Write-in candidate for governor Annette Smith amped up her rhetoric on wind energy today during an appearance on WDEV-FM’s “The Mark Johnson Show,” comparing wind turbines to “a terrorist” landing in your community.
“Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m sorry, I thought wind was going to be part of the solution,” Smith told the radio host. “When you work on the wind issue, and you go into these communities — it’s like a terrorist has landed in your community.”
Here’s audio of the quote:
Smith: “Don’t shoot the messenger.“
Smith, who is waging a write-in campaign as an independent after narrowly losing a write-in campaign for the Progressive nomination, appeared on Johnson’s show to talk about her campaign and her choice to remain at the head of the nonprofit advocacy group Vermonters for a Clean Environment, among other topics.
Smith’s no stranger to strong words about wind development. In March, she told me developers are “making climate-change victims out of the people who live around the projects” — to which climate change activist Bill McKibben, a supporter of wind development, retorted that there are plenty of people and places around the world that better qualify as victims.
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We live on Vinalhaven over a half a mile from 3 industrial sized 1.5 GE turbines. Our “community wind” project has torn our community apart. Fox Islands Electric hired RSE, an acoustical firm in Brunswick, Maine, to study Vinalhaven’s chosen wind site. They predicted that noise would be a serious problem for neighbors. Fox Islands Wind, our community wind developer, did not like what RSE had to say, fired them, and hired Acentech of Mass.. Acentech, using modeling from wind sites in the midwest , predicted that the turbine noise would be masked by the sound of the wind in the trees. The Acentech model completely ignored the issue of wind shear and therefore their modeling is wrong and those of us living near the turbines are paying the price for their serious mistake. Even with the new “owls wing” technology which reduces noise in moderate winds, when the wind picks up the turbine throbbing begins. The turbine noise on Vinalhaven is horrific! Fox Islands Wind continues to spend a fortune on lawyers in an effort to hide their sound data and to avoid taking responsibility for the tremendous mistakes they made in putting the turbines too close to homes and on a relatively small site that required that the turbines be placed in a triangular formation, thus downwind of each other. Those of us who live near the turbine suffer daily with the frustration of the constant noise. It is WRONG to ask individuals to live under these impossible conditions. My family has experienced serious health effects, but cannot afford to move. Who would buy our house? Is there no recourse? Where is the Maine DEP and the legislature who should help citizens such as us! Why hasn’t the EPA stepped in?? From what we can tell, thanks to the taxpayer dollars and investors’ desire for money, people who live near turbines are being sold out. As Annette says, we are the sacrificial lambs and our numbers are growing! It is TIME to pass some serious federal legislation which will not only insist on a 1.25 mile set back from industrial sized turbines, but also provide assistance for people who live near turbines and whose homes and savings have been wiped out! Thank you, Annette, for your voice.
We’re all NIMBYs, it’s just that the turbines ARE in my back yard, and NOT in yours (yet).
This is how it happened to us, and could happen to you:
· A turbine shows up within a mile and a half mile of your house (or in your backyard).
· The noise is awful. You can’t stand it. You can’t sleep and suffer from the lack. You even get sick.
· You need to move, but to do that you need to sell this place first.
· You can’t sell because nobody else wants the noise either. Who would buy your house?
· So you have to stay and endure the noise. And you suffer.
· Your house is virtually unmarketable, which means your major asset is nearly worthless.
· This is a huge “theft†of your money, the equity in your house, and most of your net worth.
· Your financial future is devastated. Now what are you going to do?
· And you still suffer impaired sleep and its health effects from the noise.
· So you can ask yourself, what is the most important thing on YOUR voting agenda?
Guess what. All of your arguments have been made to the legislature, to the PSB, and to anyone else who’ll listen to you, and your side lost.
“” because you hate development that you don’t want to see.”
You seem to be stuck on this – view is the LAST thing that people object to. How old are you, anyway?
