Jewish World Review; Salena Zito
Twenty years ago, perhaps even less, Democrats running for office or in office would have been standing in the way of the implosion that happened here last week and chained themselves to the towers or used all of their muscle to halt this industry's demise. Back then, Democrats were the party of the working class, and no one symbolized that more than the boilermakers who worked here.
"CHESWICK, Pennsylvania—Up until two years ago, it would only take 12 hours for coal mined deep in a labyrinth operation 60 miles from here to go from that underground mine, through a high-tech cleaning procedure, and be loaded on a barge or rail car and brought to the Cheswick Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant, to light communities along the Allegheny River for generations.
"That efficient process came to an end in September 2021 when owner GenOn Holdings announced the then-51-year-old facility, one that environmental groups had in their sights for years, decided to retire the plant. The company cited "unfavorable economic conditions, higher costs including those associated with environmental compliance, an inability to compete with other generation types, and evolving market rules that promote subsidized resources."
"In short, the company was driven out of business in part by the "climate justice" movement within the federal and state governments that made doing business unfair, expensive and impossible and, at the same time, made it very favorable for other energy resources they approve of — solar and wind — to get sweetheart subsidies.
"For the past two years, the facility and the two towers that defined this curve of the Allegheny River — one 750 feet tall, the other 552 feet tall, both standing like sentinels of the industry — remained standing. Then, they didn't stand anymore: On Friday, their end of life became a reality when a controlled demolition brought them down.
"Neighbors who have lived below them all of their lives, and the few who left town in search of greener pastures, all gathered, watching the towers' undistinguished death in a heap of dust and dirt.
"Some praised their demise and applauded the change. But those were few. Most people mourned the loss of jobs and how government callously picks winners and losers." . . .
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