ABSTRACT
The developers argue that the big surface mines, power plants, and the far-flung powerlines and interlocking grids that go with them are necessary to meet the country’s vital economic, political, and social needs for a reliable supply of energy. Even though ideological support for large may somewhat be muted or on the defensive, there probably still is a general view that the only way we are going to solve our energy problems is by doing things on a big enough scale, using state-of-the-art technology. The promoters of the project were able to obtain federal funding because of the provisions of the Federal emergency drought relief program. The protesting homeowners argued that they weren’t simply thinking of themselves, but about the impact on the whole area of the growth and development which would follow upon this large scale project. The hard-soft debate is perhaps most obviously and dramatically displayed in any sustained protest over.
