SPRINGFIELD, MO - The News-Leader recently came up with a new reason to love coal: bad weather (“Storms reveal need for new plant,” News-Leader, March 23, 2006). Nearly four weeks ago, Southwest Missouri was struck by powerful storms typically associated with tornado season-in late April to early May. But this year, the tornados and bad weather struck earlier, causing loss of life and property. One piece of property that was harmed was the James River Power Station (one of two coal-fired power plants in Springfield). The transmission lines were damaged and reduced the plant to 60% of its operating abilities. What was the News-Leader’s response? We should build another coal plant, in the middle of a tornado prone area.

The News-Leader’s reasoning is simpleminded: our power went out, so we should just build another plant. They did not take into consideration that tornadoes strike in similar locations over time; nor did they consider that, maybe, more transmission lines needed to be built. Instead, they decided that a nearly $700 million coal plant ought to be put in the path of some future storm.

Just imagine had City Utilities, City Council and the News-Leader gotten their wish two years ago and had started construction on Southwest 2 (a third coal-fired power plant). Perhaps, Southwest 2 would have been damaged by the storm, and we would have had to spend millions more repairing it before it was even on-line.

Yet, building another coal plant will not prevent our electricity from going out during a storm. Just like how stock brokers encourage investors to diversify their portfolios, City Utilities should diversify not only where they build their power stations, but also how energy is created. It will take just one storm to knock out Southwest 2. With wind power, the risk of destroying our primary source of electricity is spread out across the county. Wind turbines are rated for hurricane-force winds. The blades of wind turbines also can be tapered down to slow their speed, and can be stopped in the event of a tornado.

Even if wind power isn’t the best solution for Springfield’s growing needs, at least a piece of $700 million equipment would not be put in the known paths of destructive storms. Southwest 2 should not be built.

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