It’s All About the Siting

While Governor Patrick touts solar goals met under green communities initiatives, the wind build-up is lagging. The solar gains are impressive and that’s because they are on a reasonable scale–relatively affordable, with incentives for businesses and homeowners in some locations, and easy to hook up to the utility grid. The photo-op on July 25, 2013 at Massachusetts Maritime Academy was reported in the Cape Cod Times (“Governor calls green energy a success” by Patrick Cassidy).

Wind, on the other hand, requires massive capital in both investment and equipment. Wind turbines have also demanded forest road-building for the Hoosac Project, massive foundations across the state, and need ample distance from residents so as not to threaten health and well-being from noise and inaudible vibrations.

That’s why Lilli-Ann Green expressed her concern with the premise that more wind energy is a benefit.

The Green Communities Act calls for the “as-of-right siting” for alternative energy projects, Wellfleet resident Lilli-Ann Green of the group Wind Wise Massachusetts said in a telephone interview later Wednesday. “As-of-right siting” means a project does not require a special permit, variance, amendment or waiver.

“The Green Communities Act has already led to wind turbine projects in places like Falmouth, Fairhaven and Scituate where the normal processes that give abutters rights were not carried out and now people are sick because they live too close to wind turbines,” she said.

It’s really a shame that while “The state’s current solar capacity is enough to power 42,000 homes or reduce emissions equal to taking 29,000 cars off the road, Patrick said,” the transportation systems have no incentives to take another 29,000 cars off the road–which would really help green Massachusetts communities. Reducing auto pollution would have much more effect than erecting another set of wind turbine towers.