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OPINIONS
C. Richard Cobb: Riding the wave of technology better than drowning in own waste
A recent news article in The Herald-Dispatch stated that the city of Charleston and a group of investors plan to install a three-megawatt power plant at their landfill and build a system to collect methane. The power will feed through nearby power lines into the interstate grid. Those interested in "green" power, like that produced by windmills, will purchase it.
"The idea is to supply electricity to the University of Charleston and turn them into a green university," Charleston Mayor Danny Jones said. According to preliminary estimates, the plant would produce more than enough electricity to power the whole campus.
The city of Huntington must move to reclaim our present landfill and follow Charleston's lead in developing a future "green" community. Imagination is the first ingredient of a long-term strategy for recycling our areas solid waste. All we lack is the will to begin a conversation about what our area's needs are for the next 100 years in controlling and properly disposing of solid waste.
Many technologies, such as "trash-to-gas," will come on-line in the decades ahead. We can ride the wave of science and technology, or we can drown under the tons of waste that will inevitably come, due to our consumption-driven economy and its inherent byproduct -- solid waste.
My dream is that our current landfill, rather than being closed, is reconstructed and redesigned with the emphasis on recycling and producing electricity from its byproduct -- garbage. The Raleigh County Solid Waste Authority in Beckley presently has a landfill doing these very things. The Cabell County Solid Waste Authority should visit that excellent operation and then demonstrate the will to imagine the possibilities -- and act. Let us not think of the cost to the exclusion of imagining the possibilities.
Robert Browning wrote, "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" We can do this. Let us start the conversation.
C. Richard Cobb is a Huntington resident, a neighborhood advocate, founder of the Adopt Your Block program and a former citizen member of The Herald- Dispatch editorial board. He writes the "Neighborhood Issues in Huntington and Cabell County" blog at www.herald-dispatch.com. Just click on the News tab to find the blogs.
