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Nathan Palmer
Member since May 14, 2014
Recent Comments
Re: “Former Soldier Set to Marshal Gov. Scott's Energy Policy”
"It's not about me and my views," Ms Tierney said. "It's about public policy." So. Nothing new here. Ms Tierney should have called it "POLITICAL POLICY" not "public policy. Because the public has made it clear how they feel about the fracked gas pipeline and wind and it admittedly doesn't factor into the decision making process. I applaud the efforts to remove herself from the process...but this overlay of policy over everything else...including ANR's scientific analysis...has got to stop. Members of the Department of Public Service have instructed the public that the way to change the policy is to elect those that share your views. This is a blatant admission that science does not matter. Just doing what they're told. We have some impressive people in the administration. Let's let them do what they do well. Make decisions based on SCIENCE and FACTS and public opinion, not the whims of the politicians who are obviously swayed by corporate pressure.
Posted by
Nathan Palmer
on 03/11/2017 at 10:06 AM
Re: “Vermont Gas Pipeline Foes Vow to Keep Fighting”
VGS negotiated a deal with Hinesburg officials...back in 2014. It was a blatant violation of open meeting laws. VGS has an army of lawyers. Doesn't it seem a little strange that VGS' attorneys would have missed the obvious detail that the Hinesburg SELECT BOARD never voted on that agreement? And also the wetlands delineation which was supposed to have been field verified,(their environmental engineer said so) now turns out to be bogus as well. So here we are at the eleventh hour and VGS is in a big crunch because this is the last piece of the puzzle. Perhaps this was their strategy all along. Try to get a deal with Hinesburg, even if its a bogus deal, and if anyone notices...it will be so late in the game that the PSB will push the deal through because it is the 'last piece of the puzzle". "Better to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission" seems to be their modus operandi.
VGS has bullied its way through parts of Chittenden and Addison Counties, forcing people out of their safe places...their homes...causing stress and anxiety until the property owners gave up and either signed easements or sold their homes to VGS.(or died) Maybe its because this project is all wrong for Vermont and Vermonters.
Posted by
Nathan Palmer
on 08/10/2016 at 1:22 PM
Re: “At Senate Hearing, Recchia Denies Stifling Self-Criticism in Report”
Well, this is a little like asking the weasel if he really did bite the head off that chicken. Of course he's going to deny it! The real question is, why would you let that weasel into the hen house in the first place? Recchia is slick. He's a fast talker. He seems so mild mannered and like he's such a nice guy. He lies really really well..especially for his boss. Maybe it is Shumlin who should be answering these questions.
Posted by
Nathan Palmer
on 03/26/2016 at 8:45 PM
Re: “Hinesburg Residents Scramble to Keep Gas Pipeline Out of Park”
Beth Parent says, "We are hopeful that the interventions will not delay construction or service to these potential new customers or to the thousands of Vermonters on the pipeline route who are depending on us to deliver our services."
So, Vermont Gas, which has botched three cost estimates, is now is a rush and doesn't want to delay service to all those potential new customers. What new customers you ask? Who would bother to switch to burning fracked gas when the cost is more than burning oil and the cost to install and operate a cold climate heat pump is also less than the cost of conversion to burning fracked gas? What new industrial customers in Middlebury that aren't already burning compressed natural gas via the "gas Island" on Exchange Street? Who in Addison County does not have access to fuel? Who is DEPENDING on this pipeline?
This project was NEVER designed to serve Vermont or Vermonters. It is an attempt to install a pipeline that can access the national gas grid so Gaz Metro can make more money and VGS is cleverly getting the Vermont ratepayers to pay for it.
Posted by
Nathan Palmer
on 03/09/2016 at 2:17 PM
Re: “Persistent Gas Pipeline Protesters Are Pushing the Limits”
Beth Parent, spokesperson for VGS says about Rising Tide, "They certainly have not stopped us and will not stop us." So this is VGS admitting that it has created all of its own problems? All of these delays have not been caused by protests...they have been caused by VGS' own bungling of the project? And when this project finally gets flushed down the toilet, VGS will have itself to blame?
Posted by
Nathan Palmer
on 11/21/2015 at 11:31 AM
Re: “Persistent Gas Pipeline Protesters Are Pushing the Limits”
to: Know your assumptions..
You call people who are speaking out,"out-of-control, desperate-for-attention, spoiled brats"
Are they spoiled brats because they want a future? Are they out of control when there is absolutely NO violence associated with their protests? Are they desperate for attention? This is the only point you make that might be accurate but they are not self aggrandizing...they are calling attention to a situation that needs attention. I ask you what recourse does anyone have when our government system is corrupt and is letting things happen that shouldn't be? YOU are the spoiled one if you want everything to go your way without having to speak up (and I don't consider writing snarky remarks from the safety of your anonymity speaking up)
Posted by
Nathan Palmer
on 11/20/2015 at 8:51 AM
Re: “Paul Ralston and Marie Audet to Run For Addison County Senate”
On the surface, Ralston sounds great. But many of us who have been dealing with fossil fuel build out know otherwise. Ralston SUPPORTED the Fracked Gas pipeline and we all know now why that was. So he could pay a surcharge to Vermont Gas/Energir, and say his company, Vermont Coffee Roasters, is burning "renewable" fracked gas. The amount of methane inserted into the pipeline from a landfill in Quebec is minuscule compared to the fracked gas being pumped through the pipe and I seriously doubt any of it makes it to Ralston's plant in Middlebury. But the ads for the company state that his plant burns entirely renewable fuel. Its an advertising ploy and I am sure it impresses those who don't know the whole story. I find it despicable and I am sure Ralston will make political decisions based on similar moral code.