Letter: Senator overreacts to city stance

To the Editor:

I respect our distinguished senator, Steve Murphy. But he is human, with a few blind spots. One concerns nuclear power.

In 1994 citizens asked Senator Moe as well as Mr. Murphy, an Xcel employee, to recuse himself from the Prairie Island vote. This did not happen.

Regrettably, Senator Murphy’s letter to this editor (R-E, April 21) was itself highly inflammatory, accusatory, threatening, wrong in most aspects, and grossly inappropriate. The tone speaks for itself.

As to what was wrong:

1) Unanimous action by the City Council was hardly made in a “cloak of darkness,” nor does it present a “minority” opinion.

2) Public input to the process is required by law, not “beyond the bounds of useful discourse.” Castigating “responsible by nature” public servants as well as volunteers, is unacceptable conduct for a state senator.

3) The resolution contains no anti-nuclear bent. Apparently neither Murphy nor Xcel have read it since the subsequent draft Environment Impact Statement by Xcel completely ignored it.

4) The top employer of Goodhue County is Treasure Island Resort & Casino, not Xcel. The resort makes outright donations to the community.

Xcel ballyhooed its tax contributions in ‘94. then rapidly eliminated them after they got what they wanted, as Mr. Murphy acknowledged in his letter.

5) Finally, the actions proposed by the resolution, if taken, would actually ensure the plant continues to operate with greater safety and more jobs.

Arguing against such demonstrates Mr. Murphy and those at Xcel are short sighted, profit motivated, and egotistical. It is sad to see him alienate himself in an emotional meltdown played out on these pages.

I implore Xcel staff to go back to the drawing board and do some more work, for which they are making a tidy profit.

Michael Eastin

Lake City

Tags: letters, opinion, murphy