BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 31, 2021
Richard Anderson and Richard Barringer’s Aug. 11 column on the New England Clean Energy Connect corridor is correct about climate change. Then their column slips into the “it’s not what you say that counts, it’s what you don’t say” mode. An Environmental Impact Statement was not implemented (NH and VT did one for this project). How could anyone meticulously assess information if there was none? The process Anderson and Barringer describe is political, not scientific. Scientific research describes the true, negative impact large dam complexes have on ecosystems and people. There is no attempt to write new laws, the attempt is to enforce existing laws and Anderson and Barringer ought to understand that difference. They write about recklessly dismantling the process to learn the truth. We have not seen the truth nor have we had a scientific process to determine what the truth is. Until we reach that point, all we have is corporate and political influence and that is not law. ~ Richard Aishton, Steuben