I am not familiar with the Jay Peak Project that Mr. Gentile writes about. But I feel it necessary to correct two important mischaracterizations he uses.
The first is the idea that “going electric” is bad for emissions because of fossil fuel used on the grid. Coal and fossil gas are indeed used for electricity generation, but the point of electrification is that each year more and more renewable, zero-emission electricity is being added to the grid, so that the grid is getting cleaner each year. Thus, anything that uses electricity becomes cleaner without any modification to it.
The second is Gentile’s use of “NIMBY.” That stands for Not-In-My-Backyard and is used to refer to those individuals and organizations that oppose projects even when the projects pass all economic, logistical, environmental, siting, and permitting tests.
Some projects don’t pass those tests, and they do not deserve support. But projects that do pass them should not be rejected simply for NIMBY reasons.
Dan Deluirey
North Bennington