August 08, 2001
English Station, Asthma and You.

Along with the reputation of politicians who initially supported it but are now frantically backpedalling, one casualty of Quinnipiac Energy¹s attempt to restart the English Station power plant has been New Haven Register¹s already suspect credibility. 

English Station has been the cause of considerable confusion at the Reg. with articles published as fact in the news section directly contradicting the opinions expressed in the editorials. The most striking of these schizophrenic episodes occurred last week with the excellent reporter Christa Rock writing on the front page  that "experts" have found that "existing power plants already give New Haven the state's worst air quality and it's highest rate of asthma-related hospitalizations."  In an editorial from the previous week, the Register takes as gospel a single study which, it claims, finds  "no increase in asthma near sources of pollution such as power plants." 

Well which is it?  In an unpublished letter, I took issue with the Reg's interpretation of the Alderman study, which was, in fact, not intended to address the correlation between asthma and proximity to power plants. Furthermore, numerous recent studies strongly suggest the exact opposite: the argument that there is no correlation is quickly assuming the status of flat-earthism among epidemiologists similar to denying a link between lung cancer and smoking. 

Fortunately for those of us who like to breath occasionally, the Reg¹s rabid boosterism for English Station has  only been partially successful. Most importantly, it has not succeeded in overcoming the opposition of the  DeStefano administration, and Henry Fernandez in particular. The mayor deserves much credit for his principled stand on English Station, one which contrasts with the opportunism of Looney and his minions who only began to oppose the restarting after their crony Mark Minninberg was forced out of Quinnipiac Energy management. 

Of course, the Green Party is on record as opposing English Station long before it became a political football.  But that¹s another story, one well off the radar screen of the corporate media.

Who is John Halle ?

John Halle is an assistant professor in the Department of Music at Yale University, a pianist, a composer, and an author of articles on music and politics. He has lived with his wife, Marka, a professional violinist, at their home on Eld St. since 1997.

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