Horst

In both of David Thiesfeld’s recent “Other views” columns (March 16 and July 22), it is obvious he has little knowledge of the concerns of Stop B2H (as well as many others).

In Thiesfeld’s July 22 column, he accused the Stop B2H claim that “the B2H line will not benefit Oregonians” of being an “untruth,” stating there are several towns in Eastern Oregon that currently use Idaho Power Company’s (IPC’s) electricity. This has absolutely no relevance. IPC is not going to quit supplying power to these towns if the B2H line does not go through. The truth is the B2H line has far more negative implications than benefits. Reasonable people would understand this.

In his July opinion piece, he referenced a ranch in Baker City where the cattle at a farm “were all holed up under the shade of high voltage transmission towers.” How much shade could a high voltage lattice power line tower possibly produce? As far as his claim about the “rare circumstance when the firebell goes off,” according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), from 1992 to 2020 federal, state and local fire services dealt with 32,652 powerline-ignited wildfires across the country. His “basic math” and “pumpkin pie” analogy make no sense whatsoever.

In his March 16 opinion piece, Mr. Thiesfeld claimed Kittitas County rejected a wind farm because it would have an impact on “the view of sagebrush.” Kittitas County did reject a wind farm in 2007 for many reasons, none of which stated “the view of sagebrush.” Stop B2H, the city of La Grande and Union County, have far more concerns than “the view of sagebrush.”

There is an approved and recommended route by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) through federal property that would have bypassed most of us. IPC decided to change the route to one of two new routes that will have impacts (some significant) to the citizens of La Grande. The city of La Grande as well as Union County and many others have expressed that the BLM-approved route should be used.

In his March 16 column, Thiesfeld wrote: “Since the majority of the elected officials in La Grande and Union County decided the politically expedient thing to do was to also oppose B2H you have to wonder if the ‘Jonestown Kool-aid’ they were drinking has worn off yet.…” In his more recent letter, he starts off with a rant about Trump and the swamp rats. Pulling out the “political card” here makes no sense.

I can assure you, no elected officials and no politics played any part in my motivations, spending hundreds of (unpaid) hours, contesting the B2H project.

My motivations stemmed from IPC’s and the Oregon Department of Energy’s lack of concern for safety, damage to my property, the potential destruction of our lands and the Oregon Trail, our roads, views, etc. Many others have very legitimate concerns as well.

I’m sure Mr. Thiesfeld would be singing a different tune if IPC was driving up to 160 vehicles per day, within 20 feet of the front door of a new house he just built (as is the case with me). Or if his property could have a significant drop in value with little or no compensation. Or if he was offered $1 for access to part of his property (which has happened). This is just the very tip of the iceberg.

It appears that someone is dipping into the “Jonestown Kool-aid” and not giving it time to wear off.