Another Missive To Missouri Governor

Dear Governor Parson,

I own a small business in Missouri, pay Missouri taxes, donate to Missouri charities, and lived in Missouri for more than 30 years of my life. I am adamantly opposed to Clean Line Energy’s Grain Belt Express (GBE) transmission line project, which would usurp my family-owned small farming business for the private gain of an out-of-state company. I write to ask that you support Missouri’s farmers by opposing Clean Line’s application for a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity from the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC).

For over 40 years, my family has farmed in Ralls County, Missouri. More than a quarter century ago, my family initiated a 200+ acre habitat restoration project on Parham Farms in coordination with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, an effort which my brother and I continue to manage today. We
set aside this portion of Parham Farms for environmental protection because of its unique qualities. It is a rare swath of Missouri savannah habitat that plays a special role to biodiversity of the surrounding area. It is a hub for wildlife and includes prime habitat for the Indiana Bat, which is listed as endangered by both the State of Missouri and the U.S. Government. Savannah habitat—where the Eastern woodlands and Western prairies meet—was once predominant across Missouri. As savannah habitat declines, so does biodiversity across the state. Today, according to state and federal agencies, less than 1% of savannah habitat remains in Missouri.

Today, Parham Farms falls directly in the path of Clean Line’s planned GBE project, and Clean Line wants to condemn and forcibly take this property for their own use. That remaining 1% of native savannah habitat – which my family has painstakingly restored over decades – now faces destruction if the PSC approves Clean Line’s petition to build the GBE. I urge you to question if this is the kind of legacy that the PSC’s decision should leave.

The proposed route for the GBE would cut straight across Parham Farms – slicing through our most productive cropland. It would also disrupt prime habitat for the Indiana Bat, which depends on land covered
in mature, old-growth trees—exactly the type of habitat that we currently protect on Parham Farms. If the PSC allows Clean Line to take away our old-growth forest, it will take away the endangered Indian Bat population with it.

The PSC’s approval of Clean Line’s project will also tell large companies that Missouri welcomes out-of-state companies to forcibly repurpose family-owned small businesses for their own use—a truly dangerous precedent.

Clean Line does not have the right to tell me how my business should use my property, and the PSC should not grant it such authority. I ask for your support in protecting Missouri residents, landowners, farmers, and natural resources by not supporting Clean Line’s application for Certificate of Convenience and
Necessity.

Respectfully,
Austin Read Parham
President, Parham Farms

Want to send your own letter to the Governor?  Missouri Rep. Jim Hansen is collecting them and promises to hand-deliver your letters to the Governor. 

Send yours here:

Rep. Hansen’s e-mailaddress:jim.hansen@house.mo.gov
Mailing address: State Capitol, 201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 111, Jefferson City, MO 65101-6806