Dominion Virginia Power just sent me, a “Northern Virginia Resident,” a letter dated January 18, 2007 containing an emotionally-manipulative appeal to me to write to my state representatives – it seems that the General Assembly is considering several bills that would stop their new power line.
Their argument is basically as follows: What about the hospitals, schools and homes? We’ll have rolling blackouts! We need more power!
“To think of it another way, imagine what life would be like on a hot August afternoon when the thermometer reads 100 degrees and traffic lights, office elevators, and air conditioners stop working.” (emphasis theirs)
What’s interesting is that the letter does not address the opposition to them at all, even though it’s gotten a lot of play in the news. What strikes me about this is, in this situation, wouldn’t you normally misrepresent the opposition – create a straw-man argument – then knock it down? But clearly, they are drowning so much in bad PR that they don’t dare even mention that there is opposition. Instead of banking on the average joe who only knows what he sees on the news and can be persuaded otherwise with an emotional appeal, these guys are banking on an audience who don’t even watch the news, and would never think to themselves “but why would the General Assembly care about this?”
Just a few of the news stories:
“Dominion Virginia Has Inflated Power Needs, Some Experts Say” Washington Post, 1/28/07
The relatively modest problem for Virginia, they say, has better solutions than an unsightly cluster of cables atop a series of 125-foot steel towers, strung through some of the state’s most beautiful and fiercely guarded open spaces.
“In Nod to Foes, Dominion to Revisit Route Options” Washington Post, 1/24/07
I find this one particularly interesting since their letter to me dated 1/18 claims that they had already “considered all alternatives,” but that “The only answer is to build this line.”
In recent months, company officials have repeatedly ruled out those options, saying that they had studied them thoroughly before rejecting them. But community concern has caused the company to take a closer look, said Le-Ha Anderson, a Dominion spokeswoman.
“No Efficiency Focus In Power Line Debate” Washington Post, 1/11/07
Proponents of the power line claim that without it, the area would face electricity shortages by 2011. Sadly, too much of the public discussion of the power line focuses on the not-in-my-back-yard (NIMBY) response vs. the requirements of growth. There is no discussion or focus on whether demand can be met in ways that would be more efficient, friendlier to human living conditions and the environment and cost significantly less.