Methanol: Let's use facts, not emotions

Re: “TPU to methanol proposer: ‘Get your act together’” (TNT, 3-17).

One could not ask for a clearer example of why T-Town will never be anything but a second-class city.

The methanol plant is a legal business requesting the opportunity to exist in our community. There are numerous regulatory requirements to be addressed and studies needed to gauge the plant’s impact.

Instead of allowing the process to go forth we have citizens, and now public officials, shouting from the rooftop, “Facts? We don’t need facts, we have emotions!”

Other businesses are watching this scenario play out. Tacoma Public Utilities board chairman Bryan Flint has put himself before the citizens he supposedly serves. He has publicly embarrassed TPU and possibly damaged future negotiations. He should apologize and resign his position immediately.

This plant may or may not be a good thing for Tacoma. I only wish we had clearer heads at the table to show we’re capable of tackling difficult decisions with facts rather than emotions.

This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 10:20 AM with the headline "Methanol: Let's use facts, not emotions."