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Dear Editor:
After my initial reaction of total shock, I grew very angry. My husband said months ago that he believed that the approval of the public interest certificate to ATC for the Cardinal Hickory Creek power line was a foregone conclusion. He has always been wise, and I usually trust what he says. But I wanted so much to believe that David could defeat Goliath.
Now, with the decision made in favor of the line, I can't help but believe that "the fix" was in and my husband was right. The PSC and Governor Evers pandered once again to the special interests with the big money and failed to take into account the opposition of the people, their constituents, who will be most affected. We tried to give our voices to the commissioners when 1000 strong of us showed up at the public meetings. We dutifully read the gigantic environmental impact statements and pointed out discrepancies between the statutes and the application. We did the same with the decision matrix.
We had excellent and committed legal and subject matter expert representation who backed up our findings with statutes and facts. The PSC and Governor Evers ignored it all.
I don't believe we are done defending our unique and beautiful Driftless area. I also don't believe that the commissioners and the Governor have anything to be proud of by making this decision. In fact, I say "Shame on you!" If not stopped, your decision will have such lasting impact economically, environmentally and culturally on the area that it may never recover.

Jane Batha
Mineral Point