CONTROVERSY: SOS seconds Somerset's request for Attorney General to look into wind energy company's behavior. | Staff Reports | Lockport Union-Sun & Journal | www.lockportjournal.com
BARKER – Save Ontario Shores is calling on New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to investigate questionable tactics of Apex Clean Energy after an Apex consultant publicly claimed SOS is part of a larger national anti-wind effort.
During a presentation to the Buffalo Sierra Club on March 7, an Apex representative attempted to discredit SOS by spreading false information about its genesis and makeup, according to Pam Atwater, SOS president.
Atwater says she was present at meeting, with two other SOS members, Dale Nikitas and Christine Bronson, when Apex consultant Bo Shuff claimed the local grassroots group is part of a larger national anti-wind effort involving 23 groups, all with similar websites and Facebook pages.
According to Atwater, Shuff asserted that SOS is comprised of “migratory people” who move from place to place to battle wind projects, and that SOS is financially supported by people “whose name begins with k and ends in h (as in the Koch brothers) who have more money than Apex to fight this ‘unfair battle.'”
“The portion of Mr. Shuff’s presentation which focused on Save Ontario Shores was shocking and blatantly false,” Atwater said.
In a three-page letter to Schneiderman, dated April 14, Atwater says SOS seconds the Town of Somerset’s previous request that the Attorney General’s office undertake an “immediate and thorough investigation into the practices of Apex Clean Energy.” The “tactics” that the company is using “to sway public opinion” is becoming a growing concern of local residents, her letter said.
“New York state has removed home rule from residents regarding the placement of large electrical generating projects and they face a host of barriers to voicing concerns,” Atwater wrote. “Additionally, they have almost no actual authority to approve or disapprove of the project. These residents should not have to endure rumors and falsehoods that assault their integrity and dedication to the well-being of their towns and indeed, to the state of New York.”
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/04/23/apex-tactics-rapped-by-save-ontario-shores/