Sen. Chris Bray’s brilliantly argued letter in the June 26 edition of this paper goes to the heart of the Phase II pipeline issue. This Quebec project, as he writes, is about the private use of the proposed pipeline by the International Paper Co. and therefore deserves neither a Certificate of Public Good nor the right to eminent domain.
By coincidence, Barron’s reports that IP currently has a free annual cash flow of $1.5 billion, expected to grow to $2 billion in the next year. It’s hard to sympathize with its plight, if, as I hope, Phase II falls through.
Bray’s letter stands in stark contrast to the awkward silence of many of our other local politicians, who had clearly hoped to sit this one out and play it safe. Gov. Shumlin too has ducked this, as he has so many other issues of concern — as Eric Davis’s excellent column in the same edition records.
Of course, as they all argue, it’s for the PSB to decide. It has the jurisdiction. But having the courage to weigh in publicly, as Bray has done, and be clearly on record on a matter so important to this county and our state should be our elected officials’ key concern.
George Jaeger
New Haven