On September 13 you are scheduled to make a decision that will affect not only the future of our community, but also the future of our planet.  We urge you not to take part in the building of a coal-fired power plant and instead to pursue with vigor the viable alternatives to coal that are open to you.   Please consider:

• The Taylor Energy Center will produce air pollution from nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, mercury, fine-particulate matter, and other pollutants.  Despite assurances that this plant will meet minimum environmental standards, the fact remains that there is no such thing as a “clean” coal-fired power plant. 
• Coal-fired power plants are typically built in or near low-income communities.  The Taylor Energy Center fits this pattern.
• Although air pollution is detrimental to everyone, it disproportionately affects people of color.  African Americans are hospitalized for asthma at more than three times the rate of whites, and the death rate from asthma for African Americans is twice that of whites.
• There is no guarantee that participation in the Taylor Energy Center will have a favorable affect on utility rates.  If anything, debt service on the City’s share in this plant will cause rates to go up, not down. 
• Coal-fired power plants are the largest single source of carbon dioxide, the global warming pollution.  We should be doing all we can to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, not increase them.
• Our community has rejected a coal-fired power plant for Leon County.  To contribute to the Taylor County Energy Center is to sanction for our neighbors in Taylor County what we would not sanction for ourselves.

Although our faith traditions differ in important ways, they have in common the mandate to seek the welfare of our neighbors and the proper stewardship of God’s creation.  As people of faith, we have concluded that participation in the Taylor County Energy Center is neither wise nor right. 

We urge you to pursue the many alternatives to the Taylor County Energy Center that are being proposed by the City staff.  Now, just as our nation is waking up to the urgency of global climate change, is the time to change directions.

(Signed) 

Dr. Brant S. Copeland, First Presbyterian Church

Rabbi Jack Romberg, Temple Israel        

Imam Rashad R. Mujahid, Masjid Al-Nahl

Dr. Tom Borland, Faith Presbyterian Church

Rev. Clarke Campbell-Evans, Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church.

Rev. William Foutz, Sr., Mt. Pisby Primitive Baptist Church

Rev. Canon Laughton D. Thomas, St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church

Cantor Tanya Tamarkin, Temple Israel

Dr. Leo Sandon, First Presbyterian Church

Rev. Lee B. Johnson, Philadelphia Primitive Baptist Church

Rev. Barbara Awoniyi, New Life United Methodist Church

Rev. John Dillon, Christ Presbyterian Church

Rev. Paul Anway, Gentle Shepherd Metropolitan Community Church

Rev. Eddie Soto, Faith Presbyterian Church

Rev. Peter Cottrell, Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church

Rev. William F. Lee, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Retired

Rev. Larry W. Hendon, Covenant Presbyterian Church

Rev. Sally Campbell-Evans, Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church

Dr. Bruce Chapman, Presbyterian University Center

Rev. Tom Crittenden, Holy Comforter Episcopal Church

Dr. John W. Lown, Lafayette Presbyterian Church

Rev. Emory Hingst, First Presbyterian Church

Dr. James Monroe, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)., Retired

Rev. Evelyn Plumb, Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee

Dr. Denise Hill, United Church in Tallahassee

Rev. Pamela Wellons, St. Stephen Lutheran Church

Dr. Sally Campbell-Evans, Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church

Rev. Margaret M. Doherty, United Church of Tallahassee