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Vermonters for a Clean Environment Announcement |
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I am pleased to announce the formation of the organization, Vermonters for a Clean Environment. While the motivation for creating VCE is our opposition to the proposed natural gas power plant and pipeline project in Southwestern Vermont, we have a positive agenda to promote clean energy with minimal environmental impact for the long-term benefit of Vermonters. We believe that the image of Vermont is at stake. We have come to a critical juncture in determining Vermont's future, and we choose to be a force for influencing policies that will impact Vermont for generations to come. The success of this huge natural gas project will lead to the homogenization of Vermont into the rest of the world. We recognize that in Vermont we have a quality of life and freedoms that exist nowhere else in the nation. Our shared concerns about development, sprawl, pollution, pesticide use, water resources, wildlife, land use, property rights, privacy, air quality and energy policy unite us in dialogue and action. Vermonters for a Clean Environment will wage a campaign of truth and information, not lies and secrecy; of inclusion, not exclusion. To that end, we invite the involvement of everyone in the State who is interested in working together to address the complex challenges presented by the changes in energy technology and the pressures of population growth. We welcome the support of environmental people and loggers, alternative energy retailers and fuel suppliers, real estate developers and land trusts, farmers and lawyers, flatlanders and native Vermonters, rich and poor, and all concerned citizens so that we can work together for the greater good. We are not opposed to natural gas. We recognize the potential benefit to Vermont of the availability of natural gas, and encourage other natural gas companies with outstanding environmental records and honest business practices to work with us to develop a natural gas project as part of a cohesive energy policy that will genuinely benefit Vermont and Vermonters. But this billion dollar project will cause enormous damage and it is wrong. From its inception, the sponsors of this power plant and pipeline project have misled the public about the content of emissions from these enormous power plants. They have not offered a single photograph to the people of Vermont showing what these plants would look like or their scale in comparison to their surroundings. They have not told us how much water the plants would use or where they intend to get that water. They will not even talk about transmission lines. We do not know who is sponsoring the power plants, except for one individual with a poor track record in a previous power plant and waste disposal undertaking that failed because of toxic waste and emissions issues which were never disclosed. The secretive and divisive tactics of the pipeline companies have already undermined any good will they might otherwise have earned by being open and honest. The environmental impact of this very large pipeline is of concern to everyone in the region, not just property owners. We have asked many questions but their few answers are totally unsupported and conflict with information we have found elsewhere. We demand the facts. In order to preserve the rich environmental heritage of Vermont that attracts tourists and keeps our land green and our air clean, we will need environmental, economic, legal and political expertise; research, investigation and dissemination of facts; financial support; and the donation of that most precious commodity, time. Once we stop this ill-conceived project, we will turn our attention towards our goal of developing a clean energy policy for Vermont that preserves our environment and respects the people who visit and live here. Annette Smith |
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Copyright © 1999 by Vermonters for a Clean Environment |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 26,1999