SOS posts facts, testimonials from other communities battling ‘Big Wind’

Editor:

What’s in SOS Facebook page? According to one Apex supporter it is a collection of fear-mongering designed to misinform local citizens and scare them away from the financial savior that will be Lighthouse Wind, if it is permitted.

But really, what is SOS Facebook?

At the top of the page for the last ten days is a link to the New York Independent Operator System real-time Fuel Mix. It is the state’s report that shows minute-by-minute the fuel being used by New York State. It was first posted April 23 and has been viewed by 8,179 people so far, a very popular post. Why? The NYISO pie chart indicated that the fuel mix showed that wind energy was supplying 0.19% of wind that morning, as compared to the other 99% from hydro, nuclear, natural gas, and dual fuel.

Is this post scary? Only if you are paying taxes in NYS and realize that our utility surcharges and state taxes are heavily funding Big Wind companies for their tiny contribution.  Hydropower is clean, renewable, dependable (not intermittent like wind) and easily supplies at least one-third of New York’s energy on any given day.  By the way, SOS supports this kind of renewable energy, which does not need government subsidies.

The next post is a report of an election in Huron County, Michigan, that voted down by an overwhelming margin two wind projects, DTE Energy and NextEra Energy. Huron County leads the state in wind development. Maybe that’s the reason these people voted 130 IWTs down by 36-63%. They know something. Does this post strike fear? Only if you fear for the future of Apex in our towns.

Following that is an editorial by Annette Smith, president of Vermonters for a Clean Environment.  She provides a short tutorial on dBA (audible noise) and dBC (low-frequency noise).  Industrial wind turbines produce both, which is why Vermont public service agencies need to account for both kinds in establishing setbacks to protect nearby residents. Does information from Vermont strike fear in you?

After that is the Batavia Daily News 17-minute live coverage (from 5/1) of the Batavia Town Planning Board’s meeting with EWT Direct Wind, proposing a project in the town.  Interestingly, the EWT rep addressing Batavia’s planning board tries to set their fears aside when he says, “Just so you know, we’re not one of these companies who want to come in an railroad it. In Somerset, a big wind company tried to come in and push the whole agenda.” (Indeed, even fellow wind company representatives know when a small town is being railroaded into submission.)

The post after that is the latest article from energy author Robert Bryce, who covers the wind industry nationwide. His article is about the wind industry’s trend to sue small communities to get their way. His article focuses on NextEra’s five lawsuits against rural communities that stand between them and millions in tax subsidies. Bryce didn’t even mention Apex’s lawsuit against the Town of Somerset.

It might be easy criticism of SOS to say that it uses fear as a tactic to fight Apex. SOS has included testimony of people living too close to wind turbines, who have health issues from them. SOS had shared a post two weeks ago about the Irish High Court in Dublin that will be deciding precedent-setting punitive damages against a wind company. That’s scary if you’re a wind company. Seven families in rural Ireland had to abandon their homes due to their horrible experiences near the wind turbines.  Somerset and Yates residents fear that for themselves.

We encourage the public to continue to visit the SOS Facebook page for real information. What’s really scary? An uninformed public.

Christine Bronson

Barker