On Saturday, March
12, after six hours of school and town meetings, I decided to risk my
life by asking our remaining town residents to consider one last issue.
They were receptive, thank goodness.
They were receptive, thank goodness.
I asked them if they would
support, in spirit, our neighboring Cheshire County communities
(Winchester, Richmond, Troy, Fitzwilliam and Rindge) that are being
threatened by Kinder Morgan’s proposal to build a pipeline to transport
fracked gas from Pennsylvania, through New York, to Massachusetts, up to
New Hampshire then back down to Massachusetts. Each of those towns is
fighting passionately to stop this pipeline. Our town conservation
commission has already put in writing its support.
A spirited debate ensued and I
reminded those in attendance that this was not a referendum on our
continued reliance on fossil fuels and the process of using chemicals
and massive amounts of precious water to extract the gas (fracking), but
solely a show of support for our neighbors. A few more comments were
made, including one reminding us of the use of eminent domain to take
land for the pipeline, and then the debate ended.
I asked our town moderator to
allow a vote and happily, proudly, and almost unanimously, the town of
Chesterfield voted to show its support of its neighbors’ fight against
the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
Thank you, town of Chesterfield.
Jeffrey Scott
Spofford (a village of Chesterfield)
9 comments:
Thank you Mr. Scott and the Town of Chesterfield. We appreciate the support!
Yes, Thank you Mr. Scott and Town of Chesterfield. Heartwarming.
Today's Washington Post:
"A recent forecast by from the U.S. Energy Information Administration contains a stunning punchline: This year, natural gas is expected to supplant coal as the No. 1 source of electricity in the United States. Gas will supply 33.4 percent of power, and coal will contribute 32 percent, the EIA projected in the March installment of its Short-Term Energy Outlook.
“This would be the first time that natural gas has generated more power than coal on an annual basis,” the agency says. Natural gas beat out coal during several months last year, but beating it out for the year is another matter and far more momentous."
Natural gas is the future.
The pipeline will be built.
Get over it.
The gas this pipeline will transport will not be used to replace any coal fired power generators here in NH or anywhere along it's route. The gas is ear marked for export to foreign markets. There is no demand for it here in Massachusetts or New York, that argument is a myth. If this pipeline gets the okay to be built, there will be numerous individual lawsuits to stop it from ever happening, that you can bet your last dollar on.
::::Reaching into my emergency cash fund to help fund lawsuits to prevent the pipeline:::: (Yes, I have already contributed more than once to efforts to prevent the pipeline, for those who are wondering.)
As "Stop the Pipeline" has noted, Kinder Morgan's effort in our backyard is NOT to help us. It's to line their pockets with foreign cash. We won't see the gas, nor will we see the cash.
And to Voice of the Future...natural gas is still a very limited resource, getting more costly (dollarwise as well as from an environmental standpoint) to produce. Alternative energy sources - not natural gas - are the wave of the future.
Talking with people who support the pipeline you'll find that they are the gullible, uneducated, know it alls like those who support Donald Trump. They believe whatever they are told and nothing anyone says with reason can make them understand just how wrong their thoughts and actions are. Never argue with an idiot, they will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. They just don't get reason and worse, they don't care about the real truth. The only thing important to them is to get their voices heard and oppose without facts.
Thank You "village idiots everywhere" You said it in a nutshell and no truer words were ever spoken about those you are opposing the pipeline and listening to big money spread their BS and false information. I guess the likes of Kinder Morgan think their dirty money will buy anything.
Thank You Chesterfield for caring about Winchester. It sure is shameful that there are some in Winchester that do not care about their town and what the pipeline may mean for so many of their neighbor's properties and our water supply.
Maybe the residents of Vernon, VT should have attended the Chesterfield town meeting. They've voted to welcome KM with a gas-powered power plant to make up for the loss of Vermont Yankee. The article in the Sentinel this week made it sound like a done deal. Let's hope that Vernon winds up with a solar-powered facility instead.
Even Keene (gasp!) is looking into whether to support the anti-pipeline stance. Guess that their two recent Liberty Utility mishaps may have opened their eyes. If these "small" incidents caused such problems, imagine what damage and chaos a larger pipeline "accident" would cause.
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