(Disclaimer: I speak for myself in this op-ed article, not anyone else).

The Bethany Open House passed without incident last night. Very few residents showed up to view the available report, so there are many copies left at the Town Hall (hint, hint, go get one while they're free).

TAXES

I will say I was unhappy with the cover letter that accompanied the reports last night -- it listed the tax inflation over the next twenty years as being 50%. Well, sure, but due to inflation EVERYTHING will go up 50% over the next twenty years. That does not necessarily mean that we need turbines to survive.

I am pleased to see that the LINY network has just passed the mark of 50 registered users. Since the average user-to-reader ration is 1:100, that puts us at about 5,000 readers. I am delighted!

I hope you're finding some good facts and interesting discussion re:wind power generation. If you're lurking here, feel free to sign up for an account so that you can subscribe to a thread or topic and be sent an email whenever an update is posted. While you may occasionally get an email from the leader of any group you subscribe to, I promise you will get no spam.

Interestingly enough, I just got a call from a NYC-based survey company called ORC Macro. They wanted to know if I supported wind energy generation facilities in my town. I was only allowed to answer if I was a registered voter, so that makes me think that maybe one of the candidates is feeling out the issue.

Anyway, questions...

How familiar are you with wind generation facilities and plans for your town?

I am posting this link here even though it's not NYS because it is an interesting legal precedent. I have not seen this before.

In short, a town which does not want wind turbines is filing a protest against surrounding towns, demanding that turbines be at least 1.5 miles from the border. Very interesting.

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/10/12/news/doc452db74f895a3575662579.txt

As I stood in my living room, talking to my family about something else, I saw a long, white, cylindrical object fly down the road in front of my home.

I jumped to my feet.

"Holy crap! That's a turbine tower section!" I almost yelled at my husband. We discussed it for a bit, couldn't figure out where on earth they would be heading that had already approved the monsters (at least in that direction) and decided it must be a cell or water tower section instead.

The sermon at our church this week was on the 'fruit of the Spirit': love; joy; peace; patience; kindness; goodness; faithfulness; gentleness; self-control. As I listened to the words, I couldn't help but think of the wind turbine meetings I've attended. None of these qualities are practiced or present in these meetings and I think that, more than anything else, is tearing the towns apart.

We need a little love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control at these meetings. We really do.

When I first heard that wind turbines were heading for Genesee County, I was thrilled. Understand, I am a card-carrying member of Greenpeace, the WWF; and I "own" a small patch of rainforest and a whale through environmental groups. I drive a gas-electric hybrid because it is environmentally responsible. Clean, safe, renewable energy and the preservation of our planet is a goal I've had long before I'd ever heard of UPC, Invenergy or Horizon.

The Alexander Fireman's Rec Hall emptied both physically and emotionally Thursday night in an absurd informational meeting. I found it distressing on so many levels, I can hardly begin to deal with it.

Let's start with with my brief role as insider on Sunday, when I got a call just hours before a Concerned Citizen's meeting and was asked to attend and collaborate on the format of an upcoming informational meeting as well as to present on that occasion. I arrived at Sandra's house with notes, photos, ideas and some degree of excitement. I know that this group is a closed, select one. They have rejected others who wanted to help – it was for this very reason that I had never tried. I was invited to work with the elite anti-turbine group!

As a wind power proponent and safety advocate, I'm getting really aggravated by folks on BOTH sides of the debate. It's time we started looking at facts, not someone who's "never heard" (read: never bothered to research) problems on the other side of their opinion.

Wind power will NOT significantly reduce our need for foreign oil. Wind power supplies electricity and only about 2% of our national need for oil is used to produce electricity. The vast majority of it goes into our cars. Add China to the picture and this will not significantly help the war or the price of oil.

I normally give people the benefit of the doubt until they do something that makes me see otherwise. I gave Chris Swartley a good deal of rope because he's in a tough spot (I wouldn't want to be there!), but boy did he blow it last week. The letter to the editor that he submitted to the Daily had a series of really interesting and debatable statements -- but my favorite was his dismissal of the flicker effect.