Snakes on a plain, and over Wattaquadock Hill
To the editor,
To the casual observer the snake’s body is one uniform tube, however, careful examination reveals a distinct head, body and tail of the same organism. Kinder Morgan representatives were correct when they said at the recent Selectmen’s meeting that their company does not export natural gas. But if their proposed NED pipeline project is approved to provide the 600 Mcf/day in natural gas supply to backfill the energy shortfall resulting from the retiring of three coal fired electric utility plants and the closing of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, the balance of the 2200 Mcf/day capacity of this new pipeline may be subscribed through the Dracut hub, through the Portland Natural Gas Transmission System, through the M&NE US Gas Transmission System in Maine, connecting to the M&NE Can Gas Transmission System in New Brunswick continuing on to the LNG plant and marine terminal in Goldboro, Nova Scotia. Kinder Morgan won’t export natural gas but it will benefit from business with the rest of the organism which will.
There are other ways to make up the 600Mcf/day energy shortfall. New solar, like Syncarpha, and new wind power sources can come online by the same 2018 completion date estimated for the Kinder Morgan NED pipeline. You can choose, at a premium, to have National Grid supply your electricity from renewable sources through their GreenUp program. Efficiency, reducing consumption by insulating homes, replacing light bulbs, getting energy efficient appliances can also be part of the solution. And these energy sources don’t contribute greenhouse gases. The Kinder Morgan representatives made one point clear in their meeting with our Selectmen; if the NED pipeline in northern Mass doesn’t get approved, there will be no Worcester lateral expansion through Bolton. Let’s examine the alternatives. We have choices. As Indiana Jones said “I hate snakes”.
Jim Carvalho
Pinewood Road