Letter to Union Leader - Signatures Needed by 1/25 at 5 pm!

Northern Pass opposition group Protect the Granite State wants to run an open letter ad in the Union Leader and Concord Monitor on Monday or Tuesday. The text of the letter is pasted below. Would you be willing to sign your name to the letter? If so, please email your name and town to Judy Reardon by 5 pm on Thursday. Send emails to: judyreardon@comcast.net Don't forget to include your town! Here is the text of the letter: "To our New Hampshire friends and neighbors: Try for a moment to clear your mind and forget any positions you have – for or against - Northern Pass. It is hard, we know. For over seven years, we’ve heard about this project - a proposed transmission line to run electricity from Quebec through 192 miles of New Hampshire for the benefit of southern New England. Eversource has waged a costly battle – over 250 million dollars and climbing - for the hearts and minds of state regulators, elected officials and the general public. After countless public hearings, expert testimony and arguments back and forth, the Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) is ready to begin its final deliberations on this project. So let’s set aside years old talking points and objectively consider what we learned during the past several months of SEC hearings. Did you know: * That the Site Evaluation Committee received over 3,000 public comments concerning Northern Pass? And did you know that approximately 95% of those public comments oppose Northern Pass? * That over 100 current and former state legislators wrote a letter to the Site Evaluation Committee to oppose Northern Pass, saying in part “We believe Northern Pass would literally disfigure the face of our state. It would permanently scar some of our most iconic landscapes, destroying vistas that represent what is most special and unique about New Hampshire to residents and visitors alike—our sense of place, and the image we seek to project to the rest of the country and the world.” *That opposition to Northern Pass is bi-partisan, and includes people such as Republican National Committeeman Steve Duprey and former New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Kathy Sullivan? * That leading conservation organizations such as the Forest Society of New Hampshire, Appalachian Mountain Club, Conservation Law Foundation and Sierra Club have weighed in to oppose Northern Pass? So now that you know the grassroots opposition to Northern Pass is deep and widespread, the question is why? Perhaps it’s because: * The power that Northern Pass will carry is not intended for New Hampshire. It’s intended for Massachusetts and southern New England. * Northern Pass will have little to no impact in reducing our state’s electric rates. *The vast majority of jobs promised by Northern Pass are temporary and will vanish within two years if Northern Pass is approved. * Enormous towers will disrupt some of New Hampshire’s most scenic North Country vistas and tourist attractions. * Massive towers proposed for Concord will be taller than our State House. * Rivers, streams and wetlands will be adversely impacted in over 30 locations along the proposed Northern Pass route. * Construction of Northern Pass will create significant and multi-year disruptions for small towns along the proposed route. * Hydroelectric power promised by Northern Pass has destroyed the lives of indigenous peoples in Quebec. * Hydro-Quebec – whose power Northern Pass seeks to transport along its proposed multi-billion dollar transmission line – has said “We won’t pay a cent for the NP transmission line on the American side. American consumers will pay the transmission costs in the U.S. through their electricity rates.” So now you have an idea why so many oppose Northern Pass, the question is why are we even having this conversation? If anyone other than Eversource was proposing Northern Pass, would we even be considering this awful project? Eversource’s interests should not change what is an otherwise obvious conclusion. Northern Pass is a bad deal for New Hampshire." Thank you!