May 2, 2011
Letters, New York

Act now when it comes to powering our future

The Observer-Dispatch, www.uticaod.com 2 May 2011

I write regarding an April 19 letter, “Wind can help save your child’s future.”

I agree with the author that our “children … deserve for us to act now.” The actions we take will impact them long after we are gone. Therefore, we must use our financial resources wisely. The writer’s assertion that somehow “wind” is the vehicle to put money into our underfunded schools is flawed.

At a time when governments need to watch every dollar, handing millions to a wind developer who will then distribute crumbs back to the community seems a poor method to get money to our schools. Of the millions of taxpayer dollars that would go to NorthWind & Power, they would return perhaps $40,000 per year to the Mount Markham district. This seems to me to be a poor way to “help save” our children’s future. Millions of taxpayer dollars for industrial wind turbines that don’t decrease our reliance on oil, don’t reduce our need for coal-fired plants, don’t produce reliable energy and produce more manufacturing jobs overseas than in the U.S. The smart action is to get these millions directly to our local schools where it can do the most good.

If the goal is to help our children’s schools, then let’s do that directly. Let’s not crush our children with debt to enrich the likes of NorthWind.

So we do need to act now.

JIM HENCK
Sauquoit


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/05/02/act-now-when-it-comes-to-powering-our-future/