UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
WASHINGTON, DC 20585
Before the
Office of Electricity Delivery
and Energy Reliability
Docket No. OE Docket No. PP-371
NORTHERN PASS TRANSMISSION, LLC
Application for Presidential Permit
MOTION/PETITION TO INTERVENE AND
PUBLIC COMMENTS BY ANDY MARTIN
The undersigned, Presidential Candidate Andy Martin (hereinafter “Movant”), hereby moves and petitions to be designated as an Intervener in this proceeding.
1. Standing
Movant is a candidate for President of the United States and is actively campaigning, see
www.AndyMartinforPresident.com, www.AndyforPresident.blogspot.com
www.AndyforPresident.wordpress.com
www.StopNorthernPass.blogspot.com
www.StopNorthernPass.wordpress.com
www.YouTube.com/Martinin2012
Movant expects to quality in the New Hampshire Primary by filing once the actual primary election date is set, as well as by qualifying in as many other states as possible.
2. Presidential permit
While the term “Presidential Permit” may appear to be a pro forma title for administrative action, the issues in this international proceeding raise significant national security issues. Therefore, I am focusing on the Northern Pass proposal both as it impacts New Hampshire and as a matter of national concern. On information and belief I am the first and only presidential candidate who is actually opposing this project and who has personally studied the issues and focused energy on participation in the proceedings.
3. My areas of particular concern
While it is impossible to identify and concentrate on every issue at this very early stage of the proceedings, initially I am concerned by the following matters:
a. National Security
At the top of my list of concerns is national security. I favor energy independence, hardly an original position. But taking power from Canada is a potentially risky matter. Canada has somewhat lax standards for immigration, and is much more receptive to Muslim immigration. As a result Canada is and/or could become an increased target of Al Qaeda infiltration. While the Canadian government is one of our closest allies and friends, the U. S. Military and investigative agencies such as the FBI have no sovereign jurisdiction in Canada, which is still an independent nation. Thus, a significant portion of our future energy supplies could fall into a grey area where United States consumers were dependent on Canadians to safeguard their supplies and where the U. S. Government is powerless to act. That is not my view of “energy independence.” As President I would work to clarify these lacunae before approving any cross-border transmission proposals.
b. Environmental
The damage to the environment from the Northern Pass proposal is apodictic. To paraphrase Daniel Webster in Trustees of Dartmouth College vs. Woodward, New Hampshire is a very special place and “there are those [of us] who love it.” I am the only presidential candidate who actually grew up spending significant time in New Hampshire, where my mother was born and where she and other members of my family graduated from the University of New Hampshire. I was schooled from childhood in New Hampshire’s values of clean air, clean water, low taxes and limited government.
Northern Pass is an actual, not potential, threat to all of these New Hampshire values. There is already significant lobbying and influence peddling affecting the process of Northern Pass approval. If constructed in its present form, Northern Pass would destroy both aesthetic and recreational resources which are part of the quintessential New Hampshire “quality of life” for both local residents and visiting tourists.
c. Fiscal/taxes
Northern Pass would devastate New Hampshire’s local governmental units and the overall state economy. Property values would inevitably fall as transmission lines strangled the state. Lower property values would lead to lower assessments, and lower assessments to lower tax revenues. Tourists would also look for alternative locations. In sum and substance, Northern Pass offers nothing to New Hampshire’s economy and imposes a massive negative “tax” on local residents. Why would any real Granite Stater want Northern Pass to be “levied” against the People of New Hampshire and visitors who come to the state?
d. Public health
While we have no definitive answers on the public risks posed by massive transmission projects of the type proposed by Northern Pass, there is respectable professional opinion that proximity to transmission lines such as those contemplated by Northern Pass can cause serious health risks.
Conclusion
Although “public utilities” often have “public” in their names, there is very little that is “public” about them. Utility companies seem to me to be among the more obtuse corporate citizens in our society.
Although my memory has faded somewhat about the details of the case, approximately four decades ago I filed my first “NEPA” lawsuit to block a proposed high voltage transmission line across the runway approach to the airport where I had trained as a student pilot, the University of Illinois’ Willard Airport. How could anyone justify transmission lines near an airport approach? The proposal was ultimately defeated.
Four decades later, I fear I am seeing a reprise of the mindless transmission line proposal I fought so long ago. The People of New Hampshire are being treated like a colony of Southern New England and potentially New York. Northern Pass represents a process where overseers from afar wish to negatively impact the quality of life in the Granite State to benefit other more affluent regions that have strong “NIMBY” movements.
My presidential campaign is committed to defeating Northern Pass. Most respectfully, I request to be designated as an Intervener.
Respectfully submitted,
ANDY MARTIN
NATIONAL LITIGATION CENTER
ANDY MARTIN FOR PRESIDENT
P. O. Box 1851
New York, NY 10150-1851
Toll-free tel. (866) 706-2639
Toll-free fax (866) 707-2639
E-mail: AndyMart20@aol.com (text only)
Certificate of Service
I certify I have served Brian.Mills@hq.doe.gov, bartoab@nu.com, maryanne.sullivan@hoganlovells.com, with this document.
ANDY MARTIN
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