Make it HEEL Utah | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Christopher Thomas, executive director of HEAL Utah, a nonprofit environmental group, attacked Gov. Gary Herbert for his "woeful job monitoring EnergySolutions' nuclear waste dump" ("Herbert friendly to EnergySolutions," Opinion, Oct. 6).

Thomas should spell his nonprofit company "HEEL Utah," because that's what he, his nonprofit and others like it want taxpayers to do — heel to extreme environmentalist goals.

A while back Thomas' non-taxpaying company attacked Rep. Jason Chaffetz for daring to challenge the need for windmill electric power, even though wealthy persons like the late Sen. Edward Kennedy fought tooth and nail to keep windmills away from their valuable real estate.

The push for wind-generated electricity is another way to close down our century-old coal industry that provides jobs in small outlying parts of Utah.

Now, HEEL is going after another Utah business — EnergySolutions.

By constant harassment of good, Utah and American companies, environmental extremists are destroying our ability to create jobs. By their extreme pronouncements and demands, they are causing the demise of long-standing, well-respected industries.

Americans and Utahns are tired of heeling to a small, well-funded group of activists who stop progress.

Grace Sperry

Salt Lake City