The recent spate of federal incentives for local production of clean
energy has had limited success because of limited funding. Even so, it
has been supported by environmentally conscious individuals who want to
do their part to slow down and eventually stop global warming. It's not
as if we have a choice! Time is running out.
I've read three recent articles in The Valley Reporter about
solar installations and a potential wind farm on the Northfield Ridge.
Comparisons to 747s, fear of a three lane road atop the ridge, of deals
already made and of the death of glider tourism are misleading, to say
the least. We need hard facts -- not rumor, exaggeration and innuendo.
The event at Skinner Barn on September 22 may be useful in this regard.
A locally owned, modest-sized wind farm might be part of The Valley's
answer to energy independence; then again, maybe not. To move toward
energy independence, we need many small-scale projects that distribute
energy locally. Solar panels on private property, providing clean energy
are currently powering more than 50 homes and businesses (1 in 60) in
The Valley. More are being built or are in the planning stages every
day. VPIRG, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, has a goal of
one in five by 2032.
My real complaint is with the large commercial users of power here in
The Valley that do little, if anything, to do their part. Insulating
newly constructed buildings by 1950s standards and doing nothing to
produce clean power on site is perplexing to those of us who insulate
our homes to modern standards and produce power in excess of our own
usage. Then, on top of it all, I hear griping about small businesses in
The Valley who quietly do their part. I, for one, am proud of these
individuals and entrepreneurs.
Then there's the unfair dismissal of the Public Service Board's ability
to go over the head of the public. Should individual communities have
the last say in the siting of cell towers, of nuclear plants, of hydro
projects? What if the neighboring town has a different idea of what's
appropriate? Should the good of all Vermonters being held hostage to
individual concerns?
It's time for all of us to be a constructive part of solving our energy problems before those same problems slowly overcome us.
A presentation celebrating the many solar installations in The Valley
and providing easy-to-understand information regarding the science
behind global warming will be held at American Flatbread's Big Red Barn
on Sunday, October 10, beginning at 5 p.m. It's a project of The
Valley's Transition Town Initiative and part of Bill McKibben's 350.org
10/10/10 global work party program. You're invited!
Brattstrom lives in Warren.
