Blowback: Township's Citizens Override Board's Vote for Wind Project

The  Wizard of Oz story is an instructive parable to many problems that we face in everyday life whether we choose to do so is another matter.  If you recall a big wind whisks Dorothy Gale's house all the way to Oz just to land on a nasty witch.  Dorothy takes the witch's shoes and has a whole host of adventures, just to lose her ultimate goal, which was to get back to her (no-place-like) home when the humbug wizard's balloon lifts off without her.

All her hopes may have been dashed, except Glinda the Good comes and informs her an amazing bit of news:  "You've always had the power... (but) you wouldn't have believed me, you had to find out for yourself."

You'll also notice Dorothy comes to a stark revelation:  "... if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard.  Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with"

Many residents of our county's Riverton Township lost the battle to keep the sanctity of what they had in their own backyard, because our county's officials and Consumer's Energy desired to put 57 nearly-500 ft. tall wind turbines throughout the township.  Those landowners that were paid handsomely by Consumer's to erect the turbines on their property in secret agreements obviously were in favor of the construction, however, these behemoths that posed health, aesthetic and safety problems to nearby lots without offering them some compensation for this, has led to numerous disaffected homeowners and legal actions. 

In Mason County, big wind had it mostly figured out.  They received favorable decisions by the County Commission and Planning Department setting the foundation for this development, after securing locations through agreements, all featuring confidentiality clauses, with landowners throughout Riverton and Summit Townships.  By the time any resistance formed by the normally laid-back township folks, the deal was already through and ready for groundbreaking.   

Huron County, located on the opposite side of the state, has already seen the effects of wind developers on their county.  Huron County actually has more wind turbines than all of Michigan’s other counties combined. They have recently even declared a temporary moratorium on further wind development while its officials work on adopting tighter siting restrictions for turbines.

What seems to have triggered this March 2015 moratorium?  Perhaps it was the reaction of the good people of Meade Township who organized a concerted effort to fight back when the Meade Township Board voted 4-1 to introduce up to 48 wind turbines in that township back in November 2014.  Enough wind-energized local residents gathered enough signatures to place the issue on the May ballot in order to have the board’s decision overturned.  A quixotic dream?

It turns out not to be; the voter's of Meade Township rejected their board's approval of the wind factory by a vote of 222 to 147. 

The Meade vote was no surprise at all,” said Kevon Martis director of the Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition (IICC), a nonprofit organization that is concerned about the construction of wind turbines in the region. “When the people who will actually live inside wind energy plants get to vote on whether they prefer their community as it has been since time immemorial or covered with dozens of 50-story noisy mechanical devices, peace and tranquillity wins every time.”

“In every Michigan township that has ever had the opportunity to vote on wind, the ratio of voters who disapprove to those who approve is always the same: roughly 60 percent opposed, 40 percent in favor,” Martis added. “Take away the wind lease money and the ratio would be more like 85 percent opposed to 15 percent in favor.”

Detroit Edison, who lost out on their dreams for a wind energy plant in Meade Township, will now have to explore areas outside Huron County, because the locals have wised up, and know how to defeat them.  Detroit Edison, Consumer's Energy, etc., will now have to develop more tricks to sneak these into unwary counties and other places that aren't wise to them.   

Do not expect your local county or township board to protect your interests.   A majority can be easily brought off with inducements of increased tax revenue, lower energy costs, higher sustainability, greater resilience, or many other horses of a different color:

But don't be fooled.  The ultimate power can be found within you and your neighbors.  Meade Township has reminded us what any other township in the state can do, and that is become well-informed and get involved with direct democracy solutions when your governing body fails you and your interests.  If your heart's desire is found in your own backyard, like Dorothy's, you need to fight them or you will lose it

Views: 575

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Another very informative article X. I feel sorry for the Huron County residents who are trapped amongst all of those towers. I am posting a link that lists most of the articles written about Huron's wind experiment. It is sort of a time line showing the beginning of the process to the moratorium put in place by the county. At the beginning of the wind experiment there was a proposal to install up to 5000 turbines in the "thumb" area and now the residents want a halt to the installations to catch their collective breaths. I guess all that optimism turned sour. Can anyone imagine what Mason County would look like with 5,000 turbines.

http://www.knowwind.org/huron_county.htm

A telling quote by Margaret Mead is at the top of that website:  "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Great ideas and results. Only problem is around here, the citizens don't get to VOTE on anything the councils/commissions do on all matters. They like it this way, and want it to continue this way in Mason County. That way they, and all their cronies, rule the outcome of every decision, be it good, or in more than ever cases of late, bad decisions for locals to live with. Now, all we need is someone to put magic slippers on Shyster Shay, to take him back home in 2 seconds, and keep him there forevermore. 

The citizens of Ludington are the ones who need the magic ruby slippers in order to click three times and take us to a Ludington functioning without corrupted leaders and other humbugs.  Using the same reference movie, we need a proverbial bucket of water to deal with Shay and his trained monkeys. 

Notice the Torch burning brightly in the background.

RSS

© 2024   Created by XLFD.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service