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

Terra-Gen wind project denied by Planning Commission in surprise vote 

Credit:  By Shomik Mukherjee | Eureka Times-Standard | November 21, 2019 | www.times-standard.com ~~

The Terra-Gen wind energy project received a denial from the Humboldt County Planning Commission on Thursday, concluding an emotional series of meetings in which the commission appeared to be veering toward approval before swinging the other way.

It was Commissioner Noah Levy who gave every indication he would support the project before suddenly deciding, under intense public pressure, that he needed more information before granting approval.

Levy’s decision brought the commission to a 3-3 vote, killing a motion to give Terra-Gen a positive recommendation. In an ensuing vote to deny the project, Commissioner Alan Bongio joined Levy in flipping sides, effectively ending the project’s hopes at the commission’s table.

Importantly, Terra-Gen can appeal the commission’s vote to the Board of Supervisors, which will have the final call at the county level.

Across three weekly meetings that stretched cumulatively more than 15 hours, the vast majority of speakers at public comment stated their opposition to Terra-Gen’s plan to build a cluster of wind turbines on the Bear River and Monument ridges above Scotia.

Speakers pointed to the land’s history as a sacred site belonging to the Wiyot Tribe, as well as the wind farm’s potential impacts on the area’s biodiversity and Scotia’s ridgeline vista. They excoriated Terra-Gen’s private equity ownership, saying its motives would be exclusively profit-based.

Commissioner Melanie McCavour synthesized many of these concerns into a lengthy, passionate speech about the project’s scientific flaws and what she characterized as an unforgivable compromise of sacred Wiyot lands.

“The idea we are pulling up plants and offering them to the tribes is embarrassing,” McCavour said about a suggested mitigation of using sacred tribal lands for the project. “It’s shameful. It’s insulting.”

Commissioner Peggy O’Neill sided with McCavour, unfavorably noting Terra-Gen’s outsider role in a major economic project at home.

“If we were going to do this project and reduce all the impacts, it should be a local project,” O’Neill said.

But the pair initially didn’t find solidarity among any of the other commissioners. Bongio said he had grown up seeing every Humboldt County project shot down, suggesting the county “give something a try.”

Commissioner Mike Newman compared the widespread opposition to the project to NIMBYism – a common “Not in My Backyard!” disapproval of local development. Newman also brought up recent Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power shutoffs, drawing a connection between the wind farm and wanting to keep his refrigerator cold during an outage.

Commission Chair Robert Morris pointed out that the Wiyot tribal land could one day be fragmented into multiple parcels with different ownership, suggesting that keeping the ridges under singular control would be beneficial over the long term.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Morris said of the project. “It won’t solve everything in one fell swoop, but it’s a step.”

But the commission didn’t take the step, as Levy – who at one point engaged hecklers in the public about the value of his character in supporting the project – suddenly stopped short of approval when the matter came to a vote.

Many in the audience erupted in cheers and applause following the denial vote.

At press time, most were still reeling from the sudden turn of events. Terra-Gen executives will have the option of appealing the denial to the Board of Supervisors in the coming days.

Source:  By Shomik Mukherjee | Eureka Times-Standard | November 21, 2019 | www.times-standard.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

Tag: Victories


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