A 21ST CENTURY ‘GONE WITH THE WIND’
Alan and Shannon White
Alan and Shannon White live in Colebrook
April 8, 2011
_Perhaps to be no more than a memory, cherished only in books, a
picturesque, bucolic Connecticut town could be gone with the wind… _
Currently, Connecticut has no regulations for the siting of wind energy
power plants and without them we are an easy target for the wind
industry to market their wares. Furthermore, our Siting Council has an
approval rating of 97% regardless of public outcries. Two petitions
await a decision by this Council that ask to site six, 500-foot
industrial wind turbines less than a half mile from my mother’s home
where my family has lived for the last forty-five years. Who are the
Connecticut Siting Council and what are they charged to do?
The Connecticut Siting Council was first established in 1972 to oversee
the power facilities and transmission lines in the State of
Connecticut. In 1981, they were given the added power of siting
hazardous waste facilities. Since then, they’ve been given authority
over other infrastructure including telecommunication sites.
I’d like to highlight two of the Council’s responsibilities, as stated
on its website:
“The Council is responsible for:
“1) balancing the need for adequate and reliable public utility
services at the lowest reasonable cost to consumers with the _NEED TO
PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY OF THE STATE AND TO MINIMIZE DAMAGE
TO SCENIC, HISTORIC, AND RECREATIONAL VALUES_;
“2) _PROVIDING ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS FOR THE LOCATION, DESIGN,
CONSTRUCTION, AND OPERATION OF PUBLIC UTILITY FACILITIES THAT ARE AT
LEAST AS STRINGENT AS FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS AND THAT ARE
SUFFICIENT TO ASSURE THE WELFARE AND PROTECTION OF THE PEOPLE OF
CONNECTICUT_;”
The residents of Connecticut demand that this Council live up to its
responsibilities and safeguard not only residents but our unspoiled
environment. Not just for the proposed wind projects in the towns of
Prospect and Colebrook, but in every town that will be targeted for
industrial wind energy plants by companies like BNE Energy Inc.
The Connecticut Siting Council needs to ask critical questions and do
its homework to establish smart regulations regarding the siting of
these facilities or we are going to find ourselves in a situation we
will not be able to control. Connecticut has the opportunity to learn
from the mistakes made in neighboring states like Massachusetts and New
York where Big Wind swooped in and wooed them with offers of money for
leasing or purchasing land. Along with the offers of hard cash, there
were promises of wind energy reducing electric bills, and decreasing
property taxes. The wind industry will gallantly take the lead on the
path to independence on foreign oil, all while reducing greenhouse
gases. They will have you believe their industry is a win-win for
everyone.
In Connecticut, we do not have thousands of acres available to site
these plants in areas where they will have minimal impact on residents
or the environment. We are a densely populated state with marginal
wind capacity. BNE Energy proposes their facilities be sited in
residentially zoned areas and make promises there will be no significant
noise, flicker or vibration to annoy residents. They assure us there
is no immediate danger of lightning strikes, ice being thrown, or tower
crashes. They tell us there is no affect on wildlife; not many bats or
birds will be killed by the spinning of these massive turbines. They
promise the least amount of damage possible will be done to precious
wetlands. In effect, wind industry promoters would like us to believe
the need for renewable wind energy outweighs any and all environmental
destruction.
Proponents tell us to accept the fact we might have give up our New
England scenic beauty because we have to save our planet and stop the
wars in the Middle East with wind energy. Do we believe these promises
or are we intelligent enough to realize this industry is taking
advantage of massive tax breaks and incentives which in essence allows
them to make big money with little to no personal investment risk?
That this industry is exploiting the fact no regulations or controls are
in place for industrial wind turbines?
To those proponents, to the wind industry itself, please take the
following challenge: Find us someone, anyone, who lives within a mile
of several 500-foot wind turbines that will tell us our concerns are
without merit. Find us someone who will tell us the wind turbines were
good for their neighborhoods and towns. Someone who will assure us our
property taxes and electric bills will drop, that our homes will be just
as pleasant to live in, that we’ll sleep well at night. Just find us
one. Is that impossible because those who’ve leased property or have
been bought out by wind energy companies have a gag order attached to
their agreements? Is it impossible because those who are able talk
wouldn’t wish the misfortune of wind turbines near homes on their worst
enemy?
The wind industry relies on the Machiavellian tactic of divide and
conquer in their approach to developing their energy facilities in
residential areas. Neighbors who have been friends for years become
enemies. The proposal to place industrial wind turbines in the towns
of Prospect and Colebrook are proof of that. And it won’t stop there.
Big Wind has its greedy eye on Connecticut and if we are not careful
they will lead our Siting Council to believe economic development trumps
resource protection.
Is wind energy able to meet future energy demands more effectively, or
is it simply a concept that is full of hot air and a way for investors
to make a quick buck? As my father used to say, “You don’t get nothing
for nothing”. That saying never rang so true. Once Connecticut lets
Big Wind in, our lives will change forever and there is not a thing we
will be able to do about it.
I know I stand with many who hope this drama doesn’t end with an
approval any wind projects without the educated development of informed
regulations. Anything less is a simple statement by the Council to the
concerned residents of Connecticut,
“Frankly, dear residents, we don’t give a damn.”