[at-l] Wind Turbines near the trail

[Bob C." <ellen@clinic.net (Bob C.)]

"...  The Storm King battle is reflective of the windmill issue IMO," says Bryan
K.

Actually,  the two issues are totally different. The opposition to the windmills
is  not from wealthy gentry, but from ordinary people who have chosen to live in
the area or who are long time trail volunteers.

We  discussed Wind Turbines for an hour at the annual MATC meeting last weekend.
Even though the developer spent the day working the corridors and displaying his
maps  and  plans, not a voice was raised in opposition to the board's opposition
to  the  project.  These  were not wealthy folks attending the meeting, but mill
workers, school teachers, foresters, engineers, technicians, shop keepers....

Most  at  the  meeting  were  active  trail  volunteers, the people who together
donated  nearly  21,000  hours  to  the trail in Maine last year. Yes. They were
protecting  something  they  loved  with their opposition. But it was a reasoned
opposition,  based  on  the  knowledge  that the Wind Towers would generate only
about  1  percent  of  the energy needs of a state awash in surplus electricity,
while  doing  nothing  significant  to  solve  the  very real problems of global
warming  and  air  pollution.  No  polluting generating plant is going to reduce
production by one percent in response to competing wind turbine power.

I  don't  pretend to know much about the PCB problems of the Hudson -- or why an
administration  with at best a mediocre environmental record chose the Hudson to
act.  From  what  little  I know about hazardous waste cleanup I generally agree
that stirring up wastes is a risky procedure.

But  I  also  know  that  the  Spectator  has  a  long record as a conservative,
anti-environmental magazine, so I don't take its articles very seriously.

Weary