“I represent David Blittersdorf”

It’s a shame the renewable energy revolution seems to be going off the rails, at least in some of these cases, and has instead, for some, become just another way to acquire wealth at the expense of the environment. This is not exactly what I had in mind when I first learned about the new ways of generating energy that avoided pushing ever more CO2 into the atmosphere. When we put solar panels on our roof several years ago, we were thinking this was the wave of the future. Not, however, massive 400 foot wind towers across the ridge lines and thousands solar panels covering hundreds of acres of what were once open fields and woodlands. Besides the environmental impact of doing this, there is an aesthetic and economic impact: people don’t come to our state to see solar panels and wind towers covering the landscape. It’s as if, if it involves renewable energy, anything goes. Maybe we rushed into this a little too fast, when, in reality, these newer energy producing industries need to be reigned in and regulated just as much as any other industry that has an environmental impact. Vermonters for a Clean Environment was one of the first in-state groups to recognize this that I’m aware of, so this state “probe” comes off as nothing more than political harassment to me. Beyond meeting state goals of reducing CO2 pollution, the Public Service Board needs to also more closely consider and weigh into their decisions the direct environmental and aesthetic impact these projects have on our state.