It’s OK for oil man T. Boone Pickens to build a mega wind farm in the vast, sparsely populated Texas Panhandle. There are few to complain. Relatively few will ever see it. The Not In My Back Yard factor is low. But build wind farms with skyscraper-high turbines in sight, and within earshot, of communities? Expect some backlash from the locals. And they might have a point. They have to live with it.
Some citizens in the town of Prattsburgh, New York have been fighting a wind project – Prattsburgh Wind – for five years. According to National Wind Watch, in the latest move to see the wind farm built the Town Board resolved to authorize condemnation proceedings against eight specific landowners and against "any other property" along several named roads to secure easements for transmission lines needed by the wind power project being developed by First Wind (formerly UPC Wind).
National Wind Watch (NWW), an advocacy group established in 2005 to promote knowledge and raise awareness of the negative environmental and social impacts of industrial wind energy development, has been urging stakeholders and concerned individuals to make their voices heard regarding the wind project. The group fears that the town fathers of Prattsburgh could set a precedent that may have a grave impact on all towns in New York State that are resisting not just wind development but any other kind of exploitation.
The group also says that First Wind has never proven the positive impact the wind farm will have on the town. Pickens’ company has done so for his project in Texas. The positive economic impact of Pampa Wind, as it’s known, is expected to be considerable.
(Click to read entire article)
No comments:
Post a Comment