Carter to speak on mountaintop industrial wind power 

Camden – On Thursday, Oct. 14 at 6:30 p.m., the Friends of Ragged Mountain will host a talk at the Camden Public Library by Jonathan Carter, director of the Forest Ecology Network.

Carter will speak on “The False Promises of Mountaintop Industrial Wind.” Carter is a well-known environmental advocate and former Green candidate for governor. He says in a press release, “I have been advocating for wind power for decades. I never thought I would see the day when I would be opposing wind power development. However, the current frantic rush to install industrial wind on every viable mountaintop is both shortsighted and ecologically damaging.”

The Friends of Ragged Mountain are particularly concerned about the prospect of wind turbines on Ragged Mountain in Camden.

In an article entitled “Mountaintop Industrial Wind Power Is Not ‘Green’,” Carter goes on to say, “In addition to the destruction of habitat, these massive wind machines, which moving at over 180 miles an hour, individually sweep an acre of space, broadcast high volume sounds which have literally driven people in Maine from their homes. It is not only audible sounds which cause a problem to people and wildlife, but probably more damaging are low frequency sound waves that are emitted from these industrial power plants. It is well documented that the low frequency sounds and shadow flicker caused by the turbines pose serious health risks. The neurological health problems have been labeled as Wind Turbine Syndrome (WTS). People experiencing WTS can exhibit elevated heart rates, memory problems, visual blurring, nausea, sleep disturbance, and chronic headaches.

“Some environmentalists have been drawn into believing that if you are not for covering the mountains of Maine with wind turbines, then you are acting against the unfolding disaster of climate change. Global warming is a catastrophic crisis, but the solution is not to destroy the pristine character of the Maine mountains. The industrial wind mountaintop frenzy sweeping across Maine is not tied to shutting down an oil or coal power plant. It is simply feeding our gluttonous consumption of more and more energy. It makes no sense to destroy our mountaintops to feed this appetite.

“There are better alternatives – the first being conservation. It is no secret that if the federal subsidies (as much as 60 percent of cost) being poured into industrial wind were invested instead into efficiency and conservation projects, the reductions in carbon emissions would dwarf those potentially created by mountaintop industrial wind. It would also create thousands more jobs for local communities.”

Carter’s talk is part of the library’s Green October speaker series. Other speakers in the series include Robert West of the Ocean Energy Institute on Tuesday, Oct. 12; historian Lee Webb on the history of energy in Maine on Tuesday, Oct, 19; Suzanne Pude, Community Wind Director of the Island Institute, on the Fox Islands Wind Project, on Tuesday, Oct. 26; and Glen Marquis, project development manager of Ocean Renewable Power Company, on its tidal power technology and recently-installed demonstration unit in Cobscook Bay, on Oct. 28. All of the speaker events begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Camden Public Library. A solar “power cube” provided by Lyman-Morse Boatbuilders will also be on display at the library for the month.