Dear Neighbors - We have about one week until next Tuesday, September 10th, when the Pubic Service Board (PSB) Hearing will take place at the Middlebury Middle School gymnasium, beginning at 7p.m. Vermonters and others will offer their two minute testimonies for or against phase 1(i.e., to build or not to build) the proposed Addison Natural Gas (pipeline) Project. The PSB will be using this feedback as part of a process to either deny or grant a certificate of public good. This will either stop the project permanently or temporarily or will give the green light to start new pipeline infrastructure into Addison County.
On this warm, humid Labor Day afternoon, I started to write my potential testimony. I plan to practice reading it, make sure it stays within two minutes, and then make copies for the PSB members, (3 of them) and the secretary. When I finished writing today, the idea came to me to share it with you. Maybe it will inspire you to stand with me or to write your own testimony. If you are inspired, please come to the hearing location by 6p.m. so you can be ready to put your name on the sign up list to present your perspective.
Here is an excerpt taken from a memo recently sent out by the PSB indicating what they are looking for from the public on 9/10:
"Comments made at the public hearing do not become part of the evidentiary record. Vermont law requires that the Board's decision be based upon the evidence presented by formal parties at the technical hearings (which, in this case, commence on September 16,2013). However, public comments play an important role by raising new issues or offering perspectives that the Board should consider and ask parties to address with evidence."
So for those of us who have been following the various perspectives on this issue, let's put on our thinking caps and ask, 'What important points of view have not yet been expressed?', 'What important issues still need to be raised?' Let's ask ourselves, 'What have we learned that would help us all to understand the potential possibilities before us, if the pipeline gets built or doesn't get built? When I asked myself these questions, I came up with the following point of view that I will continue to tinker with for my two minute testimony piece. Feel free to share it with others, if you like. Here it is:
" Has the Public Service Board, (PSB) thought about the future development possibilities of having an industrial corridor created by the Addison Natural Gas Project that would go down the middle of one of the most beautiful valleys of our state? Did you know that the affected land owners initially were being asked to sign a contract for right of way that allowed for modification of future infrastructure for any fossil fuel product to use that right of way? A good example to compare with is northern New Jersey's fossil fuel industrial corridor which also started with simple infrastructure projects, that, once established, developed into the massively polluted area it is today.
We are truly at a crossroads as a state. Do we want to embrace with full awareness a new future for Vermont that moves away from our rural beauty and character, with tourism currently as our number one industry, to a future of polluted water and air from accidents that will inevitably happen resulting in contaminated soils as well? Do we really want that kind of development which is rapidly being replicated throughout the world in areas where people have less power and less say? Make no mistake about it, if the Addison Natural Gas pipeline becomes a reality, then we are headed towards a very different future for Vermont.
Which vision is more in alignment with Vermont's public good? A polluted industrial corridor between Canada and the rest of the U.S., or an agricultural/tourist industry state that is a current role model for our country and even the world? Vermonters, please let your opinions be known to the PSB. Let's ask ourselves, what kind of future do we want for Vermont? Let's talk about this in our schools, our work places, our churches, our social networks. We need to have this conversation right away because of two very different choices before us at this very moment. PSB members, as one of many concerned Vermonters who greatly values our rural character and beauty, who is deeply invested in Vermont's burgeoning reputation as a state that produces quality products, including cutting edge production in organic agriculture, I urge you to deny a certificate of public good for the Addison Natural Gas Project. Give Vermonters an opportunity to explore and create a vision together and then choose with thoughtful deliberation what kind of future we want. Isn't that in the best interest of our collective public good? Finally, do we need to be in such a rush with this important decision?" Vermonters, please, let's step up together and be heard. Thank you.
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