Just to be clear, the Sierra Club and NRDC representatives did lobby RETI to stay away from parks and preserves, and encouraged others to do so as well. Don’t know what their comments were on including Sunrise Powerlink and GreenPath as already built (but I’d imagine that since the Sierra Club opposes the Sunrise Powerlink, they objected to this assumption).

However, given that these environmental reps are being completely ignored and overruled by the RETI process, one has to wonder why they stay involved, thus legitimizing RETI and giving some semblance that the process is considering environmental concerns. I know that many grassroots activists within the Sierra Club are disgusted with the RETI process, as reflected in a recent comment letter signed by several environmental groups, including DPC. Who knows, maybe a rebellion at the grassroots will turn the Sierra Club hierarchy around, but that might be too hopeful.

this has the result of grotesquely skewing results in favor of Big Solar, Big Wind and Big Geothermal in our region, which would otherwise, by their own admission, be FAR too expensive and toxic to build.

neither of these powerlines has been built. none of the enormous environmental harm has yet been done, and the multiple BILLIONS of dollars they would cost MUST be factored in to the RETI “calculations,” which will, of course, then conclude that no projects along these lines would be feasible from an economic or ecological standpoint.

how can they get away with TOTALLY LYING in their report? not to mention, their completely false assertion that Industrial Wind only disturbs 3% of the land it utterly destroys. have these people ever been to an Industrial Wind Plant? the entire area is permanently blighted for all purposes. sure, a few weeds grow where the herbicides missed, but the full 50 acres per teensy megawatt of power are ruined for all of us.

RETI also purposely pretends that point of use solutions like microwind and rooftop solar simply can’t be considered in assessing our relatively modest 20,000 MW target. never mind that even Albania has energy policies promoting rooftop solar, they are DETERMINED to bankrupt ratepayers, re-centralize the grid in an era of ubiquitous sun and wind, and monopolize the energy production sector, even if they have to slaughter the planet to do so.

shame on you, CEERT, NRDC, and Sierra Club, for enabling this wholesale wilderness slaughter for private profits. you are beyond my contempt.

CEERT member and Sierra Club regional director Carl Zichella stated in a September New York Times article that distributed energy like rooftop PV is “not a solution at all”. Germany and Japan prove otherwise, so I have to question why Carl Zichella and other CEERT/RETI members are refusing to acknowledge these success stories.

Jim Harvey