LOGAN – Environmental activist Patrick Belmont made good on his promise to haunt members of the Logan Municipal Council over their recent decision to purchase an interest in a natural gas power plant in Idaho at their regular meeting on June 3.
During the “Questions and Comments” portion of the meeting agenda, the Utah State University water scientist announced to council members that the first wrongful death lawsuit against the fossil fuel industry had been filed last week.
That lawsuit, Belmont said, was filed on behalf of Juliana Leon, a 65-year-old resident of Washington state who died of hypothermia in 2021 during an event known as the Pacific Northwest Heat Dome.
That event caused record temperatures of 108 degrees in Seattle, the lawsuit charges, seeking damages against the fossil fuel industry because its leaders had failed to warn the public about the dangers of planet-heating emissions.
That heat wave caused more than 600 deaths in Canada and more than 200 deaths in Washington.
The lawsuit names ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66 and BP as defendants.
During a previous council meeting on April 1, Belmont reacted angrily when council members voted to purchase 15 maga-watts of electrical power fueled by natural gas from the Power County Project in Idaho.
He stormed out of that meeting shouting that the council members’ decision would kill people, then returned two weeks later to tender his resignation as the vice-chair of city’s Renewable Energy & Sustainability Advisory Board (RESAB).
Belmont cited the Leon lawsuit as justification for his dire predictions and said that he believes that similar lawsuits would follow.
“We need to talk about these issues,” he argued. “We need to do better.”
The refrain was echoed by another speaker, Gail Hansen of Logan, who blamed climate change for causing a recent avalanche in Switzerland that buried the Alpine village of Blatten.
Belmont also renewed his promise to return to as many meetings as possible to remind council members of the financial and health risks he insisted they are taking by continuing to solve Logan’s power concerns with fossil fuels.
But council member and mayoral candidate Mark Anderson points out that not all fossil fuels are as bad as Belmont attempts to paint them. In fact, he says, switching from coal-fired power plants to ones fueled by natural gas would result in significantly fewer emissions.
Logan officials are also now investigating the feasibility of developing a local 15 maga-watt solar farm within city limits.
The findings of that solar array feasibility study are scheduled to be reviewed by municipal council members not later than Tuesday, July 15.