CROSS-POSTED AT KECK FOR ASSEMBLY
I find it quite admirable that the State Senate Republicans have called for hearings to investigate the NYRI project. It was also very courteous of them to invite Assemblyman Clifford Crouch of Guilford to the hearings, since the State Assembly has so far not called for its own hearings.
This gives the affected counties and their citizens an opportunity to express their opinions and concerns against the proposed power lines. I lack confidence, though, in the senators' and the assemblyman's ability to fully fight this project considering that they have received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the same energy companies pushing for the transmission line project.
Senator James Wright, Chairman of the
Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee wanted to know a laundry list of information at the end of the meeting. It included answers to questions like: where are the headquarters and who is on the NYRI's board? Both are very good questions, and they should be answered. I would think, though, that he may aleady know the answers to some of these questions. According to
Radio Free Hamilton:
Wright ended the hearing by giving May, Malecki and Singer a homework assignment: find out and tell the committee who NYRI's investors are, who the officers are, where the company is headquartered and if NYRI intends to be a good corporate citizen of New York State.
Mr. Crouch has also been skeptical of the project. He has spoken out against the project and has sited the fact that many of his consitutents are against the project. According to the
Press and Sun & Bulletin:
Crouch, R-Guilford, said countless telephone calls and letters to his office clearly show constituents are overwhelmingly opposed to the idea, which many contend takes advantage of rural upstate for the benefit of New York City.
"The residents who will be forced to drive alongside the power line's towers and stare at them through their windows will see no benefit from the line's electricity," Crouch said Wednesday. "The power line is set to serve only those residents in New York City and the surrounding areas while merely using land in my district to transport their own energy."
So the upstate/downstate card has been played again. The RESIDENTS of NYC are behind the entire project and are trying once again to take advantage of Upstate New York. The upstate politicians will be using this as a campaign issue and will be going for the gold in order to stay in power. In the same article, several members of the panel made the same point.
According to Senator Libous:
"I'm against it. There's absolutely no value to our region," said Libous, who initially voiced his opposition several weeks ago. "This is something we don't need. This will only benefit New York City."
Senator Seward:
"The power line means one thing: continued exploitation of upstate New York to serve downstate interests," said Seward, whose district includes the towns of Sherburne and North Norwich. "My message to (the company) will continue to be 'Not here, not now, not ever.' "
I agree with Mr. Seward about the exploitation of Upstate New York, but I would disagree with his characterization and would argue that it is corporate interests that are exploiting Upstate New York.
I would also like for Mr. Seward to explain this from the his
campaign disclosure report:
ENERGY ACTION FUND 400.00 20-MAR-03 2003 FRIENDS OF SENATOR SEWARD
ENERGY ACTION FUND 300.00 01-MAR-01 2001 FRIENDS OF SENATOR SEWARD
ENERGY ACTION FUND 300.00 07-APR-00 2000 FRIENDS OF SENATOR SEWARD
ENERGY ACTION FUND 300.00 09-APR-99 1999 FRIENDS OF SENATOR SEWARD
ENERGY FOR NY PAC 400.00 13-FEB-03 2003 FRIENDS OF SENATOR SEWARD
ENERGY FOR NY PAC 400.00 01-MAR-02 2002 FRIENDS OF SENATOR SEWARD
From Senator Jim Wright's
campaign disclosure report:
ENERGY ACTION FUND 100.00 16-AUG-01 2002 FRIENDS OF JIM WRIGHT
ENERGY ACTION FUND 350.00 22-MAR-01 2001 FRIENDS OF JIM WRIGHT
ENERGY ACTION FUND 500.00 27-OCT-04 2004 FRIENDS OF JIM WRIGHT
ENERGY ACTION FUND 350.00 06-APR-04 2004 FRIENDS OF JIM WRIGHT
ENERGY ACTION FUND 500.00 07-OCT-99 2000 FRIENDS OF JIM WRIGHT
ENERGY ACTION FUND 400.00 06-APR-05 2005 FRIENDS OF JIM WRIGHT
ENERGY ACTION FUND 135.00 29-JUL-03 2004 FRIENDS OF JIM WRIGHT
ENERGY ACTION FUND 125.00 21-AUG-02 2002 FRIENDS OF JIM WRIGHT
ENERGY ACTION FUND 500.00 20-FEB-03 2003 FRIENDS OF JIM WRIGHT
ENERGY ACTION FUND 350.00 07-FEB-02 2002 FRIENDS OF JIM WRIGHT
ENERGY FOR NY PAC0 125.00 17-JUL-02 2002 FRIENDS OF JIM WRIGHT
From Assemblyman Clifford Crouch's
campaign disclosure report:
ENERGY ACTION FUND 80.00 13-SEP-99 2000 FRIENDS OF CLIFF CROUCH
ENERGY ACTION FUND 100.00 08-SEP-05 2006 FRIENDS OF CLIFF CROUCH
ENERGY ACTION FUND 250.00 20-MAR-01 2001 FRIENDS OF CLIFF CROUCH
ENERGY ACTION FUND 25.00 26-MAY-00 2000 FRIENDS OF CLIFF CROUCH
ENERGY ACTION FUND 175.00 09-MAR-00 2000 FRIENDS OF CLIFF CROUCH
ENERGY ACTION FUND 250.00 26-APR-02 2002 FRIENDS OF CLIFF CROUCH
ENERGY ACTION FUND 50.00 04-JUN-99 1999 FRIENDS OF CLIFF CROUCH
ENERGY ACTION FUND 175.00 08-FEB-99 1999 FRIENDS OF CLIFF CROUCH
ENERGY ACTION FUND 250.00 15-MAY-03 2003 FRIENDS OF CLIFF CROUCH
ENERGY ACTION FUND 140.00 27-OCT-99 2000 FRIENDS OF CLIFF CROUCH
ENERGY ACTION FUND 100.00 24-JAN-05 2005 FRIENDS OF CLIFF CROUCH
From Senator Libous'
campaign disclosure report:
ENERGY ACTION FUND 750.00 31-JUL-03 2004 FRIENDS OF SENATOR LIBOUS COMMITTEE (2004)
ENERGY ACTION FUND 500.00 26-MAR-03 2003 FRIENDS OF SENATOR LIBOUS COMMITTEE (2004)
ENERGY ACTION FUND 99.00 08-MAY-03 2003 FRIENDS OF SENATOR LIBOUS COMMITTEE (2004)
And who is the
Energy Action Fund at 4500 VESTAL PARKWAY E BOX 3607 BINGHAMTON, NY 13902? Well, their mailing address is
NYSEG's in
Binghamton:
NYSEG, 4500 Vestal Parkway East, PO Box 3607, Binghamton NY 13902-3607,
Mark L. Buzel, Manager, Environmental Permitting and Compliance.
And you will never guess who belongs to
NYRI. Do the math and then convince me that our elected officials present at the hearing represent the people's interest.
UPDATE: I will say it again and again. Nothing will really change until we pass a clean elections law in New York State.
