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Wednesday, 12 May 2010 |
Dear Editor:
“Ten-mile towns” are under siege from commercial-scale wind developers. To paraphrase Smokey the Bear, “Only you can save your town.” And there is only one way to do it: Get your town to intervene. Each town within a 10-mile radius of a proposed wind project, such as the one in Lowell, has the right to obtain party status..
A town does not have to hire lawyers in order to intervene. Rather, a town could appoint an individual (“you”) to carry the banner into the battle as a pro se representative. Because the Public Service Board (PSB) is a quasi-judicial board, it can define “for the greater good of the state” as it wants. You can spend a million dollars on lawyers, and the board can subjectively decide against you. The board has decided that it has always been correct, going back to the original wind-development decision, in Searsburg.
The town’s representative can be as active as she/he wants. Principally, you would go to public meetings, handle paperwork as necessary, and attend the technical hearings, which take place at the PSB meeting room in Montpelier. The board’s final decision will be based only on the technical hearings.
The PSB has already decided, along with the state and federal government, that wind energy is "good." If towns or businesses that could be affected are opposed to the project, they should file for party status. Otherwise, if you don’t take a stand, if you don’t go to Montpelier in person to make your stand known, then the board will assume that you are in favor of the wind development. It will not be in the best interest of your town to allow this.
Jon Day
Newark
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Last Updated ( Friday, 02 July 2010 )
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