Matt Bathrick in The Columbia Paper reports that the Ghent Town Board last week addressed the high voltage power lines proposed to go through Columbia County by adopting a resolution asking the Public Service Commission to, “carefully scrutinize all of the environmental issues and review impact on the environment by this project to the maximum extent possible.” The transmission lines would carry more than 1,000 megawatts more than current lines, and are part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Energy Highway initiative, stretching from Albany through Greene County in Athens to Pleasant Valley in Dutchess County. The board voted unanimously, picking among two proposals, one from town attorney Ted Guterman, and another from Ian Solomon, head of Farmers and Families for Claverack, a member of the Hudson Valley Smart Energy Coalition, an activist group opposed to the power lines. “I just thought Ted made it soft. He took some of the language out of Ian’s proposed resolution that I thought was pretty good wording,” Board member Mallory Mort said. “In my opinion, I think I see why Ted omitted some of this language,” replied board member Richard Sardo. “I’m not comfortable with it.” Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.