RG&E Sued for Excessive Pollution

Last year RG&E emitted 1,800 tons of nitrogen oxides and 15,000 tons of sulfur dioxides into the air that you and I must breathe on a daily basis. Can anyone say "asthma"? My lungs hurt just thinking about it. Plus, air pollution is the cause of acid rain, and acid rain pollutes our rivers, lakes, and groundwater, which creates an entirely new set of problems. It is a list that could go on and on. Luckily, somebody has decided to do something about it.

The Democrat and Chronicle reported this morning that RG&E is being sued by the state for its harmful emmissions. They've quoted Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as saying, "The state informed RG&E over six years ago that its plant was violating the law, but the company refused to cut its air pollution. A lawsuit will ask the court to compel the company to take appropriate steps to curtail its harmful emissions." Spitzer has come under some criticism for announcing this lawsuit just before the impending elections. His critics are calling this a publicity stunt. Well, obvioulsy this is a publicity stunt! The thing is, its a good one. Eliot Spitzer is doing our community a tremendous service by holding RG&E accountable. Each household that consumes energy provided by RG&E pays upwards of thousands of dollars a year. To find out that a company that takes in a huge portion of the dollars we work so hard for is spending them frivolously should cause outrage amongst everybody who uses their services. Instead, people are pointing their fingers at Spitzer's motives and ignoring the real issue.

It would cost RG&E less money to make cleaner energy. That's really all there is to it. There are so many things that the electric company could do to create cheaper power for the community. RG&E should be advocating LED light bulbs. They should be working with the companies that use the most power to lower their demand by integrating more efficient technologies. And above all, they should be finding a way to create more efficient power. Its not like they would have to come up with totally innovative solutions, because the solutions already exist! The best way to create power in our climate is wind turbines. We should have a turbine anywhere that a turbine will fit. Perhaps the port of Rochester, or the Southern Tier, or on top of industrial buildings. Smokestacks sit on top of many urban buildings that no longer even use them. Add a little bit of height, and a wind turbine on top, and you have yourself a clean source of energy that takes a heavy load off of RG&E. The average commercial wind turbine would be capable of powering 1000 or more homes. Plus, it would say a lot about the kind of progressive place that Rochester is if we had some wind turbines sprinkled across our skyline. It would give us national branding as a clean city that would draw new businesses and residents.

It is my deepest hope that RG&E will take the publicity caused by this scandal, and turn it into an opportunity to brand themselves as a company that cares about its customers and their environment.