Letter to the Editor

Editor:
To: Matthew Step Joseph Minott
Executive Vice President Executive Director
PENN FUTURE CLEAN AIR COUNCIL

RE: Renovo Energy Center

Dear Matthew and Joseph:
I have watched your diatribes and banter about why you have opposed the Renovo Energy Center. In your letter to the editor on Saturday, March 4, 2023, you indicate that you have talked to residents in Renovo, in an answer to a question about whether or not you have ever been to Renovo. The fact of the matter is that you have never been to Renovo. The fact of the matter is that everyone wants clean air. The fact of the matter is that making electricity from natural gas is a big step up and improvement from the coal-fired plants which were the standard in Pennsylvania not many years ago. The fact of the matter is that we need substantial additional electricity for the increased use of computers, to make computer chips, electric cars, and other uses that will create way less pollution than gas fired automobiles. With the exception of possibly a handful of people in Renovo, the entire population, the Renovo Borough government, the County government and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, all want this plant to be built. As a trial lawyer for over 50 years, I know that whenever I bring a lawsuit, I must have a client. You have no client. You are just fighting a cause, and represent no one in the area. Your challenge should have been thrown out for lack of standing. There are other things for Renovo beside the Energy plant; poverty, homelessness, crime and drug addiction.

Having grown up in Philadelphia, the West Oak Lane section, and having lived there for the first 25 years of my life, I know that the air in Philadelphia is 10 times worse than the air in Renovo will ever be, even if the plant would have been constructed. I suggest that you focus your attention for clean air in the area where you live. Although you hold yourselves out as good Samaritans, Renovo and Clinton County do not need your help. File your objections in Philadelphia and withdraw your complaints to the DEP about Renovo’s clean air.

The Borough of Renovo and the Clinton County area will greatly benefit from this plant. There will be 700 to 800 construction workers, which will bring substantial funds to the area, as well as 25 to 30 permanent workers. You seem to totally misunderstand the additional benefits that would have been brought to the area. This plant would help support and probably directly support the Bucktail Area Hospital, the Emergency Medical group, the fire department, the police department, water and sewer department, and all municipal services that employ substantial amounts of people. It would be a great help to the health, safety and welfare of the Borough of Renovo. In addition, the plant would have paid approximately $1,500,000.00 in real estate taxes, most of which would have gone to the school district to support our teachers and schools.

Local people and local investors started the Renovo Rail Industry Company (“Renovo Rail”) in 2004 with the hope of generating some type of industrial development and jobs in the area. The company was initially involved in renovating railroad cars at the old railroad yard, which was unsuccessful due to the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. The company then moved into transferring sand for the natural gas drilling industry, which was so successful that the drilling stopped due to a lack of capacity in the pipelines. Natural gas is what makes the United States an energy power in the world. If there is any question about this, just look at what has happened to Germany and Europe when the Russians cut off their natural gas.

Finally, Renovo Rail entered into an agreement with the Renovo Energy Company to construct a gas fired electric plant. It is the cleanest possible industry that can be developed in the area. There would be no major tractor trailers moving in and out bringing supplies and transporting products out. There would be underground pipes taking natural gas to the plant and wires carrying electricity out to other areas, for use in other plants, homes, cars and for the benefit of society. In order to accomplish this, it is impossible to not disturb the air to some degree. There will be smoke, but it will be filtered and will be way cleaner than the 20 or 30 smoke stacks that existed when the railroad had a major railroad car repair and construction at this location, in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

You seem to totally ignore the fact that there are about 100 acres that are completely environmentally polluted in the direct center of the town. This would also be cleaned up and sealed so that it cannot cause any further damage.

You can argue that solar farms are cleaner and better for the environment. However, the state of Wisconsin has already found that the best farms that grow food are being sold to solar farms because the farmers can make more money with solar than they can growing food. Thus, if this trend continues, it will reduce the power that the United States has in producing enough food for our own citizens and exporting it to the rest of the world. The solar panels are also radioactive and cannot be disposed of without causing other damage to the environment.
Wind energy also has its negative aspects, such as needing heaters and diesel fuel to keep them warm and keep them from freezing in the winter. This also creates pollution in the air, but nobody is complaining about it. They also kill birds.

By way of conclusion, the United States needs all sources of energy to continue its dominance. Our sources of cheap energy are a main reason for our dominance and independence.

Thus, I suggest that you act responsibly and focus your energy on the Philadelphia clean air, withdraw your objections to the Renovo plant, and take your good Samaritan activities where you will have a client that wants them.

Who is paying you and how much have you made for your unwanted efforts in this matter?

Lee H. Roberts
Local Concerned Citizens Group and Investor