Destroying land to save it
Toolbox
Published: September 26, 2009
There has been much discussion about the Vermont Community Wind Farm wind turbine project located largely in Ira and Poultney, but which will have impacts on other towns, too, as this project will be visible from New York to Rutland and beyond. People in these surrounding towns may want to start paying attention, or they may be in for an unwelcome surprise.
Some things are becoming clear. At best VCWF has proven itself to be an untrustworthy partner for these towns and its citizens. They have trespassed, been misleading about noise and visual impacts, pitted towns against each other, admitted that they are more concerned about their profits than the desires of the townspeople, and been unwilling to provide the models and visual data that will show people the true scope and impact of their project. It is also clear that this project is not about being "green," but about an out-of-state landowner and an out-of-town company wanting to profit at the expense of local towns and people.
It is also clear that to be green we do not have to destroy our views, our quality of life and the very character of Vermont that makes it special. VCWF's project would require significant deforestation, habitat loss, noise pollution, losses in property values, damage views both day and night, require mountaintop blasting, and decrease quality of life for the area. Being green is a worthwhile goal that I support, and can be done with conservation, solar, solar hot water, biomass, geothermal, green building, and even wind when done in the right locations on the right scale. Something is terribly wrong with a project like the VCWF project that would destroy our land in order to supposedly "save" it.
TEDDI LOVKO
Center Rutland
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