Sutton what do you know about wind energy? I can go down the whole list of why it will always be expensive, why it doesn’t lower CO2, why there are lots better ways to lower our impact on the environment, why it continues to killer large amounts of birds and bats many already threatened, why it hogs and destroys open space, why building an energy source that requires 100% backup is expensive and wasteful, why a highly variable output pollutes more than a stable source like nat gas, why the wind turbine makers all go bankrupt, why nearby people and animals are harmed, how the sound propagates, why some people get sick and others don’t, why in every country they are used, the symptoms are the same, why the largest Electric company in Denmark the country with the most expereince with wind energy refuses to build land based wind turbines, why many counties give cash payment to neighbors they realize they are harming, why wind energy companies documents warn employees to stay at least 1600 ft away unless they have to approach closer….Where would you like to begin with your technical knowledge?
a houseperson? who are you and why are you so mysoginist? is a houseperson the same thing as a stay at home mom…if so, in my experience stay at home moms are some of the most knowledgeable, well rounded and common sense individuals I have come across and as such are well prepared for many career transitions…including most importantly looking out for the best interests of their fellow residents! houseperson indeed! here’s to housepeople!!!!
Where do you start? Wind Energy is first and foremost a tax and ratepayer scam. Well moneyed sources erect Industrial Wind Turbines in any location…to skim off ratepayer and tax kickbacks. They can depreciated over and over by Private Equity and Investment banks as they are great source to counter balance profits. They are a plausible source of power…but sadly the truth is they increase SO2 and NO2 and do little to lower CO2. My first brush with Industrial Wind Turbines was an attempt to build them within Cape Cod National SeaShore…A NATIONAL SEASHORE!!!….Three 400 ft Industrial Wind Turbine with all the wiring and roads….the nearby tree were 40 ft high….the next tallest object was in Boston!
So myself and some liked minded people…who had chosen “Green Energy” on our electric bills started researching their contributions and effects. We were SHOCKED! Most of the their contribution is in the dead of night when the power isn’t needed…and most only produce power at 10%-30% of their rated output. The awful harm to raptors is dramatic…in California 10% of the Golden Eagle population is killed EVERYYEAR! Industrial Wind Turbines and their infrastructure is the NUMBER ONE KILLER! In NJ a study of 5 turbines showed each killed 78 bats and birds per year especially larger raptors…a Peregrine Falcon of which only 50 breed in the state was killed in YEAR ONE. The study highlighted only 12% of the killed birds are found.
A study for the Germany Gov. showed that much more CO2 could be saved by conservation and efficiency on euro by euro basis! Longtime Godfather of the Greens in Germany Fritz Vahrenholt and head of one of the largest Wind Energy Companies…just quit as he realizes that Wind Energy is expensive, intermittent and useless in the fight for Global Warming. Also go study the real world experiences of ERCOT the Texas grid operator and their use of wind energy. How Nitrous Dioxide and Sulfur Dioxide increase with their use of Wind Energy and CO2 output didn’t decline as inefficent power plants need to shadow they highly variable wind. Or how the up and down nature of wind energy versus our requirement of stable electricity harmed existing power plants…causing them to be taken out of service and costing hundreds of millions of dollar!
Remember that not one fossil fuel plant can be closed because wind isn’t there 70-90% of the time!!! So you need to pay for both power plants….The cost of wholesale electricity is 3-5 cents…you pay wind operators around 20 cent for their electricity(that is on top of tax credits, accelerated deprecation and other “incentives”) Remember the Gov of Maine thought it was such a sure thing he quit to make money in wind energy which he made the rules for!
The number of sound studies and negative experiences are too numerous and occur in every country where wind energy exists…many countries paying directly for people’s suffering! Australia passed a law requiring at least 1.25 miles from Industrial Wind Turbines to neighbors!
In the crowded Eastern part of the US…almost every wind installation is being contested in expensive lawsuit after lawsuit…with large public outcries. And don’t forget that most wind energy makers are going bankrupt as the maintenance costs are a nightmare and full overhauls are required at least every 8 years. In Delaware their One installation just required a full replacement after it was struck by lightening! Wind Energy is a nightmare of problems with no benefit except brownie points for electric companies or money for deep pocketed investors. Nature and People don’t win!
