Griggs hydro-power idea hits resistance

First osu now this....looks like columbus wants to sell grigg soul to the highest bidder. Maybe they're looking for a way to pay for the 'city center park' downtown?

God forbid that we try to do anything near the area of THE Upper Arlington.

Folks, this is a classic example of how the Greens don't want to do anything, anywhere that might remotely make sense -- or worse, make money while making sense.

We now have a president who campaigned on a "green jobs" and "green energy" platform and who, if this had been announced last year, probably would have held a photo op at the proposed site.

But regardless of politics, this is *exactly* the kind of small-scale, renewable project that can contribute to the grid and our overall energy needs. Is it the only solution? No, but it's part of the solution.

So why does this outfit oppose it? I'll tell you why: Because, at its core, the green energy movement is full of disingenuous liars who don't care about green power, they care about political power.

Ok, so now hydro is bad too. I guess it's time to build nuclear plants like they do in europe. That's why the europeans have such a low "carbon footprint". If we're going to let them tell us to reduce CO2 emissions, we should follow their example for that too.

Do what to arlington park, er, I mean griggs?

Do residents from columbus really drive down to this place?

Seems like a funny place for a columbus park, where, no COLUMBUS residents live within its view!

It is short sighted NIMBYS like Silbajoris that help perpetuate our reliance on foreign oil.Perhaps he has holdings in OPEC? The road to energy independence starts with small steps like this.Without steps like this, we better get ready for $6-8 a gallon for gas.

Gee imagine that. No drilling costs, no kickbacks, no exporting of jobs, no money going overseas every day. Seems like it is a no losing proposition. However, must be snail darters. Why do you think California is going broke. No water. No corruptions. No kickbacks. Looks like a good plan next year Govenor Kasick.

Isn't Griggs a man-made reservoir? Why would environmentalists care about this issue (except to eliminate the dam itself)?

If you wanna save energy then put a $25,000 moron tax on suburbans and other big SUV's. You don't need a 6000 pound machine to take a 105 pound woman to the spa. Every time you accelerate from a stop sign, you have to burn energy to get the mass moving. Also, what about the dunderheads who buy a pickup because it looks cool and never haul anything in the back because they wouldn't want to get it dirty? I say a $30,000 moron tax on them too.

Classic example of NIMBY.
Classic example of why environmentalists aren't taken more seriously. They are way too short sighted to make an impact. The 3000 homes being powered by hydro far outweighs the prestine look of a man made pond.
And no politician can get behind this, otherwise they risk losing the money from outspoken UAs...

Anything we can do to promote the creation of clean non-nuclear energy is a positive step forward in helping work toward a pollutuion-free world. Hydroelectric power has been around for generations in successfully creating electric power. It, along with solar, windpower and thermoelectric generation put little stress on our environment compared to coal burning plants, oill and natural gas to generate power. According to various studies I've read about we have less than two hundred years left of oil, natural gas, and maybe a few decades left of coal. Meanwhile, manmade climate change is further eroding our ecosystem - believe me, the proverbial canary in the coal mine is already screaming its lungs out as the the enviromental decay we are already expereincing. Who are these idiots that feel clean energy generation can wait? Do we wait for the end of two hundred years before we get the message when its too late to do anything with cleaning up our world? Time is running out on life on Earth. Get with the program already!!! Clean Energy is in need of support - and that has to be sent to our representatives in Washington! Support Hydroelectric power generation, NOW!!!

The base of Griggs dam is nasty. Lots of litter and, quite frankly, creepy people lurking in the woods. If we can power 3,000 homes by tapping into the existing dam I'm all for it. And I'm a green weenie tree hugger.

Wow. Why not turn a current reservoir into some power??? The greenies probably would not like it because a for-profit is involved.

The environmentalists are righteous until it comes too close to their beloved organic gardens.

Its time to call Bulls--t on the global warming crowd.

ALittleEducationPlease wrote:

If you wanna save energy then put a $25,000 moron tax on suburbans and other big SUV's. You don't need a 6000 pound machine to take a 105 pound woman to the spa. Every time you accelerate from a stop sign, you have to burn energy to get the mass moving. Also, what about the dunderheads who buy a pickup because it looks cool and never haul anything in the back because they wouldn't want to get it dirty? I say a $30,000 moron tax on them too.

Who the F*** are you to be telling people what they can drive!!!

Chris Scott wrote:

<quoted text> Who the F*** are you to be telling people what they can drive!!!

You can drive it. Just pay the butth0le tax.

Jakey wrote:

Wow. Why not turn a current reservoir into some power??? The greenies probably would not like it because a for-profit is involved.
The environmentalists are righteous until it comes too close to their beloved organic gardens.
Its time to call Bulls--t on the global warming crowd.

First of all, Friends of the Scioto is not an environmental group. They have similar interests but it's not fair to lump them in with everybody else.

Secondly, most "greenies" are pretty libertarian about profitability. They encourage business to be environmentally friendly and frequent those who are, often spending more money to support smaller businesses.

The "Global-Warming crowd" isn't comprised solely of granola munching hippies who bike to work. There are some pretty high-powered business leaders who are part of that crowd. Oil Baron T Boone Pickens is leading a charge for green energy.

I'm pro-environment and I support hydroelectric power generation anywhere we have a dam that produces enough energy to support a station.

Hydroelectric is the greenest way to generate power. I can't believe dams are being torn down in the Pacific Northwest because of very small environmental concerns. It's dumb. Environmentalists won't be pleased until humans cease to exist.

Hoover Dam generates huge amounts of power for Las Vegas, LA and Phoenix. Smaller power dams would still be beneficial here.

No we wouldn't want a power plant in Upper Arlington. Those belong in South Columbus.

Look at O'Shaughnessy and it's power plant - it doesn't even work, as the city doesn't think it is worth the trouble of keeping it running.

That was built when we had the last socialist environmental weenie President - another federally funded boondoggle.

Strange how there are two separate threads of comments.

Hydro power is a good idea but it comes at a cost. If the parks are nothing more to you than nasty places where creepy people hide, then it wouldn't be much loss to you to sell them off piece by piece. The other side of the NIMBY coin says "If it's not in my back yard then I don't care, rip it up." But just because you don't care about a place doesn't mean that no one else cares about it.

Go to Griggs today and see how much water passes it. You'd be lucky to float three thousand rubber duckies with that amount of flow, let alone powering three thousand homes. This site has not even been studied for potential profitability yet, but people are blindly accepting this guess at potential output.

The point that everyone is missing here is this: Someone from out of town slipped in and got first dibs on developing this site. That's not illegal or wrong, but it does show that Columbus failed to secure those rights beforehand, for the City's own profit. So now we're left to negotiate with the kid who owns the ball if we ever allow this plant to be developed. The best the City leaders can say is that they have no plans.