Black Nubble turbines

As your editorial on wind turbines, “Wind and Snow” (BDN, Aug. 15), suggests, it is important to retain, as is, certain undeveloped wild lands, with their unfragmented wildlife habitats, such as Redington Mountain. At the same time, we do need to support and even encourage renewable forms of clean energy and to decrease this nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

The developer of the proposed wind turbines tried to build them on Sugarloaf Mountain in the 1990s which was a sensible idea – build such structures within already developed areas. However, evidently the geology and soils of that area precluded that development.

The reasonable compromise solution recommended to the Land Use Regulatory Commission by the Natural Resources Council of Maine would permanently protect undeveloped Redington Mountain and allow wind turbines on Black Nubble Mountain.

Nothing is perfect, but to me it is far better to accept some construction intrusions and visual impacts from wind turbines, than to continue with the damaging impacts from coal mining, resulting in dirty air from coal-fired power plants, and the renewed pressure for oil and gas drilling in wilderness lands and off-shore waters.

I hope the developer will take steps to modify his proposal to include Black Nubble only, and other groups will drop their opposition and work toward a settlement. Further, I hope future developers will search for appropriate farm lands, and other areas less sensitive than Redington Mountain for these necessary structures.

Diane Walker

Stonington