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Last modified: 9/28/2014 1:55:02 PM
Gov. Maggie Hassan erred when she nominated Bob Odell to represent the public on the Site Evaluation Committee. Fortunately, the executive councilors have a chance to correct that error.
The SEC decides whether to approve major energy projects for the state, including wind farms.
The state Legislature correctly decided, with the recent passage of SB 245, that the public interest needed to be better served by adding two members of the pubic to the SEC, since it’s the public that has to live with the SEC’s decisions.
Bob Odell hardly fits the bill. He’s a Concord insider and longtime state senator. This is not the grassroots public representation the Legislature had in mind when it passed that bill. Odell is a big proponent of wind power. Maybe he has no problem allowing foreign companies to clear-cut acres of scenic ridgeline terrain in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region to install dozens of ugly 400-foot-tall wind turbines, but most of us here strongly disagree with him. The Executive Council should veto this ill-considered nomination.
PETER R. DEVINE
Bridgewater