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Richard M. Kessel
President and CEO
October 29, 2009
Re: Proposal Number One on Nov. 3 Ballot
To the Editor:
New Yorkers will have an important opportunity on Election Day to vote for a balanced approach to meeting our energy and environmental needs.
Proposal Number One on the ballot will ask if the state Constitution should be amended to permit the use of two miles of Forest Preserve land for part of a new power line that is urgently needed to ensure the health and safety of residents in the Tri-Lakes region of the Adirondack Park.
The 23-mile, 46-kilovolt line will directly benefit an area long plagued by power interruptions in bitter North Country winters. But it has clear statewide implications.
The state’s power grid is interconnected so strengthening any part of it benefits everyone. Moreover, as a product of extraordinary cooperation between the public and private sectors and between the energy and environmental communities, the new line could provide a model for critical energy projects.
National Grid, the New York Power Authority and the villages of Lake Placid and Tupper Lake have joined forces to build the line. The route, including the Forest Preserve segment next to a state road, was chosen after extensive consultation with local officials and environmental groups.
The constitutional amendment would authorize the state to transfer up to six acres of Forest Preserve land to National Grid in return for at least 10 acres of forest land—and probably more than 40. It has been approved by two different Legislatures. Now it’s up to the voters. I hope they will carefully consider the proposal’s merits when they go to the polls on November 3.
Sincerely,
Richard M. Kessel