During the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Jewish life in Milwaukee 15 years ago, I urged the Jewish community to make a gift to the city.
It would have been to finance a study of the pros and cons of cooling buildings and selected manufacturing processes in Milwaukee with icy water drawn from the depths of Lake Michigan in lieu of using electricity produced by incinerating huge quantities of coal.
The response to my appeal, published in The Chronicle, was zero.
Today, the watchword is “green” — healthy living compatible with preserving the environment. My proposal, if implemented, would avoid much air pollution, costly sickness and the ever-rising cost of coal and its transportation.
Recently, Richard White, vice president of public relations for the Wisconsin Energy Corporation, told me that the two power generating plants under construction in Oak Creek at a cost of $2.3 billion will burn three million tons of coal every year for the next 60 years.
He did not tell me the cost of the coal or of its transportation. I estimate the cost of coal is $30 per ton, resulting in annual cost of $90 million. Add to that the costs of plant maintenance and of disposal of ash, and the total cost is mind-boggling.
The cost of clean, non-polluting water from Lake Michigan is and will remain zero.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has finally seen the light, as evidenced by a June 7 editorial promoting my idea.
We can do much better. Let’s do it, 15 years later, but not too late.
Gerard Friedenfeld
Milwaukee
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