I applaud the bravery of Aly Johnson-Kurts and others who interruptedGov. Shumlin in Paris Wednesday.
I am one of many who have tried to getthe point across to Shumlin and state regulators that this pipeline project is a bad idea. For three years, my husband and I have participated in the 248 approval process before the Public Service Board.
The system is not setup for a just and nonpolitical evaluation of the project. The Department of Public Service does the bidding of the governor and the governor openly supported this insanely expensive project even BEFORE the process of evaluation had begun. Same with the DPS.
During the last three years,opposition to the project from the public has grown and the price advantage (the ONLY advantage) of burning fracked gas as opposed to burning low-sulfur heating oil has disappeared. The negative environmental impact of burning fossil fuels will not improve and we need not spend hundreds of millions of dollars installing infrastructure that will extend our reliance on fracked fuel.
Remember, Shumlin was a staunch opponent of the Champlain GasPipeline when it was proposed to go through his home town of Putney in the late ’80s. His support of this project is hypocritical and blatantly corrupt. Shumlin needs to throw in the towel on this project. Its time.
I have saidit before: If the voices of the people are ignored, they will only get louder. Hopefully, the gubernatorial candidates are paying attention to this issue.
Jane Palmer
Monkton