Green Mountain State Blasting Its Mountain Tops To Make Way For 450-Foot Industrial Wind Turbines

Sometimes I don’t know whether to sympathize with the protesters, or to tell them “I told ya so, stupid”. This industrialization of Vermont’s landscape is happening because these environmentalists originally spurred it all on with their ridiculous protect-the-climate nonsense, led by kook, dimwit senators like Bernie Sanders.


This is Green Energy? Let’s call it the Bernie Sanders Environmental Rescue Reserve.

Now the protesters are horrified at the consequences of their earlier stupidity and climate folly. Vermont has already ruined the Sheffield heights ridgeline, and now they are busily doing the same to the ridgeline of the Lowell Mountains, both are just a few miles from my boyhood home.

The protest is small but gathering in size and momentum. But I’m afraid it’s all a little too late though. You just don’t spend millions in planning, permitting and site preparation only to abandon the project. It’s definitely going to happen. At this point all we can hope for is that it’ll put the brakes on the other landscape desecration projects slated for elsewhere. I know the next time I’ll be driving there I’ll be seeing a massive industrial complex where once a beautiful mountain ridgeline once stood.

Sure you get more wind on a mountain-top. But I know the climate of Northern Vermont, and it aint that windy. Nobody can honestly say that they are going to reach anywhere near 20% capacity for these 450-foot windmills. There just isn’t that much wind there – look at the video. See any wind?

What’s really stupid is that 95% of Vermont’s energy was CO2-free to begin with. But who cares, let’s blast the mountain tops off and industrialize them, and pretend we’ve rescued the planet like real heroes.

As far as the protesters are concerned, I have to wish them the best of luck. I encourage them to do whatever it takes to stop this true environmental crime now taking place in Lowell. I’d trespass in a minute if I were there. James Hansen and Greenpeace do it all the time; get right in their faces. If the law fails, then you have to force it until it works again. I’m not advocating violence, just a peaceful protest. Readers ought to donate whatever they can, at least write a message of support. What’s happening here is not law, it’s the law selling out.

The protesters have started a blog, and updates are being provided. http://lowellmountainsnews.wordpress.com/

I really don’t want to write about this – it’s just too difficult.

 

14 responses to “Green Mountain State Blasting Its Mountain Tops To Make Way For 450-Foot Industrial Wind Turbines”

  1. DirkH

    Reminds me of Krugman, who has in his latest column praised solar as cost efficient RSN, and fracking as devilish – mentioning as one of the disadvantages of fracking “heavy trucking that inflicts major damage on roads”.

    http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/It-s-time-for-solar-power-Paul-Krugman-2257045.php

    He didn’t mention wind farm construction, unfortunately.

    1. Ed Caryl

      You can say the same thing about wind turbine construction. Have you seen the trucks they use to transport the tower sections, blades, generators, and housings? They need special permits and escorts because of length, width, and load.

      1. DirkH

        Ed, I don’t know how often I have overtaken the huge convoys on the Autobahn – heavy load trucks, three of them carrying one blade each, one or two carrying trunk segments. They travel in the night, like heavy load transporters often do in Germany. I was being sarcastic… Krugman condemns fracking because of “the damage to roads” yet omits the damage done by the construction of thousands of wind turbines. He’s the most reliable hipocrite.

        1. Ulrich Elkmann

          “Major damage to roads”: what kind of economics calculations is he talking about? Roads are repairable – they are designed to be, and are constantly repaired; with wind turbines, these costs are simply turned into shadow costs by foisting them off on the counties or communities; if they were factored in on the renewables sector, they would be covered by the feed-in tariffs; with the foreseeable profits from fracking the companies can easily afford to compensate for any actual damage done (since the communities would be responsible for granting drillig permits, this would not even take major arm twisting – THAT will be unavoidable if the 1000s of miles of power lines for offshore windparks are being put up par ordre du mufti). If they want to preserve their roads intact, they should just prohibit any goods moved by vehicles: damage by frost can be ruled out given that snow is now a thing of the past.

