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October 12, 2010

Forum: Air quality must be considered

By Dr. Laura Shea ----

I would like to extend a large "thank you" to the hard-working volunteer Traverse City Light & Power Board members for listening to citizen concerns, for recently voting against moving forward on a biomass generating facility, and for incorporating energy conservation as a strategic goal to help meet the energy needs of our region.

I feel fortunate to live and work in a community where there is so much concern and citizen involvement with such issues.

Regardless of whether the voters decide in November to turn the governance of TCL&P back over to the City Commission, I implore our city leaders and the TCL&P board members to place a high priority on the potential health and environmental impact of any local energy generating facilities that are being considered.

Many local residents believe that the air quality in Traverse City is good. Unfortunately this is not the case.

The air quality in western Michigan is one of the unhealthiest in the nation. Historic ground-level ozone air sampling readings for Traverse City have been in the unhealthy range and over the legal limit set by Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. (Ozone levels are not currently being monitored, though Traverse City will obtain an air quality monitor through the state of Michigan if the EPA passes newer, expected regulations this fall mandating certain smaller micropolitan areas be monitored).

Though the largest source of the ozone-producing gas drifts here from industrial facilities in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana, this does not mean we can ignore these baseline air quality levels when considering development and energy production in our region and the cumulative effect on air pollution.

Given the societal issues at hand with depletion of our natural resources and the complex task of shifting toward clean, renewable energy resources, I believe our city would be well served if we went one step further and developed a multidisciplinary energy commission similar in model to the Ann Arbor Energy Commission.

This commission could develop community education programs, review city policies and ordinances and make recommendations involving recycling programs, energy efficiency and renewable energy implementation. It could also be involved with local fundraising for implementation of clean energy solutions.

We are on the cusp of significant change with respect to energy. I believe this is an opportunity for our community to harness the talents of its involved citizens and move toward more thoughtful, comprehensive programs to meet these changing times.

About the author: Dr. Laura Shea is a family physician who is in private practice in Traverse CIty.

About the forum: The forum is a periodic column of opinion written by Record-Eagle readers in their areas of interest or expertise. Submissions of 500 words or less may be made by e-mailing letters@record-eagle.com. Please include biographical information and a photo.

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