We All Have a Story

This image created by Sandy and Greg Porterfield can be downloaded and printed as a window-size poster.

Industrial Corridor

This image created by Greg Porterfield can be downloaded and turned into a large, window-size poster.

Map of C3ETP route through Wonder Valley, Squaw Valley

C3ETP Map

What do you think about PG&E's plans?

This is a view from the southeast of one of the three alternate locations of the E2 Substation proposed as part of the 140 mile east corridor of the Central California Clean Energy Transmission Project. The substation will be built in the clearing in the foreground. The buildings are part of the old Anderson Place, previously the Burrough Place. The utility tower and lines in the background are part of the Helms-Gregg line, which runs from the Gregg Substation on Highway 99 north of Fresno to the Helms Project, a pump-storage plant at Wishon Reservoir in the High Sierra.

In our opinion as residents of Watts Valley and other areas along the Helms-Gregg line, we made our sacrifice when the H-G line was built about 30 years ago. But now because of increased demand for electricity in the San Joaquin Valley, we are being forced once again to sacrifice.

In our opinion, too much of the Sierra wilderness has already been sacrificed for economic interests like the present one. In the past, there has always been yet one more reason for still one more sacrifice of wilderness to the demands of "progress." This has been true since the 19th century, when Central Sierra forests were clear-cut to build Fresno and other Valley cities, when the first hydro-electric projects required the destruction of High Sierra meadows and watersheds.

In our opinion, enough is enough, and we have had enough of being forced to serve the Valley's demands. Lest places like Watts Valley all be used up and ruined, it is time to significantly curtail development in the Sierra Nevada, and especially in the foothills, which have never been adequately protected. Besides, residents and land owners in the Sierras will see little benefit from the C3ETP, which is meant to meet demands in the San Joaquin Valley. In our opinion, if the Valley is to enjoy the benefits of this project, then the Valley should make the sacrifices.

Moreover, it may well be possible to avoid building the project anywhere. It is now becoming feasible for utilities to develop on-site generation through solar and solar thermal technology so that long-distance high-voltage transmissions are no longer necessary. Thus, it is no longer an either-or question of either building huge grid-connected projects like C3ETP or not having lights, air-conditioning, or electronic entertainment.

Furthermore, decentralized electrical generation and transmissions are also much less vulnerable to wide-spread outages and possible terrorist attacks.

It is time to develop new technologies which no longer require the costly human and environmental sacrifices necessary in the past.

What do you think?