May 31, 2007
Pennsylvania

Governor considers wind farms on public lands

The Rendell administration is considering opening state forests and state parks to wind turbine development.

Michael DiBernardinis, secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said today that a decision will be made in the next six months on what he admitted would be a controversial issue.

He said that global warming is a crisis and that “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

He said that DCNR needs to look at its stewardship mission and decide whether wind turbine development is compatible with it.

The department now lacks legal authority to allow wind development on public lands, but he said it would seek authorization from the Legislature.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission, which also controls large amounts of public land in the state, has said that, in theory, wind turbines could be built. However, the commission has made it difficult in practice for wind developers to erect turbines on its lands.

The game commission, unlike DCNR, is not under the direct control of the governor. This has given the commission a degree of independence in developing policy on wind development.

DiBernardinis was a speaker at PennFuture’s Clean Energy Conference held today at the Radisson Penn Harris Hotel & Convention Center in East Pennsboro Twp. PennFuture is a Harrisburg-based environmental policy group.

By David DeKok

The Patriot-News

31 May 2007


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/05/31/governor-considers-wind-farms-on-public-lands/