The people who have stopped at my table to chat come from all over
and are very friendly and enjoying the sights. I try to give them tips
on places of interest I know of from my 63 years of living here.
The message I'd like to convey in this writing is one of tolerance and
understanding. Put another way, perhaps we all need to take a collective
chill pill. I refer to the notion of solar and wind energy as an
alternative to that produced through the burning of fossil fuel.
Anecdotally, it would appear that most want to see the pursuing of wind
and solar energy. The rub seems to be where it's located (i.e.,
Northfield Ridge and Route 100 corridor). In other words, NIMBY.
I'm not insensitive to people's feelings and opinions. What I want to
convey is that it's time we modified our thought train to allow what's
not comfortable in order to reduce our global carbon footprint and to
become less dependent on oil in general. If we collectively draw lines
in the sand, these green technologies won't come to fruition in a way
that will make a difference.
The biggest aversion to solar panels and wind towers is that most often
we have to look at them. Personally, I don't find them offensive in
appearance. The adage that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder is
dead-on accurate. We take for granted the ski slopes throughout our
state. I'm old enough to well remember when Lincoln Peak and Mount Ellen
were undisturbed mountains that we looked at in the west.
After Sugarbush Valley and Glen Ellen were built, I remember thinking
even as a kid that now the beautiful mountains are scarred. Without
going into the history of Vermont's transition from an agricultural
state to one almost totally dependent on tourism, it is clear that the
ski industry has become an important base in Vermont's economy.
In other words, I intellectually know that for practical purposes I had
to accept that the better good of Vermont was served by the sacrifice of
what I feel was unspoiled land. There are many things along Route 100
that I find much more offensive than solar panels, but it's the nature
of our state.
You can't stick solar panels any place. It might make you feel better
that they're located in the back 40, but if the back 40 has limited
sunlight, then it renders the panels useless. Same for where the wind
doth blow. My desire is to be less dependent on oil and all the damage
it does to our environment. Seeing alternative energy production at work
allows me to know we're trying.
Don't get hung up on aesthetics. Leave some wiggle room for compromise
so we can realize a cleaner environment, a legacy for our children and
beyond. Digging our heels in and shutting these alternatives down based
on what's pretty and what isn't is defeatism. What I think looks good
and what you think looks good may be diametrically opposed, but if we
look at what we gain in the end then perhaps we both had the same view
after all.
Kevin Eurich lives in Warren and Myrtle Beach, SC.
