Because solar panels on every house in The Valley or small wind turbines
at the 5 percent of houses with enough wind to do it isn't going to get
us where we need to go, I'll jump to the heart of it - the Northfield
Ridge wind proposal. Conservation, energy-efficient appliances, hybrid
cars and residential scale renewables at every house simply won't be
enough for our modern economy, even an efficient one, and amounts to
sticking our heads in the sand. It will take projects of all scales -
residential and small and large commercial scale - to make a dent and we
need to look at what these projects would do for the collective whole -
the earth, our country, our state and our valley - before weighing
those costs and benefits against our individual desires. Doing nothing
is not an option. Leaving it to others somewhere else is not an option.
We must consider these possibilities "In My Back Yard."
SERIOUS QUESTIONS
I have serious questions about both the environmental impacts and
financial nitty-gritty details of the Northfield Ridge wind project. The
more I talk to friends and others, the more I realize the less I know;
e.g., what are the effects on groundwater from blasting while building
an access road? It has shown me that there is no substitute for accurate
information. On the other hand, as a homeowner in the crosshairs at the
base of Bald Mountain and the father of two young children whose future
will always mean far, far more to me than the market price of my house,
I think it would be negligent to not assess this resource before
succumbing to fears of wind turbine parts flying through the air or the
notion of deafening acoustics forcing those poor brides and grooms to
scream their vows at the top of their lungs.
Are there impacts involved? Absolutely! There always have been and
always will be, but we have conveniently been disassociated from them by
drawing energy from the aging Yankee nuclear power plant, now being run
by a deceitful corporation "from away." Hydro-Quebec, though
"technically" renewable in that water can be re-used downstream, has
displaced many indigenous communities and wholly altered an entire
hydrologic system. It's not about the perfect location. It's about
choosing projects that have the least impact and greatest capacity to
put downward pressure on global warming. Even if you don't believe in
global warming, the pursuit of renewables at the local, state and
national level will simultaneously reduce our dependence on volatile
regions of the world driving our foreign (oil) policy, rebuild our
manufacturing base and helping us retain both jobs and hard-earned
capital within our borders. It's a win-win.
For one of the "greenest" and "most liberal" states in the union, we
have fallen short to date on renewable, and we cannot be content to let
others continue to take the hit. We owe it to the families of the West
Virginia coal miners, our fellow Vermonter's living in proximity to the
toxic waters and soils of VT Yankee and a very large number of folks
living along the Gulf Coast whose numbers may explode up the Atlantic
seaboard before this corporate apocalyptic disaster is through fouling
our seas. Last but not least, we owe it to our children and their
children to value their future above our fears and at least evaluate the
possibility of a potential renewable resource in our backyards.
Mike Brouillette lives in Waitsfield. He recently worked on the
Renewable Energy Atlas of Vermont website (www.vtenergyatlas.com).
