Commissioner: We Need To Balance the Interests of People With "Corporate Citizens" By Given Corporations Everything They Want

The Commissioner who is in charge of deciding whether Ameren should be allowed to build a toxic coal ash landfill in the middle of the Missouri River floodplain is hinting that he's going to decide against the wishes of area residents:

“If we’re not going to approve this, then I think we have to give them some direction, or at least something other than we don’t want it.” Presiding Commissioner John Griesheimer tells KMOX it’s his opinion there has to be some partnership and balance between residents and corporate citizens. “That plant has been there for 40 years and it’s been producing fly ash. There’s two big fly ash ponds there now. A lot of these, most of the people who are complaining moved into the area after the power plant was there.”

In other words, the way to find a balance between residents and "corporate citizens" is to give "corporate citizens" whatever they want. Or, to put it more charitably, if those pesky residents oppose having toxic sludge in their backyard, it's up to them to come up with a perfect proposal that explains where the toxic sludge should go instead. After all, it was their decision and not Ameren's to produce the toxic sludge in the first place. Oh wait, no it wasn't.

Join The Missouri Sierra Club's Clean Energy Jobs Tour

Thursday, June 30, 9:30 am to 12 noon
Meet at the Three Brothers Restaurant in Labadie, MO

Participate in the Missouri Sierra Club's first Clean Energy Jobs tour on Thursday, June 30 in Franklin County, just west of St. Louis County.

Please RSVP here.

The bus tour will depart at 9:30am from the Three Brothers Restaurant in Labadie located at 117 Front St, Labadie, MO 63055 (get a map)
We will begin by viewing the site of Ameren's proposed new coal ash pit at the Labadie coal fired power plant. Leaders from the Labadie Environmental Organization will be our tour guides.

We will then tour the recently expanded CG Power Systems plant outside of Washington, MO, which manufactures transformers for wind and solar generators.

We will return to Labadie at noon. The tour is free.

RSVP today for the Missouri Sierra Club's Clean Energy Jobs Tour!

This is a great opportunity to see the birth of a clean energy economy here in Missouri.

If you have any questions, please call 314-644-1011 or else email Michael.Berg@sierraclub.org.