Controlling Wind Energy Programs

By Rich Kozlovich

I’ve been tied up with things lately so I’m behind in posting a recent note I received from John Droz, Jr., physicist and environmental advocate, about how to go about dealing with wind energy programs, many of which are mandated and subsidized by the federal government and state governments, which Ohio numbers among.  He went on to say;

“There have been some extremely interesting recent developments regarding writing local wind energy laws so I decided to write up a brief layperson's summary document about what's going on.

Although it is written from a US perspective, there are elements of it that will apply to anyone interested in this issue, anywhere.”

John takes a different approach than many, as to what needs to be done, but it clearly is an effective approach.  John says;

“Regulate Wind Energy —In North Carolina we have taken this route — and it has proven to be very successful. The KEY premise behind this choice is that regulations are not about excluding wind energy, but rather to provide reasonable protections to citizens, existing businesses and the local environment. environment.”

He went on to say;

I can not emphasize the importance of that perspective too strongly! 

He then goes on to explain how and why, and I have to agree since this is the kind of thing the green activists have done and done successfully when they opposed some product or action.  Then he outlines options:

Prohibit Wind Energy: Option 1 —One of my other activities has been to assist my NY town in fighting off a proposed major commercial water extraction business. Over the last ten years the history of this is a very long story — but so far we have been successful.  Right now the town is reviewing its options for an ordinance, and we have  been ably assisted by some very competent attorneys……. 

Prohibit Wind Energy: Option 2 — Under the category of “There’s more than one way to skin a cat” you should be aware of an organization called Community Environmental Defense Legal Fund (CELDF). They go about addressing these types of situations (industrial wind energy) in a completely different way…….

These quotes are mere highlights to motivate interest. Please read the whole presentation because success is in the planning.  Successful planning is based on history.