| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Regretting wind turbines
Credit: Rutland Herald, Published July 5, 2011 via Energize Vermont, energizevermont.org 7 July 2011 ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Last summer, I got married to a lifelong resident of Westfield and moved to the Northeast Kingdom from Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where I grew up. Somerset County and Orleans County are similar in many ways – rural, mountainous, and recently, the proving ground for industrial-scale wind projects.
The first wind turbines were minor tourist attractions: motorists flattened nearby hay fields to get a better look. A few years later the second “wind farm” went in, and a few months after that, the third and fourth. Suddenly, everyone began to take notice. Landowners who had leased property for the turbines began to have regrets. Longtime friends who leased their best field for the construction of two turbines pull their curtains closed and shut their windows to avoid reminders of this decision, which has been so distressing for their family. Given the choice again, would they sign over their land? Definitely not.
These days, people see wind turbines as what they are: money makers for big corporations, at a cost to the environment. Wind turbines are not the only option, and my experience has shown that they are certainly not the best. That’s why my household will cast a no vote for upgrading the transmission line that would support Green Mountain Power’s proposal for turbines on the Lowell Mountains. A few extra cents on the electric bill is not much to trade for the cultural, environmental, and economic value of an unindustrialized landscape.
CARRIE YOUNG
Westfield
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Contributions |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=10732 ]
