Dominion's Project Threatens God's

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

The Virginia Air Pollution Control Board has given a green light to Dominion Virginia Power to pollute the environment from its new coal-fired power plant in Wise County.

Unfortunately, the green light doesn't include green practices or green industry. In Wise, where 9,000 residents live in poverty, the new $1.8-billion, 585-megawatt coal-fired power plant will bring neither prosperity nor healthy air -- and a scant 75 jobs. Despite all the rhetoric about "clean coal" technology, such technology doesn't exist. That means the new Wise plant will use the same old, dirty-coal technology that we already have.

While the state has given the approval to begin construction, we believe that respect for God's creation should include the most technologically advanced designs for the plant. We urge Dominion to vigorously investigate ways to reduce reliance on dirty coal and destructive mining practices.

We have seen, and applaud, Dominion's efforts to conserve energy and ask the company to put that spirit into a better, more ecologically sensitive design that will ensure profit for shareholders and justice for stakeholders.

The Rev. Pat Watkins, Executive Director,

Virginia Interfaith Power and Light. Richmond.

. . .

Editor, Times-Dispatch: In the coverage of the recent blockade of Dominion Resources headquarters by environmental activists, much was made of those who were late to work because of the associated traffic back-up. What the reports failed to mention, however, was the negative impact that this proposed power plant has already had on Virginians.

More than making people late for work, the 18-percent rate increase needed in part to pay for the power plant will put more than 1,400 people out of work, according to the findings of the State Corporation Commission. For those Virginia families that are able to stay employed, higher energy costs will make it more difficult to make ends meet. This does not even take into account the potential damage to the economy as Dominion's reliance on coal furthers mountaintop-removal coal mining.

This highly destructive practice diminishes the natural beauty of Wise County and other coal-mining areas, hampering the tourism industry that brings in more than $32 million in revenue and provides jobs for many residents. This process also damages streams that feed into the water supply that millions of Americans use for drinking and watering crops.

Yet the numbers of jobs that the power plant will provide are minimal in comparison. The recent decision by Dominion to increase the state's reliance on coal-generated energy shows that it is not committed to finding energy solutions that we can afford.

It is up to groups like Blue Ridge Earth First! and the community at large to make sure that the money we pay for our electric bills is invested in technology that is environmentally and economically sound. Henry Samuel Earl IV. Newport News.

Leaders, Not Formulas, Should Decide Tax Burden

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Del. Jimmie Massie wrote his constituents earlier this year that during the regular session of the 2008 General Assembly he had co-sponsored legislation (HB1318), that he stated would have mandated the return of all future state budget surpluses pro-rata to taxpayers.

HB1318 passed the House of Delegates in amended form but was carried over to the 2009 session in the Senate. Moreover, Massie added in his correspondence to his constituents that he had advocated holding any increase in state spending in the 2008-10 budget to an amount lower than that sufficient to cover the cost of inflation and population growth.

While establishing a barrier to state spending, such as advocated by Massie, may upon initial reflection be appealing to many Virginians, it manifests a mechanical approach to governing that may not be in the long-term interests of our citizenry.

Decreeing that increases in state spending be held to amounts sufficient to cover only population growth and inflation inhibits the ability of the commonwealth to respond to unexpected emergencies, prevents the establishment of needed new programs, and bars the enhancement of any existing public service, except where the requisite funds can be taken from existing programs.

Had such restrictions applied in the past, they would have constituted barriers to the establishment of many critically significant public programs. For instance, they would have impeded the founding of the community college system in 1966, the enactment of the Chesapeake Bay Program in 1983, and the creation of Virginia's Child Health Insurance Program in 1998, to name but a few.

Virginia is not so impoverished that it has to create added barriers to the consideration of new or expanded programs. According to data developed by the Federation of Tax Administrators, total tax collections by Virginia's state and local governments in 2006 (the latest data available) constituted an amount equivalent to 10.5 percent of the state's personal income, with only seven states having a lower tax burden. Let's elect leaders who are competent to lead and allow them to do so.

Michaux Wilkinson. Richmond.

Tax Would Reap Windfall for Uncle Sam

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

The idea that a windfall-profits tax on the big oil companies will help solve the problem of high-priced gasoline is ridiculous. Corporations do not pay taxes. Taxes (and fines) levied against a corporation are a part of the corporation's cost of doing business and are included in the retail price that is charged the customer and ultimately paid by you and me.

Any tax levied on an oil corporation is a hidden tax that will be paid by every person who buys a gallon of gasoline. Politicians who promote such a tax are taking advantage of the fact that few people understand that corporations do not pay taxes, although they are efficient tax collectors.

Clif Anderson. Charlottesville.