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Don't want a power line? Try baying at the moon
by Susan Lampert Smith
Wisconsin State Journal, Jan. 28 2006
So you're one of thousands living in southern Dane County who just learned you may get a big new power line in your backyard.
Who ya gonna call?
Shouldn't be too hard to find a "pole buster" team. After all, this is environmentally green Dane County. Right? So cue up the theme from "Ghostbusters" and get on that phone.
Hello, public intervenor?
Sorry. The number you have dialed has not been in service since 1995, when Gov. Tommy Thompson eliminated the state's No. 1 defender of the public in environmental cases.
Hello, attorney general?
While the attorney general's office has fought for the people in public nuisance cases against a pipeline that dried up wells, a stinky egg farm and a polluting cranberry company, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager is currently busy fighting for her own rights in these cases. In October, Sen. Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire, and Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, introduced SB 425, which would strip the attorney general of authority to represent the public in environmental cases.
Hello, Citizens Utility Board?
Sorry to tell you, but American Transmission Co. already gave CUB $100,000 for its work with ATC on a study that showed the need for the Dane County line.
Hello, 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin?
Sorry, ATC gave its new Friends $13,000.
Hello, Renew Wisconsin?
Sorry, it, too.
Hello, Clean Wisconsin?
It got $6,000.
Hello, Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation?
Yeah, it, too. It got $22,000.
Hello, town supervisor?
He'll do what he can, but last year, when the Douglas County Board tried to stop another ATC line, the Legislature passed a bill that forces towns, villages and counties to sell public land for power lines. Gov. Jim Doyle signed it into law.
Hello, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk? You're a former public intervenor, you must not like this power line.
She's looking at the possible routes and says protecting valuable natural resources should be a priority. But she knows the ATC people, too. In 2002, when she ran for governor, an ATC executive gave her $250. And in 2001 and 2002, current ATC spokesman Mark Williamson, who was then with Madison Gas and Electric Co., gave her $1,150.
Hello, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz? Um, I don't exactly live in Madison, but I know you're an environmentalist and helped found 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin.
No luck there, either. He thinks it's great that the electricity from the new line will help MGE quit burning coal at its Blount Street plant. Maybe you should think about moving to Madison, where the air will be clear and the trolleys will run on all that handy new electricity. It looks like ATC learned some lessons during its fight to put a power line across Wisconsin's North Woods, from Duluth, Minn., to Wausau. It made a lot of enemies during the battle over what's known as the Arrowhead- Weston line.
Here in Dane County, ATC seems to be paving the way by making a whole lot of new friends, from their buddies at the Capitol to the boys in Birkenstocks in the local environmental groups.
In fact, it looks like the only one without a friend in this fight is you, the person who might get a power line in your backyard.
You can try complaining to your dog, but if he's like my dog, he's kind of fond of hydrants and poles, too.