energy, government, and us.

[rob10858]

the fact is, as far as the gov and power companies are concerned, the need for energy for the many outweigh the needs of those whose land and homes are hurt most by their expansion, and get the least benefit from it all. we live in a small rural section of southwest va, and about a year ago i started seeing, unmarked chevy suburbans carrying surveying crews, marking spots all around our property lines. only after renting some apts to some of these crews and talking at length to them did i realize that they were surveying a nat gas pipeline that was going to come right past my land. was i ever contacted about the proposal, no. was i ever told that there was a possibilty that my land was involved, no. do i have a say in the matter, no. you will get what the powers that be say is your "reasonable value" for your land, or you can fight it in court and have it condemned anyway. this aint the gov that im referring to, its duke electric power out of north carolina. [remember that i live in virginia] as the first public awareness started to grow, as far as a pipeline that will come through our land but go to another state, duke power had already applied for the right of emminent domain with the courts in wva and va. i own stock in duke power and in all of the stockholders reports only got a narrow prediction of what their intentions were . the thing that irkes me most is the use of our land to enhance someone else's lifestyle. if we could tap into the pipeline, and get some kind of good out of this whole thing it would be different. but the dep guys said, "thats a future benefit, but one thats not in our current planning stage" so here we are, underground lines dont bother me, but at least give the people that have had ancestors that fought and died for their land to have a say in the matter.