we won

As everyone knows by now, the two coal-fired power plants planned for the Central Great Basin in White Pine County, Nevada have been delayed indefinitely.

We won.

ALLRIGHT!!!

Actually, everyone won. We'll all breath better now.

It has been a tough battle. Our odds looked pretty bad at the start. We didn't win any popularity contests. We always felt outnumbered. And we always felt we were fighting City Hall.

For a while; I felt like I was the only one in White Pine County who believed we could stop these companies from bringing us their problems.

I remember our first coal meeting. The people of our neighborhood got together to discuss there being a major pollution source being constructed less than 5 miles from our homes. Nobody there was happy about this. Nonetheless, after the representative from the power company explained to us what their plans were, we had a discussion. I was astounded by what I heard.

No one seemed angry. Everyone was upset, but not to the point that anyone looked upset. Everyone kept their composure – in the face of being poisoned. But worse, they all kept their expectations low. Most of the people in the meeting would have been happy if the power company just built the massive coal burner a little further away.

...These people were the resistance?

I can only speculate as to why their aspirations were so low. Maybe they felt so overwhelmed by the circumstances that they felt powerless to stop it. Maybe they felt that they might be ridiculed for dreaming that we could stop this. Maybe they just didn't know yet how dangerous living near a coal-fired power plant really is.

I got up after everyone else had spoke, and I said what none of them would. I said we should try to stop this thing. I said we should at least try.

...Now I realize that neither I, nor Bristlecone Alliance stopped the construction of these coal-fired power plants. But we did our part. And I believe we made a difference.

I am both grateful and proud. We did it. We encouraged the transition to safer, 21^st Century technology.