  2. biggreenlie

    Not to worry…….in less than 20 years the rusted out rotting wind turbines will be labelled the biggest environmental tragedy ever perpetrated on the World in modern history. The names of the people behind this “Green Drive’ will go down in history books as the most foul creatures that ever walked on two legs………..I know it’s small comfort that Karma will destroy these people’s lives and family futures that built these monstrosities but at least our children and their children will KNOW that “WE BLOGGERS” that fought these creatures were on the good side of humanity!…too bad it’s too late to undo this tragedy!!!!

    1. nofreewind

      biggreenlie, somehow i think they will turn this all around and be doing a green project to clean this up in 20 or 30 years.

  3. Pascvaks

    There simply must be a coorelation between ‘Type A Personality’ politicians and the propensity toward government waste and stupidity. In government, the older and wiser (not necessarily ‘smarter’) someone is the more qualified they are. I guess that’s one reason 18 year olds make great soldiers, sailors, and fighter pilots. We need to outlaw lawyers for a generation or two, too.

  4. Ulrich Elkmann

    “There simply must be a correlation between ‘Type A Personality’ politicians and the propensity toward government waste and stupidity”.
    Something of the kind: (According to Mooney, it’s of course the sceptics who cannot help being deluded: they’re simply wired that way. It should work both ways.)
    http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-eugenics-from-looney-left.html

    Biggreenlie: “…go down in history books as the most foul creatures…”
    In a just world (where these world saviors would have have been able to put their noble schemes in action anyway). There were/are better candidates for that position, mind you, and if you look how much some of them are still accorded (even, or especially, in western academic circles – just check out Slavoj Zizek singing the prasies of Stalinism, or the diverse OWS fan clubs), there’s zero hope of that happening.
    In any case, surely their noblest of intentions MUST count very large; nobody told us about unintended consequences; all that talk about blowing sceptics up à la 10:10 showed only our desperate, justified rage; we never doubted anything the Party told us, how could we; I was only following orders!

  5. Edward.

    Is this primary forest?

    Surely there must be laws preventing the construction of these useless eyesores in an area such as this?
    And as Ed points out, the logistics involved here are monumental – carbon footprint off the scale.

    This is a madness too far.

  6. Green Mountain State Blasting Its Mountain Tops To Make Way For 450-Foot Industrial Wind Turbines | Sullivan's Travelers

    […] Read the entire story at No Tricks Zone […]

  7. GregO

    Pierre,

    I’m sorry to hear your beloved mountains are to be defiled by these monstrosities.

    I agree with biggreenlie above that in some time in our future – 20 to 30 years sounds reasonable – we will look back on these windmills as a sort of Easter Island Mora; totally futile; totally irrational; a total waste of precious resource.

    Religious Icons.

    Monumental human stupidity.

    Pity so few of us see it now.

  8. Bernd Felsche

    Pierre wrote:
    “The protesters are small but gathering in size and momentum”

    Are they being fed lots of hormone-enhanced fast-food? 😉

    Would perhaps be better to say
    “The protest is small but gathering in size and momentum”

    As for the green mountain state, “I told you so” would make a good bumper sticker.

    Those who dream, do not see.

  9. How the Greens have DESTROYED Lowell Mtn. in Vermont!……..TRAGIC!!! « The Big Green Lie

    […] Last fall I wrote about how self-anointed environmental mastermind politicians in my homestate of Vermont bulldozed public opposition, lots of trees and finally the top of Lowell Mountain to make way for “climate-saving” 450-foot industrial wind turbines. Read here and here. […]

  10. Vermont mountains decapitated and deforested to ‘save the planet’. | Quixotes Last Stand

    […] The Green Wave — How Vermont Protects the Environment Last fall I wrote about how self-anointed environmental mastermind politicians in my homestate of Vermont bulldozed public opposition, lots of trees and finally the top of Lowell Mountain to make way for “climate-saving” 450-foot industrial wind turbines. Read here and here. […]

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. More information at our Data Privacy Policy

Close