August 24, 2011
Letters, Vermont

Where is the public good in a certificate of public good?

The Chronicle, 24 August 2011

An open letter to the Vermont Public Service
Board

Who is the public? Who is not? Where is the public good?

The Public Service Board (PSB) issues certificates of public good (CPGs) right and left for various types of projects. Have you ever saved an area for the GOOD of ALL the people in a surrounding area or is everything done for the good of the applying corporation? At the first of the technical hearings one of the corporate lawyers made a comment to the effect – get these people out of here so we don’t have to look at their faces. It was clear to those that heard it who they were referring to.

You should take notice of what it does to the people of the area. You are destroying and breaking up families and friends – tearing apart communities and towns, taking away all property rights of many only to say we have to ensure a very few the right to destroy the landscape and character of the state. To enable this even more you are allowing big companies to threaten to take rights-of-way by eminent domain or offer pitifully small payments for any property the company wants to take over or use. Don’t you realize these people surrounding each of these areas had lives, hopes, dreams, families and most of all they worked hard to build their homes, restore older homes and design their surroundings – many to embrace and take advantage of the views which often have the mountains as a backdrop to what they love and cherish? You are not only doing this to the people of the Lowell Mountains but each and every project in the state. You are taking away the rights of many for the economic gain of a few. Most of the people that own these huge tracts of property on ridgelines originally got them as a way to make money logging and as the logs were depleted they were left with the land which no one wanted to buy because there was no value left for many years in the future. This is the new way to make big money from their land. I can understand that concept but this particular type of development is destroying the rights and character of the state as well as the lives, homes and wellbeing of people that live here.

The members of the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) and the Department of Public Service (DPS) have become tentacles of the Governor and no longer work to protect the state and its assets in an effort to SAVE THEIR JOBS.

You are allowing the ANR and DPS to MITIGATE away very important parcels of land to be hidden behind the “switch and bait” technique. If you destroy the source of a stream of water it eventually affects the end. For example, the springs at the tops of these mountains feed the ponds, lakes, beaver dams etc. that we all enjoy. The wildlife connectivity corridor that goes along the Lowell Mountains as it goes through the state is being compromised. The animals that use these areas now were using them long before the Long Trail was a part of the state. The animals will be hard pressed to read the signs that tell them they can no longer use the centuries-old corridors but must go to a mitigated area – mitigated by someone that really doesn’t care as long as they get their paycheck!…

Respectfully,
Shirley Nelson


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/24/where-is-the-public-good-in-a-certificate-of-public-good/