Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings
“If I were a swindler, if I were committed to committing fraud, I would be in green energy. If you want to trick someone into giving you a lot of money, you have to give them something they really believe in – you have to promise them the future.” (Jeppe Gjervig Gram, writer of “Follow the Money”, The Guardian, March 17, 2016)
[ cartoon by John Fraser ]
This year we reflect on many accomplishments by groups everywhere. More policy makers calling for halts or full stops, increased public awareness everywhere. Accruing moratoria votes, stronger setbacks, restrictions, bans.
We are calling 2018 the year of the Moratorium. Interesting to note that developers have mentioned they are watching the “move to moratorium,” closely. Renewable Energy Magazine writes that the anti-wind movement is very strong, not going anywhere, and pumps out “hundreds of articles per month, sometimes 20 per day.” It further admonishes developers, “Don’t let your wind farm project succumb to delays, moratoriums and zoning defeat.”
This year:
- Officials oppose proposed wind farm for 3 northern Indiana counties
- Maine coastal town’s leaders vote to oppose offshore wind project: unanimous vote to support fishermen
- Chautauqua County, New York: George Borello talks anti-wind: developers are only here for the money
- Lapeer County, Michigan, Chairman Gary Roy, puts his job on the line for 2018 stating wind turbines are “horrible.” “This is their strategy in Huron, Sanilac, and Tuscola families that have been neighbors for generations (and) will no longer speak to each other.” “They turn their backs on each other in stores, and shun each other in church, and for what? Windmills?”
- Tennessee: House Bill 1021 passes nearly unanimously: “Subject to an exemption for counties and municipalities that have adopted regulations related to the siting of wind energy facilities in their jurisdictions on or before July 1, 2017, beginning on the date that this bill becomes a law until July 1, 2018, this amendment imposes a moratorium on the construction, operation, expansion, or redevelopment of a wind energy facility in this state. This amendment creates a six-member joint legislative study committee to evaluate and make recommendations relative to the siting of wind energy facilities.”
- Stanton County, Nebraska, votes against wind development
- Pierce County, Nebraska, votes for another 6-month moratorium
- Fulton County, Indiana: Fulton County leaders vote down wind rules, residents respond with gratitude
- North Carolina: The Senate approves a bill that will stop all wind energy projects in the state for four years
- Ontario, Canada: series of calls for moratoria, increased monitoring for compliance, 91 councils to date, TRCA, and offshore Great Lakes moratorium 2011
- Dan Engert, Town Supervisor, Somerset, New York, defends the town’s right to “develop and plan and zone appropriately for purposes of health, safety and the general well being” of residents. The zoning code amendments, introduced Dec. 13, “constitute an outright ban on commercial-scale wind turbines in this small, rural community.”
- Coming, a ban in Savoy, Mass.
This is a small sample list, and we expect 2018 to achieve many more hold-outs and pushbacks, and firm moratoria, bans, prohibitive requirements, setbacks. Let’s not forget this year’s formidable global list of research, writing, and the importance of the recent Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision.
This Season we also salute and bid adieu to Wind Turbinator Number One, Jim Vanden Boogart of Greenleaf, Wisconsin. Jim and wife Barbara are famous world wide for their leadership of Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy (BCCRWE). Barbara and family, please accept our deepest condolences. It is a tremendous loss to all of us, and we thank you for your tireless work on behalf of victims at the Shirley Project. Rest in Peace. Condolences and memories can be registered here.
To all our warrior friends everywhere, thank you all for your tireless courage, imagination, and dedication. Blessings at this Holiday Season, and Happy New Year! There are too many of you to specially recognize, but you know who you are.