, Fairfax and Northern Virginia area who were there to oppose the plant. I did not know that there were so many people from those areas who knew Southwest Virginia existed.

A lot of those people were there not to just oppose the plant, but to oppose any kind of mining. We do not have the kind of land they do, so we cannot have any major development. They think we should be able to survive with tourism and call centers, which have been created on the very property that has been mined and turned into land we can use for development. It seems we always will be stereotyped as the extremely poor people of the Appalachian region, with our run-down two room shacks and our children running around in the yard with the chickens and the hound dogs -- all caused by the "greedy" coal companies that supposedly rape and pillage our land.

We are currently in an energy crisis; fossil fuels are the lifeblood of our society and many others around the world. Our supply is limited and will eventually run out. That is why it is so important that we continue research to find other means of getting the energy we need to continue society as we know it.

Alternative forms of energy are under development, even though most are only in their initial stages. With increased government and public support, we may be able to speed up these developments and free ourselves from the use of fossil fuels, but to do this we need compromise to meet the rising demand of our electrical needs.

Right now, those needs can best be met with our own coal resources, and the Virginia City power plant, which are the most affordable means of producing electricity. We all need to conserve but even with conservation this will not meet our increasing demand for power. Renewables are not a viable option at this time. Clean coal is our only answer and Dominion is striving to meet the goals set forth for the production of our energy needs.

Even though I support the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Plant and the economic impact it will have on our area, I also have children and grandchildren who have to live in this country. I would like to think that they will have a future and that we can leave them a legacy that we do care for the earth and what happens to it.

I feel that we have to trust the Department of Environmental Quality to do what is right and enforce the laws and regulations set forth by our government agencies in the face of our rising energy needs.

Archie Maggard
Pound, Va.