I read an interesting article today in the NYT about environmentalists opposing construction of a turbine manufacturing plant and system control center on a relatively remote island off the coast of main. The wind farm it would create and manage would be miles off shore and could potentially generate all of the electric needs of the state. Yes it would disturb a breeding ground for eagles. Yes it would limit the recreation possibilities of the island. The island would no longer be a peaceful sanctuary. It would be a manufacturing hub.
It is easy to dismiss this as a not-in-my-backyard issue. Which I'm sure a lot of it is. But to me it is more than that. It explains why these kind of projects get relegated and finally approved when hidden in the low rent communities. Apparently poor people don't live in pretty enough places to save, don't hire enough lawyers to voice their disapproval, and don't have a quality of life worth protecting. So environmentalist who are trying to stop this wind farm in Maine are not only hypocritical about their desire to halt climate change, they are also classists.
The truth is that it is free to rail against the harmful effects of fossil fuel, but surely everyone knows it's gonna cost something to replace it. My new life is now in Arizona where the state offers mining operations more rights than its citizens. Mountains are leveled. Land is scarred. Air and water is polluted. I see my job as a concerned citizen not to stop mining (society always will claim it needs whatever is being mined), but rather to fight to mitigate environmental impacts. No community should have to jeopardize its safety or health for the greater good. Even communities that don't attract tourists.
But the truth is, in my experience, that no community (no matter how beautiful) has ever changed what society wants. A steam roller doesn't stop for a pebble. But a community can influence how society gets it. We can slow down the steam roller. We can steer it away from a habitat. We can insist it not belch diesel, or excrete toxins.
But if it is beauty that is sacrificed, and if that beauty is enjoyed by a rarified few, then maybe we need to reassess what we think is beautiful. Which would you rather see: a fracking operation that rapes the land or a wind farm that heals the land.
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