Dear Editor:
We have been truly blessed in our country with our natural resources and our quality of life. We are blessed once more by the discovery of the natural gas in shale formations and the ability to recover it. We now have an abundance of energy and the chance to become energy independent from foreign sources.
Anyone listening to the daily news knows that we are living in a very dangerous world and the next war will be over energy.
A corporation called Clean Energy has begun to establish natural gas service stations along major interstate corridors.The goal is to have most of our 18-wheel trucks running on natural gas. Many are in operation in the southwest and FedEx is converting its trucks to run on natural gas. It is equivalent to about $2 per gallon of diesel fuel. In time, this will relieve pressure on gasoline use and should reduce those prices to about the same.
The Environmental Protection Agency has put tougher regulations on our coal-fired electric generation plants so that they will have to convert to cleaner-burning natural gas to keep operating. The proposed natural gas pipeline through our area is needed to meet the needs of these new demands for natural gas.
There are environmental groups such as the West Virginia Wilderness Lovers and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy that have launched a campaign opposing the pipeline, especially through the Monongahela National Forest.
I understand their concerns and share some of them. Most of the concerns refer to the construction phase of the pipeline. Water quality and siltation of our trout streams are a big concern, but as in the construction of Corridor H, they were managed in a responsible way. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and the US Fish and Wildlife will definitely be involved in the process and with regular inspections.
There are a great many existing pipelines through the Mon Forest and are not posing any problems. The right-of-ways are seeded and re-vegetated, providing grazing areas for wildlife. Pipelines on public land are safer than those on private property because the number one threat to a pipeline is someone accidentally hitting them with earth moving equipment.
Our National Forests are provided for the good of all.
Gilford Pinchot, the founder of our National forests, said, “the Forest Service should provide the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people.”
We all love our National Forests and great outdoors and want to preserve it for future generations, but if we are not careful we may be preserving it for future generations of foreign entities.
God Bless America,
Doug Cooper
Open letter to the Pocahontas County Commission:
Please say “no” to the Intrawest – Snowshoe RAD proposal.
This is not right.
No taxpayer funds should be used in any way to build and maintain any for-profit corporate or private entities.
Snowshoe – Intrawest built this and now want the taxpayers to maintain it while most of the profits are funneled out of the nation.
Please stand up to corporate pressure and say “NO to RAD !”
Thank You,
Sam Gibson
Pocahontas County landowner, taxpayer,
business owner, and Snowshoe Property owner
Dear Editor:
Thanks for the wonderful Minnehaha story in last week’s paper. The photo in the paper is a photo of the Minnehaha Spring. The pool is around the hill, and was built at the same time. The spring provided a continuous flow to the pool. There is a good picture in the museum, of the pool, which was a indoor pool.
The building that covered the pool was dragged across the road in 1944, and turned into a basketball gym.
There was also a three story hotel on the hill overlooking the pool and spring that burned down in 1944.
Jud Worth
Marlinton
Editor’s note: Watch uncoming editions of The Pocahontas Times for photos and history of this resort.
Dear Editor:
I love to read your paper, and I was just thinking about the article on the front page dated 14 August 2014 about the proposed pipeline.
It seems a lot of people can rally around not having it running through their backyard, which might help the country and local area, but people seem not to be able to rally when there is a good cause.
For example, I cannot find a place where the good people of this county can dispose of hazardous waste, such as used motor oil, cleaning chemicals and old paint. So, I guess it just goes in the regular garbage and then to landfill.
They also do not rally around our teachers when they ask for a raise or ask for more teachers to teach our children, which I thought would be the number one thing to do. Take care of children and teach them right.
Another good cause is the firefighters and emergency workers. Most volunteer their time.
To me, since “9-11” we all seem to be running scared and got our priorities messed up – including me some of the time.
People need to think outside the box. Use some good old common sense, and lets get back to our basic values. Maybe someone could write to the paper and tell me what they are as of this day and time.
Respectfully,
Carl Kelk
Buckeye