What irks me though are the letters from folks who seem to me to have a
disconnect on a grand scale these days. George Bush thought we could go
to war and cut taxes without asking for any sacrifice from most
Americans. Tea party rallies are full of older (mostly white) people who
collect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, VA benefits, etc. but want
the federal government out of their lives. For every dollar Alaska
sends to Washington, the state receives $1.89 back. Alaska is a welfare
state! Take that, Sarah Palin.
The local disconnect is from Valley residents who consume huge amounts
of energy but don't want to witness any of its production. It seems to
some that not only wind but solar panels are out of character with our
natural surroundings. I guess that while flying around in jets, we would
not want to see the production of energy in our own backyard.
I would suggest that the next time we ski our denuded mountains and then
fly out west to ski those denuded mountains that we consider our carbon
footprint and how that transfers to CO2 emissions and gallons of fuel
pumped out of the ground. Or, worse yet, money given to Saudi Arabia to
fund terrorism or coal taken from Appalachia to power a chairlift.
We are lucky, in my mind, to have a president who understands the
historical crossroads we are at and is making energy production the new
"Apollo Project." We need to get behind green energy in any way we see
fit, if not Citizens Wind then possibly smaller and more numerous
generating sites. We also should not forget the potential of small hydro
projects. In many cases, waterways that are already dammed can be
transformed to hydro without having a negative impact on the
environment.
One more thing: Solar hot water is cost effective and works great even
in the gray state of Vermont. I'll make a plug for our local business,
HouseNeeds.com, for solar hot water.
No matter what we write in The Valley Reporter, the Green
Revolution is here. Wind turbines and solar panels will become part of
the landscape like telephone lines and ski resorts. I would like to
envision many small businesses involved with designing and constructing
electrical substations, much like Northern Power used to do. Just like
buying local food has been a boon to small farms, buying local energy
will create many jobs and power us into the future.
Rick Patterson lives in Warren.
