Editor’s note: The writer asked us to print her response to a letter she received from Gov. Shumlin stating his support for the natural gas pipeline that will extend into Addison County.
Gov. Shumlin,
Your response to my letter is insulting. “With regards to the expansion of natural gas service to Addison County, the Public Service Board has extensively reviewed the environmental and economic aspects of the project and determined that it should go forward.” Malarkey!
The board’s decision was forced on them by your office and the Department of Public Service. The Memorandum of Understanding, that you so strongly supported and announced before the parties in the docket had been notified, is just another example of how business is currently conducted in our state. You have stated that the PSB is a quasi-judicial board and that they would determine the merits on their own but you pushed them to approve this project. How can a board appointed by you go against your wishes?
You have often said “We will have to agree to disagree on this.” Well, I do disagree with the backroom deals struck between you and a Canadian company, Gaz Métro. The Board wrote that the MOU had a big influence on their decision. They also said that there is a 25 percent price advantage of gas over fuel oil. Please click on this link and see what the actual savings are on page 3: http://publicservice.vermont.gov/sites/psd/files/January%202016%20Fuel%2…. The two fuels are almost on par.
We could go round and round on this but quite honestly your views on this pipeline are so skewed that it wouldn’t do either one of us any good. Your legacy will be the biggest build-out of a dirty fossil fuel in the history of Vermont, all the while claiming Vermont is a leader in green renewable energy.
I believe you knew after the last election that you had no place in future politics here in Vermont. The best thing you have done to date is to step aside.
Mary Martin
Cornwall