A board member whose term of office is four years should make absolutely certain that any deal s/he enters into that lasts longer than that is solidly supported by his/her constituents. In this case, the log burning plant was extremely unpopular with the residents of Eugene from the time it was announced. There is simply no excuse for EWEB to have locked us into this losing, air-polluting deal other than incompetence and some sort of bizarre desire to hang with the local timber baron.