Second District Commissioner Ann Schroeder said in a recent working session on the new land use regulations that she does not like the idea of building a landfill of any kind in a floodplain, let alone one filled with toxic coal ash, but that her objection is simply “philosophical.”

No Ann, it’s not a philosophical disagreement we are having here. It’s a logical disagreement based on reality and facts. You don’t have to be an engineer to understand that putting a toxic waste dump in a floodplain is illogical no matter how many safeguards are added. It has nothing to do with philosophy.

If you want to talk philosophy then let’s talk about who our public officials are supposed to be representing in a functioning democracy. The only people who are going to benefit from these new land use regulations are the CEOs of Ameren and the local public officials who will likely receive campaign contributions for having approved them. There is nothing in this plan that serves the public, whose interests the commissioners are supposed to represent.

That’s the philosophical part of this. Putting a toxic waste dump in a floodplain is a bad idea, no matter what your philosophy might be.