Whether you are for or against wind farms in Massachusetts you should be aware that the pending Wind Energy Siting Reform Act of 2009 is a threat to your freedom and constitutional rights. This Act is currently being fast-tracked through the state Legislature with virtually no on-the-record public debate at the insistence of Gov. Patrick, the wind energy industry and its financiers.

The name of this Act belies its true intent. It is not an act of reform. It is an act of tyranny. The Wind Energy Siting Reform Act of 2009 will allow the state to usurp our democratic freedoms, our laws and our constitutionally guaranteed rights. It gives unlimited power to unelected and unaccountable state officials to determine the future of publicly owned natural resources, and to determine the future of our communities, our local economies and our personal lives. It is an open invitation to corruption. If approved by the Massachusetts Legislature the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act of 2009 will violate every moral and ethical principle of our democratic society.

Proponents of this Act argue that we must make a choice between our freedom and global warming. This is nothing more than pandering to fear politics. In fact, the solution to global warming depends on our freedoms and the rule of law. A clean energy future depends on respecting local governance and the laws that protect human habitation and natural resources. Local governance ensures that energy policy is based on the common good as defined by generations of citizens who have fought to improve their circumstances in their communities, not as defined by special interests that have the ear of our politicians and a short-term profit motive. The slow, methodical debates inherent in the exercise of local government, and the freedoms and laws which sustain this discussion, are necessary to make decisions that will stand the test of time. Our democratic ideals, our freedom, our rights and our laws are only threatening to special interests who seek to prevail by stifling public inquiry.

Whatever your opinion about wind energy you must act now to protect your rights as an American citizen. The Wind Energy Siting Reform Act of 2009 could go before the State Legislature for a vote as soon as this week. Contact your state representatives and the governor and tell them that the pending Wind Energy Siting Reform Act of 2009 is bad legislation and deserves to be defeated.