This is in response to the Sun Journal editorial March 16 about wind power.
The editorial implied that the people of Byron were divided on the issue of a proposed wind project in the town, and that the benefits of wind power were of ancillary consideration to some of Byron’s voters.
There are approximately 80 registered voters in Byron, 74 of whom attended the March 10 town meeting and listened for 3½ hours to speakers for and against, before casting their vote. The project was defeated 69 (93 percent) to 5 (7 percent). Hardly a town divided.
Thanks to the governor’s task force on wind energy, every small, rural town in Maine, particularly in the western mountains region, is in the sights of wind power developers. I agree that the citizens of those towns who want a wind project in their community should raise their hands in invitation to the developers. Conversely, those towns opposed should raise their hands in rejection.
In either case, the people owe it to themselves and their community to become as informed as possible on every aspect of a wind power development project, from construction to living with the aftermath.
There are online resources that can provide solid, factual information on the research, and conclusions by medical doctors, scientists, acoustical and environmental engineers, and just plain folks living with industrial wind turbines atop their mountains.
An informed electorate will most often do what’s right for themselves and their community. The people of Byron were just such an electorate.
Robert Bourassa, Byron
21 March 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/03/21/learning-about-wind/