I would like to add to the “choice tidbits” chosen by this poster to sum up the “findings” of the Mass Wind Turbine Health Impact “study” released in January of 2012.
From the Mass DEP DPH report:
“It is acknowledged that noise from wind
turbines can be annoying to some and associated with some reported health
effects (e.g., sleep disturbance) (p. 29)
“Given the effects of sleep deprivation on
health and well-being, including problems with mood and cognition, it is
possible that cognitive and mood complaints and other medical or psychological
issues associated with sleep loss can stem from living in immediate proximity
to wind turbines, if the turbines disrupt sleep.†(p. 32-33)
Governor Patrick’s quote on the report:
“…
further study is needed to look at health impacts from “annoyance†for
residents who live near turbines.â€
Also, to the good people of Vermont…please know the residents of the most recently impacted Massachusetts community, Scituate, Ma have now engaged their Board of Health…the adverse impacts to health and well-being are reported by residents that live in excess of half a mile…one family is reported to be 3,500 feet from their single turbine. The notion that adverse impacts are relegated to those living under 1/2 mile from industrial wind turbines IS SIMPLY FALSE.
I am sorry to say that I do not respect this poster, as the quotes, or tidbits, she chose to share from the Mass DEP DPH health impact study were, in my honest opinion, misleading to your readers. I personally attended a meeting with one of the panel members from the study, a Boston University professor…when asked why people from all over the world are falling ill/having their health impacted her response was “IT IS CLEAR TO ME THAT INDUSTRIAL WIND TURBINES ARE SITED TOO CLOSE TO RESIDENTS HOMES”…the problem at this point is that there is no governmental agency pushing for answers to protect the citizens of this country, wonder why?
Please find some information regarding the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) and the so called ‘report’ produced by the so called ‘independent expert’ panel. MA citizens repeatedly called, emailed and met with DEP and DPH senior officials since June 2, 2010. As an example see a quote from letter to DEP and DPH by MA citizens on 7/25/11:
“We were assured by highly regarded administrators of DPH that the experts chosen for the panel will be totally independent and unbiased, and that no member of the expert panel has ever been paid, or is currently being paid, by the wind energy industry, pro-wind advocacy organizations, wind developers, or any related industries. We also respectfully request that:
* The meetings of the expert panel are public meetings and that public hearings be held so the public is able to speak to the panel and to appropriately express concerns in a timely manner but without a three minute time limit.
* At least one seat at the table of this expert panel be from the unfortunate group of over 50 physically ill citizens in the town of Falmouth, MA who are living with wind turbines that are sited too close to their homes.
* The DEP set up a citizens’ advisory committee.â€
http://windwisema.org/press-pa…
In spite of major objections concerning the process that DEP employed, DEP selected cherry picked biased panel members, the panel met in secret, no member of the public was chosen to participate and no member of the public was able to sit in on any of the panel meetings, and the panel did not even visit locations where people in MA living in the proximity to wind turbines are sick (which was part of the Scope of Work as stated by DEP). There are now 20 such locations in MA that we know of.
The following link shows a 16 page overview that was submitted to DEP for review of the DEP panel members. This document was sent in July of 2011 along with over 200 documents demonstrating the adverse health impacts of wind turbines, including the text of 82 letters from MA citizens and others around the world who live in the proximity to wind turbines: http://windwisema.files.wordpr…
Below please find links to what some experts wrote about the report of the DEP panel. This report has been called what it is – junk science: http://windwisema.org/2012/01/… http://windwisema.org/2012/03/… http://windwisema.org/after-tu… http://windwisema.org/2012/03/…
Below please find a link to the testimony of some MA citizens following the release of the DEP panel findings. http://windwisema.org/bourne-h…
Below please find a link to information about how DEP marketed their panel report and why there is a problem with how DEP spins this work of fiction: http://windwisema.org/after-tu…
Actually, it’s Annette who’s the aggressor. She steps in and opposes everything. She offers no solutions. And what’s worse, after she loses a fight, she whines and complains that the game wasn’t fair because she didn’t get her way, and supports undemocratic civil disobedience against the will of the majority. So who’s the aggressor?