Opinions
Category:
Vermont
S.30 being considered by the Vermont Senate is a wise and moderate approach and also supports the work of the Siting Commission. ...it is prudent to pass S.30 now - it reflects many years of the positive interaction of development with appropriate review.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
Almost 70 years ago, Vermonters decided man's hand did not need to be
evident everywhere. Remember that spirit now as this state considers
allowing wind turbines on ridgelines.
The environmental movement has begun to approach scientific issues with a similar zealotry typically found in religious fanaticism. A case in point: global warming................We need skeptical scientists to keep public and political passions in check. Otherwise, we devolve in our thinking to the point where unverified beliefs, held strong enough, can become idolatry.
Naturally, the industry does not want a fair process. They want one that they control, like they apparently control Scudder Parker's thinking about big wind. They want us to swallow their pablum about energy costs, jobs, and the environment and not have to show any evidence to back up their claims. They want to industrialize Vermont's mountaintops and don't want any one questioning the usefulness, much less the wisdom, of it.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
So 1,152 megawatts of wind -- 576 to 768 machines -- would be needed to reliably provide 15% of Vermont's electricity.
The absurdity goes beyond the outrageous scale for such little benefit, because if all of those turbines were actually producing power at once, most of them would have to be shut down, since base load plants can't rapidly ramp off and on.
Also filed under [
General|
Energy Policy]
Mr. Nye's paean to the electric companies aside, these huge industrial generators are not silent, they are not intelligent, and they are most certainly not friends to the environment.
In this season of hope and reflection, a time to give thanks for our treasures and consider helping those less fortunate - I would urge us all to pause a moment, look around and appreciate the beauty of this community and consider protecting and preserving the natural green space we have left. Resist the temptation for that 'greedier shade of green'!
Also filed under [
General]
This most recent petition joins thousands of others signatures around the state, against the scale of these massive industrial wind projects.
Also filed under [
General]
Unfortunately, proponents continue to tout wind energy as "the answer" while, in the fashion of "Jeopardy!" contestants, are unable to come up with the correct question.
Also filed under [
General]
To the people who say we need to do something green because that is the right thing to do, fine, build this on state land away from existing habitation. That would satisfy both sides of this case.
This project will not satisfy the benefit-to-cost-ratio argument in reducing carbon fuels used in gas, coal and wood generation plants now on line.
Also filed under [
General]
The Wind Forum, held at the Unitarian Church in Montpelier, and hosted by the group Building for Social Responsibility (BSR) was a big disappointment for those of us who came with questions and who expected an informed discussion. Since we, from Windham and South Londonderry, had a two hour drive, we carefully checked the agenda of the forum on the BSR web site before deciding to attend.
Also filed under [
General]
Specifically, 60 percent of Sheffieldian respondents opposed the construction of industrial wind turbines in the town. A minority (40 percent) favored them.
Sheffield is not the pro-wind, pro-UPC town it is made out to be.
Also filed under [
General]
There are 727 people here including children. Half of our people have not voted, and non-voting residents and property owners were not allowed to express their opinion in the polls. Just over 200 people voted. Nearly 100 said no. This multimillion-dollar corporation had to hire the services of a public relations firm from Burlington to force a message through that they failed to do on their own merits.
Also filed under [
General]
I've received calls from residents from as far away as Lyndon, Kirby, and Westmore complaining about the blinking red aircraft collision avoidance lights at night. Neighbors are telling me they also can hear them and that they are shocked to see the turbines from "everywhere they go" -- from local roads, from I-93 near Franconia Notch (40 miles away!), as well as from nearer ridge lines between Littleton and St. Johnsbury.
Also filed under [
General]
A Massachusetts wind developer has met his match in the Northeast
Kingdom, where people are rallying against his plan to industrialize
their ridgeline with massive turbines.
The promoters cannot show any evidence to back up their claim of reducing greenhouse gases and pollution. That is the empty hat they are desperate to fill with full-page ads proclaiming "the truth." But their arguments are as puffs of air and don't have a leg to stand on.
Also filed under [
General]
The Sheffield vote should be a wake-up call. Vermonters, speak up for your state, or lose its very essence to industrialized ridgelines.
Also filed under [
General]
The townspeople of Sheffield are conducting meetings to decide what to do with the $500,000 annual windfall that First Wind will pay their town from revenues derived from the newly opened wind farm. That was the bribe from First Wind to kill opposition to 16 of their heavily subsidized, 400-foot-tall wind towers.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
Shumlin stated that he listened to both sides and met with industrial wind opponents in Montpelier to hear their views.
"An eight-minute meeting with a few people in your office is hardly engaging in a dialogue. Coming to the Town Offices and driving through town is not the same thing as going to the site and talking to neighbors in their homes," said Snelling.
Also filed under [
General]
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