December 10, 2004
Opinions
Opinions
Dear Governor Romney:
I am writing to express my opposition to your support of inland wind development in western Massachusetts and my offense at your comments regarding the Cape Wind Project and land-based commercial wind development which were recently published in articles at Cape Cod Online and the Springfield Republican.
If there was ever a sterling example of NIMBY (and I’m reluctant to use such a disparaging term when describing the legitimate concerns of citizens for their community) your position is it. I find it absurd that you consider the hills of western Masachusetts any less of a national treasure than Nantucket Sound, and suitable for “wind factories.” If you judge wind farms as “not pretty,” what makes you believe that Massachusetts’ pristine uplands, the heart of western Massachusetts’ economy, where thousands of city-weary tourists flock annually to renew their spirit and connection to nature, are a more appropriate place for them?!
If “public interest must trump private profit,” as you say, then this should apply to the whole state and not just the Cape. Perhaps you’ve only heard voices raised against the Cape Wind project, but there is growing opposition against windplant development in western Massachusetts as well. It certainly doesn’t escape us that, because of the Renewable Portfolio Standard adopted by the state, wind plant development may not be limited to just a few projects in the Berkshires. It is our intent to preserve our last remaining wild places, our economic health, our property values, and the rural integrity of this region.
I am appalled that your opposition to this ridiculous energy scheme, which can’t meaningfully contribute to the state’s energy needs, lessen our dependence on foreign oil, or alleviate global warming, doesn’t extend any further than Route 495. By your indiscriminate approval of onshore development and projects in the Berkshires, you would make western Massachusetts the sacrificial lamb for the state, creating widespread industrial blight in Massachusetts’ most beautiful areas, to appease the Moloch of wind industry and a gaggle of Cape residents. I find this attitude abhorrent and incredible in the light of your knowledge that industrial wind factories only lead to economic degradation and the sullying of natural environments where they are placed.
I ask you to call for a moratorium on all wind plant development, on- and offshore, until such a time as the true impacts are more widely known and we have adequate zoning regulations in place. Let’s not make the mistake that so many communities who have embraced wind power facilities are waking up to, both nationally and abroad.
Sincerely,
Laura Roberson
Laura Roberson
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2004/12/10/laura-robersons-letter-to-governor-romney/