New Hampton School Says "No" to Northern Pass

Micah and Walker interview New Hampton's own Mr. Conkling about the Northern Pass and its possible impacts on our community. Mr. Conkling is one of many NH property owners that will be directly affected by the Northern Pass crossing his personal property.

DRAFT Letter to NH US Senators

New Hampton School

April  26, 2016

The Honorable Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte

Senator, District 2

25 Capitol St, Concord, NH 03301

Dear Senator Shaheen and Ayotte,

On behalf of New Hampton School, we urge you both to oppose the Northern Pass due to the harm that it causes to the people of New Hampshire and the state itself.

As both you know the Northern Pass has mixed feelings throughout the residents of New Hampshire. Yes the Northern Pass will create 2,600 jobs, but after the Northern Pass is complete all of those jobs except for a couple hundred will be gone, having those thousands of people be unemployed once again. The Northern Pass will provide some power to New Hampshire from Canada, but most of the power is going to Massachusetts. But the power does not come free, as the Northern Pass will leave a big scar going through the land of New Hampshire. The Northern pass claims that they shrunk the size of the corridors and such, but the land will still be destroyed through construction or the line just being there. New Hampshire is known for its foliage and land, and with the Northern Pass, it is destroying our land and wildlife. Not only does the Northern Pass destroy the beautiful land of New Hampshire, it also is bad for the residents of New Hampshire because of the electro-magnetic radiation. The Northern Pass might be beneficial in some ways, but the negatives of the Northern Pass outweigh the benefits. 

Here at New Hampton School we are all about our community. We are a small school and often have Service Learning Days where we help others in the community. We are writing you this letter for that reason, as today is a Service Learning Day. The Northern Pass will come right through New Hampton. We will be right next to the Northern Pass. So much of an attraction to our school is our campus and our community. In fact we all love New Hampton and everything New Hampton has to offer. With the Northern Pass being passed it will hurt not only the land of New Hampton, but the residents of New Hampton as well. If the Northern Pass bill is passed it will destroy part of our community along with many others.

Please oppose the Northern Pass.

Sincerely,

Reis Farwell and Anthony Gaines along with Mr. Joslin’s Advisee group

Pros and Cons of the Northern Pass Energy Project

Pros

• Access to 1,200 megawatts (the equivalent of the Seabrook Nuclear Power Station) of lower-carbon, lower-cost, renewable hydro power. 
• New high-voltage transmission and converter capacity adding needed robustness to the North American power grid to prevent blackouts and even security from terrorist attacks. 
• The creation of 1,200 new jobs and a new source of property taxes in economically-challenged areas of New Hampshire–$28 million in local, county, and state revenues. 
• Whether you agree with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or not, it is a reality and this project is needed to met the RGGI goal of a 10 percent reduction in CO2 by 2018. 
• We rather get our power from Canada or from extremely unstable areas such as Iraq,Iran,Russia,Venezuela. 
• Negative environmental impact of the towers, right-of-way and construction and of the Canadian hydro-stations/reservoirs. 

Cons

• Negative visual impact which would discourage tourism–the region’s number 1 industry. 
• Negative health affects from the electro-magnetic radiation on people living nearby and on wildlife. 
• Hydro-Quebec is a large, state-owned corporation and is collaborating with other mega-corporations to get their way. 
• The power will just pass through New Hampshire to southern New England with little, if any, impact on high regional prices.