Listen to the barker.

These people are not as much developers as they are salesmen. Their product sounds good — and green — in theory, but it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

They are fast-talking a product that causes so much destruction in its footprint that it will destroy the very existence of what has become the brand of our state. If we can sell out our ridgelines for a new fire truck, a wheelchair ramp, a school playground or whatever these salesmen can entice our town officials with, what comes next?

They are offering only a small fraction of their income to a hosting town, but should our lives be for sale at any price?

The size of the wind plants being proposed grows in numbers and height quickly as time passes. Three hundred feet has become 400 feet while 500-foot-towers are already being built. If 400 feet is added to the top of a stately mountain can you imagine how much more visible it becomes? The addition of flashing lights is for one reason only — to draw attention. Think of the red lights you see every day — tail lights, stop lights, warning lights, laser pointers and exit signs in buildings. Many tourists come to the Northeast Kingdom and all of Vermont to see “Moonlight in Vermont” not a flashing “exit” exhibition.

The salesmen tell us there are many visitors to the Searsburg generation plant. Is it because people can’t wait to see a wind generator or is it because they are being asked to accept this type of generation in an area near their town? With the Searsburg facility being the closest, although much smaller, visitors may be only trying to get a sense of what might be in store for their area. The trips to see these are by appointment and invitation only.

The turbines at the Searsburg wind generation plant are approximately one half the height of the “new” modern generators being proposed for areas all over the state. According to the salesmen the smaller towers have become obsolete in their short lifetime. Visitors are shown the noise level near the turbines while the actual noise would naturally be projected out from the area.

The cost of the facility to the company installing it is astronomical in a per unit sense and even greater as a whole project. The company will recoup their money quickly through accelerated depreciation, subsidies, sale of green credits, etc. The plan is to sell the power plants to the municipalities who will be left holding the bag for repairs, upkeep, complaints, maybe even problems with radio and television interference and decommissioning to name a few. The companies erecting the structures are registered LLC (limited liability corporations) which can leave those companies untouchable for any complaints.

Local fire and rescue departments will need to be trained in high altitude fire and rescue operations in case of injuries from lightning strikes, blade breakage, ice throw or on the chance that someone is injured during regular maintenance. Large amounts of grease and oil need to be changed regularly as any machine or motor does.

What about the roads and upkeep to and through the site? What if there is a breakdown at turbine No. 4 or No. 14 or No. 24 or any other number? The roads have to be maintained for any of the large equipment that might be needed for any repairs, from delivery of a new blade or nacelle to the cranes that would lift any of these parts in place. In the event of a fire the town fire trucks and emergency vehicles will need to be able to access each turbine. What about in the winter time?

A few more questions may not be answered yet:

Will there be interference to television and radio reception?

Will it affect the reliability of a cell tower?

Will your health and well-being be affected by the flashing in the sunlight, the strobing of night lighting, the low frequency whump-whump of the blades passing the turbine (which can be felt as well as heard). What about people suffering from migraines or inner ear problems?

Will all the blasting and construction affect the water supply to your friends and neighbors and town? What about run-off from any oil spills?
What about transmission lines? Along the ridgelines (where the turbines are proposed) the power lines have to be buried because falling ice might cut the lines. This means more blasting because most mountains are some form of ledge. The ridgeline, because it is narrow will already be clear cut. From some point along this buried line there would have to be a corridor for more lines to reach the substation which may or may not already be in place.

Will the fluctuations in the wind eventually affect the existing power supplies as the fluctuations in the current power supply can do to the motors throughout your home?

What will be the effect of rime ice and glaze ice on a structure of this height? There has never been anything of this size — 400 feet tall built in Vermont on a mountain top.

If the wind generating plants are built, what about the animal, bird and bat habitat? What about the human habitat? The studies are done by individuals hired by the same salesmen who are hiring public relations consultants to feed out their information.

Has this become a battle between people who have always lived here and people who have chosen to move here to live? If so we should all be fighting to preserve this land that we have inherited, that we all enjoy and not let it become a carnival with no way to get away from the noise and light show. We are all Vermonters and should not allow these salesmen to divide us.

Vermont is about its mountains, its remoteness and the fact that it is relatively undeveloped. Why don’t we live with the landscape we have?