Lenox turbines bad for town, tourists
The Berkshire Eagle, www.berkshireeagle.com 30 January 2012
Wind turbines on Lenox Mountain are a bad idea. In Berkshire County we are about conserving our natural resources. In Richmond we even have adopted the Scenic Mountains and Scenic Roads acts. Does everyone realize what this is going to do if the turbines get approved? It doesn’t seem so.
What about the people who live nearby? Every time I go near Jiminy Peak all I hear is a constant “whoosh” noise from the turbines. More studies need to be done on the health effects from these unsightly towers. There has not been enough time to get a solid understanding. I’m surprised Lenox would want them. The town is all for tourism and over time this is just going to drive tourists away. No more scenic mountaintops to look at. Its businesses will start to dwindle without them.
As a long-time Richmond resident whose parents owned a business in Lenox, I know what revenue the tourists bring in. Even with that aside, do we really want to look at these on a daily basis? There are many other alternatives that should be looked into first. Look at what West Stockbridge did. It has a small hydroelectric generation station at the headwaters of the Williams River. Same thing in Glendale on the Housatonic River.
Solar is also another alternative that would keep our ridges “clean” from eyesores. WMECO put a solar farm on contaminated land on Silver Lake in Pittsfield. Now that was a very good idea.
I may only be 26 years of age, but I know I don’t want my kids to have to grow up and look at these things. Think about what our kids and grandchildren will have to look at if these go up. It would be nothing like it is now. With other up and coming technologies I think making a decision to approve this would be simply irresponsible. It’s time for the older generation to take time to listen to the younger generation as we start to inherit this area.
JAMES SHOEMAKER
Richmond
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/01/30/lenox-turbines-bad-for-town-tourists/