Wind towers not suitable for Northeast Kingdom

Burlington Free Press, July 21, 2003
Proposals for industrial wind towers are popping up in Vermont 's Northeast Kingdom faster than pimples on prom night. On the ridgelines north and south of Burke Mountain alone, there are 60 to 70 towers proposed.

I am in favor of renewable, affordable and clean energy. I would like to believe the proposed industrial wind projects would accomplish noble ends.

I would also like to believe in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus.

The crux issue is appropriate placement of wind towers.

Appropriate placement means that the industrial towers should be sited where the benefit (affordable electricity) far outweighs the harm or burden to the environment and community.

The proposed wind towers are smokestacks on steroids, monsters 320 to 450 feet high, lighted day and night. They are higher than most buildings in Boston . To transport the towers, three-lane roads will be slashed into the mountainsides Not pretty. Not benign.

We have a single asset in the Kingdom, our immense natural beauty. We have no IBM plant and no Silicon Valley .

Consider what brings people to the Kingdom. High wages? Short winters? People come here for community and intense beauty. The Kingdom is a singular, haunting place. It has a soul worth saving.

Line the ridges with towers and try recruiting skilled workers, new businesses, second homeowners, tourists or skiers. Try competing with similar areas without towers, places like Stowe. The Kingdom's soul will die. The developers, rich men all, would have you believe that such towers are somehow attractive. People will come to see the towers. Once. They will not come again. Ever.

Why the Kingdom when hundreds of miles of Vermont ridgelines are suitable? Asked why these were not proposed for Stowe or Grand Isle a state legislator replied, "because there would be a public uproar ... too much resistance!" The humble Kingdom is the path of least resistance.

The developers do not live in the Kingdom. The towers will not crunch their local economy or strangle their community soul, their commons. Their beautiful ridge tops will not be ruined with seventy towers, They will make millions at the expense of the Kingdom and every U.S. taxpayer.

The wind tower projects are feasible only with heavy federal tax subsidies. The developers receive enormous tax advantages and "green tag" designations.

Add all the incentives and perks and the total cost for one kilowatt-hour would functionally be about 11 to 15 cents. The current market price is 4 to 6 cents. Guess who pays the cost and who pockets the profit?

Developers must be fans of Voltaire who said "In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to the other."

Many "green" organizations are backing wind power. What I try to convey to them is the all-important idea of proper siting, that the benefits must outweigh the cost. I have only found deaf ears. (And I am one of the two living Democrats in the Kingdom!) The words of Maine 's Bob Cummings seem to apply: "The logic sometimes is that no matter what we damage, alternative energy is the more valuable resource."

What are the alternatives for Vermont ? Purchasing the Connecticut and Deerfield River dams would provide 20 percent of our electric needs for the future. Efficiency Vermont can save 10-30 percent of our electric needs simply through conservation.

The central issue here is conservation and intelligent use, not building more energy plants.

Improperly sited wind tower projects in the Northeast Kingdom will irreparably hurt our local economy, ruin a beautiful place with soul. Their benefit will not outweigh the harm.

To destroy our environment in the process of saving our environment does not make common sense.
Tom Broderick is a family doctor in Lyndonville and a member of the Kingdom Commons Group, a group dedicated to preserving the community, environment and economy of the Northeast Kingdom .