LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]



Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Overreaching on energy 

Credit:  Rutland Herald | October 08, 2015 | rutlandherald.com ~~

Like most Vermonters, I support goals that would decrease our carbon footprint. Of all the energy we use in Vermont, only 5 percent is electricity and 95 percent is fueling our cars and heating our homes. If we truly want to decrease our carbon footprint, wouldn’t it be better to focus our resources on making our homes and cars more energy efficient?

Is it worth filling one-third of our ridgelines with 50-foot industrial wind turbines to meet 5 percent of our energy needs? What is the carbon footprint of making and installing these wind turbines?

Reps. Tony Klein and Shap Smith have both stated they want Vermont to produce 90 percent of its own energy. Does that make sense? With that line of thinking, shouldn’t Vermont also make 90 percent of all cars in state? Or should 90 percent of all clothing bought in Vermont be Vermont-made?

An interesting fact is that the wind turbines used at Georgia Mountain and the ones being considered for Swanton Wind are made by a Chinese company, Goldwind. How do we rationalize the polluting of China’s lakes and land while making our turbines? Using the made-in-Vermont goal, should 90 percent of our wind turbines be produced in Vermont?

Another goal of Reps. Tony Klein and Shap Smith is to have power produced locally and used locally. But why is it that many of our renewable energy projects sell “renewable energy credits” to Massachusetts and Connecticut? Are we destroying Vermont ridgelines and countrysides so other states can meet their renewable energy portfolios?

What are the safeguards for protecting the health of the families living near these turbines? Families in Lowell, Sheffield and Georgia Mountain report the turbine noise keeps them awake at night. How many people and communities is it OK to sacrifice for wind turbines? I believe the state of Vermont needs to protect Vermonters by setting siting standards for industrial wind turbines. There is much evidence that the low-frequency noise emitted by industrial wind turbines is the cause of sleep disruption and illness. Vermont Lives Matter!

Our state is having growing pains with renewable energy. To keep support for renewable energy projects, I think there are a couple of steps the Legislature can take. The first and most important is to return local control. Each town should have the power to decide and site the type of renewable energy that best fits their town and needs.

The second is to review the energy usage of each town. Require each town to develop a renewable energy plan that would meet their needs. Then place a timeline for completion.

PENNY DUBIE

Fairfield

Source:  Rutland Herald | October 08, 2015 | rutlandherald.com

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 Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon