Fifty-Two Voices in Augusta

Tomorrow, June 15, 2011, is supposed to be the last day of the current Session of the 125th Legislature. Our Senators and Representatives have been dealing with hundreds (and hundreds) of bills since January. Reading them. Considering them. Listening to testimony, holding work sessions, caucusing… and then debating on the Floor and voting for (or against) them.

One day left.

I wasn’t surprised that the one remaining bill having to do with ‘industrial wind’ was left until the 11th hour. With dozens remaining to be acted on, it only seemed par for the course that our one hope would be dumped into the mix at the end of a very hectic session.

There were twenty common-sense and protective bills submitted, written, testified to and debated on. Nineteen were killed. And only one remained.

LD 1366, “An Act to Update the Maine Wind Energy Act”.

What originally was written as a comprehensive and ‘active’ bill had been reworked into a ‘do nothing’ bill calling for a study. While I’m not opposed to having a comprehensive examination done of the current wind energy plan; the fact is—the FACTS are already in.

Already, approximately eighty Mainers are suffering due to the inappropriate placement of industrial wind turbines. That’s a FACT. Mainers are suffering health effects AND a reduction in their property values, due to the incessant high, low and ultra-low frequency noises—and shadow flicker--produced by these megaliths.

Something had to be done. Mainers deserve protection, and the current noise standards, written before industrial wind came onto the scene, weren’t sufficient. Rep. Larry Dunphy, who has listened to his constituents and made their concerns a priority, proposed an amendment to LD 1366. His amendment called for a 1.5 mile setback from the base of a turbine to residences. It also contained a very important clause. His amendment would allow Mainers the freedom of choice. If those who lived within that 1.5 mile set-back area wished to opt out—they could petition the siting authority for a variance which would allow wind developments to be built at a lesser distance from their dwelling.

Protecting Mainers, while giving them the freedom of choice. You can’t get much fairer than that.

Why, then, did Rep. Dunphy’s amendment get defeated? The vote was 92 in favor of ‘tabling indefinitely’ and 52 opposed to that action—which, in reality, meant the amendment was killed.

But why?

Could it be that the wind industry hammered the Legislature incessantly with their tales of woe and their dire predictions? “If Maine shows an unstable climate for ‘renewable development’, we’ll take our ‘investment’ elsewhere” they warned. “’Wind’ is the only game in town”, they claimed. “A ‘small, vocal minority’ can’t be allowed to derail a plan which had unanimous support in the Legislature” they argued. And always, in the background, were rumblings intended to make citizens feel like they were selfish, planet-killing elitists who only cared about their ‘view’. For, of course, ‘wind’ was a panacea which would save the planet from the looming threat of ‘death by global warming’.

In the end, only two things are worth pondering.

First: What do the FACTS say?

And, second: Who will be strong enough, brave enough, committed enough and ethical enough to help spread those facts, educate the public, stand up to the wind lobby and not back down, even when defeat seems the norm and common-sense the exception?

As to the first: The facts are out there, and easy to find, if citizens are only willing to devote a few hours to researching this critical issue.

As to the second?

We will.

Many thanks to the Fearless, Feisty Fifty-Two. You’ve given us hope. And that is a rare and valuable commodity, these days.

From my Backyard

Below is a letter written in March of 2010 and published by Maine Today Media.
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When I entered the campaign to save Maine’s iconic mountains from development, I had a huge dread; the fear of being seen as a ‘NIMBY’ (Not in my backyard). I didn’t want to be perceived as someone who was not interested in current events unless they directly affected me. I saw the acronym ‘NIMBY’ as a form of slur… and no one likes to be insulted.

Several months have passed since I entered the fray. My education has been equivalent to the school of hard knocks. Trial by wind, per se. I knew nothing about mounting a battle to change the policy of a government which I strongly disagreed with. I had no idea how to work to defeat a proposal designed by a wealthy industry and supported by people in positions of power. I’m still learning and every day I make a mistake. Most often, I learn from it.

As I researched the phenomenon of mountaintop industrial wind, I discovered many surprising facts. I began this process with an instinctual aversion to the plan to develop our wild peaks, but I was lacking a lot of the details about the proposal to place wind turbines along over 300 miles of pristine summits. I only knew that it couldn’t be a good thing; that the plan that was being thrust upon us did not seem to be a reasonable one. Now I know what many of those negative impacts will be. I’ve also come to the conclusion that a NIMBY is exactly what I want to be.

We human beings have a lot on our plates; families to raise, jobs to go to, homes to build and maintain. We have to pay for those homes, those kids, and for the vehicles to get us to those jobs which pay those bills. We have parents and siblings who need us. We have friends to lend a helping hand to, schools to support and a civic duty to our town. Life is busy--and often--life is a struggle.

We simply cannot devote ourselves to every battle that needs fighting. We do not have the capacity to throw ourselves into the mix every time a wrong needs righting. Instead, we depend on others with the same values and common sense to take up their swords and defend their own territories, families and ways of life. That’s what ‘home rule’ is. That’s one of the most fundamental precepts of America as a country. More elementally, it’s instinctual in almost all living creatures. We defend our turf, or die trying.

The animal kingdom is made up of communities. The primary and most significant of these is the family; parents and children first, extending outward to grandparents, siblings, cousins. Next in importance is our neighborhood, then the larger village which these neighborhoods combine to create; those people upon whom we depend, but to a lesser degree than we rely on our kin. When America was founded, our strength rested in the small communities scattered across this vast land. Men who provided for and took care of their families were called to action to defend from home the larger community; the colonies which would later become the U.S.A. Our Minutemen and militias defended their home turf successfully; defeating a larger, more organized and better funded campaign.

That is the heart of the matter. I care about what happens across the country and around the world. But I simply cannot make every battle a cause that I must wholeheartedly throw myself into. No-one would survive if we took on every single struggle that we believed in. We try to do our part when issues of importance are made known to us, but we have to keep something in reserve. We have to save ourselves for the conflicts that affect us directly, because we know that our distant neighbors will only be able to aid us on the periphery, just as we do when they need our support.

I no longer have an aversion to the title ‘NIMBY’. NIMBY is synonymous with home rule and home defense, and that is something in which to take the utmost pride. I am a NIMBY, and damned proud of it! If my family, friends and neighbors are successful in protecting our home front, then we will set the standard for other NIMBYs… our fellow countrymen who are doing the same. We will be helping other Americans who have the courage to stand up and say ‘Not in my backyard!’

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Photos: Kaz in my backyard
My 'home front', a.k.a. 'the front of my home'. :o)