Wind towers for some, not others

When I read the Page One headline “LURC stymies western Maine wind power project” in Thursday’s newspaper, it occurred to me that the story might also have legitimately carried the subhead, “Another great idea falls victim to pervasive Not-In-My-Backyard Syndrome.” The 90-megawatt project has been proposed for Redington Township near the Sugarloaf /USA ski and golf resort.

Recalling a conversation I had several years ago with a fellow skeptic about the proposed Mars Hill Mountain Defacement Project and Wind Farm Lashup that was then fast becoming a reality, I snickered. And, I must say, a most derisive snicker it was, too.

At the time, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, citing “the need to reduce the impact of electricity generation on the health of Maine people and the environment,” had just endorsed the Mars Hill project. “The time has come to start harnessing some of Maine’s strong winds for the purpose of generating clean, renewable energy,” a council spokesman said. Full speed ahead, and damn the torpedoes.

I told my old newspaper chum that this endorsement seemed a bit odd to me, considering that the NRCM has never been an outfit to miss a chance to rail against the allegedly debilitating effects of visual pollution on its sizable “green” membership. And if ever there were to be an Exhibit A of visual pollution to revile, you’d think it would be an ugly line of 380-foot-tall windmills planted atop one of the state’s more impressive and accessible mountains.

He suggested the real test for the environmentalist crowd would come when a wind farm is proposed for an area nearer and dearer to the heart of the greenies than some project way the hell up in The County, out of sight and out of mind. Boy, did he ever nail it.

Flash forward to Thursday’s newspaper story: “The Land Use Regulation Commission voted 6-1 to order its staff to submit a document calling for denial of the Redington Township project after members expressed concerns about its visual impact, a big step toward rejection,” the report stated. The staff had recommended approval.

“[Developer] Maine Mountain Power’s project drew opposition from some residents of the western Maine area as well as outdoors and environmental groups, who said the windmills would spoil scenic views from the Sugarloaf/USA ski resort and the Appalachian Trail, and pose a threat to rare species of plants and animals,” the article continued.

Jennifer Burns, staff attorney for Maine Audubon, which joined hiking groups in opposing the windmill plan, applauded the LURC action. The commissioners “upheld the laws that protect unique, spectacular areas in Maine,” Burns said. Spoiling the scenic view for Just Plain Folks in the central Aroostook area by turning one

of its unique and spectacular God-given landmarks into something akin to a monstrous geologic pincushion is one thing. Ruining a scenic view for the upscale skiers and golfers of Sugarloaf and their shirttail cousins of the Appalachian Trail is quite another.

This tale of two mountainous areas – one a great natural resource to be fiercely protected, the other apparently not so much – illustrates the continuing dilemma of the green contingent. On the one hand they tout wind power as the greatest invention since the three-martini lunch, and a swell way to help fend off that favorite bogeyman of the moment, so-called global warming. On the other hand, they never met a tree they couldn’t just hug to pieces, nor a scenic view that was not to die for. When wind turbines inconveniently threaten to help save the planet by turning up in places the greenies have taken a blood oath to protect from encroaching civilization, they are caught between a rock and a hard place.

What to do?

I believe this is what is known as a moral quandary. At some point in our lives, most of us have found, or will find, ourselves in one. But honesty compels me to acknowledge a belief that some such predicaments have more of an air of poetic justice about them than do others.

So ask not why I snicker when a headline screams “LURC stymies western Maine wind power project.” Mostly, I snicker in tribute to those virtuous souls who believe a 380-foot-tall wind tower to be a work of art when attached to someone else’s mountain off beyond the horizon, but an unacceptable abomination when advertised as coming soon to a ridge near them. Not that it’s always a snicker, or snigger, mind you. Often it’s a smirk, sneer or snort. And on occasion it’s merely a sardonic grin.

BDN columnist Kent Ward lives in Limestone. Readers may contact him via e-mail at olddawg@bangordailynews.net.