Esther the Giant Slayer (Ontario, Canada)
Apr 8, 2013
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She’s stands 5 feet tall, weighs 100 pounds, and is going eyeball to eyeball with one of North America’s mightiest wind energy companies.
So far, neither Esther nor NextEra has blinked.
Esther Wrightman publicly and unabashedly contends NextEra Energy has committed acts of terrorism against her community—against both people and wildlife.
NextEra has responded by hiring a Toronto law firm to notify the young mother of two that they have had enough of Mrs. Wrightman referring to them as “NextTerror” or “NextError.” I quote:
All such uses of the NextEra name and logo in the Video, the Second Video and on the Website are unsanctioned, in violation of NextEra’s intellectual property rights, and defamatory.
Accordingly, please remove the Video and Second Video from YouTube.com and any other internet sites, and please remove all pages and postings from the Website that contain the altered “NEXTerror” and “Nextterror Bullies Canada Inc.” logos or the word “NextTerror” by Friday, March 22, 2013 at 5:00pm and confirm that you have done so.
Failing removal of the Video, Second Video, the “NEXTerror” and “Nextterror Bullies Canada Inc.” logos and “NextTerror” word from the Website, NextEra will take the legal steps necessary to ensure removal.
While we sincerely hope that we can engage in a discussion of these issues and that legal action will not be required, NextEra reserves all of its other legal rights and remedies, including an action for damages or defamation as appropriate.”
As of this writing, this is where matters stand. Deadlocked.
Esther tells WTS.com that she took a call this morning from a breathless reporter asking “if I had to ‘think about it’ before responding to NextEra.”
“Well yeah,” she matter-of-factly replied, “but it wasn’t a matter of whether I’d fight it; it was a matter of how I’d fight it.”
Click here to read how Esther is fighting it.
She intends to defend her charge in a court of law, if necessary, and prove that NextEra is intimidating, bullying, bungling, nasty, and hurtful to her community and protected wildlife. (NextEra recently created an uproar when it audaciously removed, with government approval, and “re-located” an active eagle’s nest in order to build wind turbines nearby. Esther and her colleagues filmed the event, which they judged—quite rightly—despicable.)
Armed with nothing more than a high school education, the unqualified support of a husband who is disabled and out of work owing to an acoustically toxic workplace, a courage and sense of righteousness to match the biblical David, and abundant brains (read her response to NextEra; a Harvard-trained lawyer could not have done better)—this mom is going to take on Mr. Big. Before a judge, if necessary. Certainly before a huge public audience. (Click open “Ontario Wind Resistance” and notice that there are, at last count, 98 Comments to Esther’s article—an article which has gone viral around the world.)
If I may address a note to Esther:
Young lady, you’re a hero! You’ve grabbed Goliath by his beard and told him he’s a bully and a philistine. And you’re not backing down, even as he threatens you with calamity.
My dear, the eyes of the world are on you. Already we are getting emails about you from Denmark, Spain, and Australia, and many from the USA and of course Canada.
Well done!”
And if I may address NextEra:
You folks have maneuvered yourselves into a corner. There is little doubt you could win a lawsuit. There is even less doubt you would lose—spectacularly—the public relations battle.
Rural Ontario is a powder keg of outrage over what wind developers like you have done to communities—a powder keg waiting for a spark to trigger massive, convulsive civil disobedience. People are made ill by wind turbines built too close to their homes. Many of these Wind Turbine Syndrome victims have abandoned their homes.
This diminutive mom may turn out to be the spark that triggers a major push-back. I suggest you re-read the Old Testament story of David & Goliath.
By the way, many of us, including Dr. Nina Pierpont and Dr. Sarah Laurie (Australia), have volunteered to testify on Esther’s behalf. Drs. Pierpont & Laurie would relish explaining to a judge and jury how wind energy companies willfully and recklessly harm people’s health. Which may be why Esther pointedly uses the word “terrorism.”
I realize you folks have no quarrel with her right to resort to the word “terrorism”; your point is that she does not have the right to pin it to your company name. As I say, legally you may be proven correct. Morally, however, may be a different story. Inevitably, a legal confrontation will generate a moral confrontation, where the latter will dwarf the former in significance.
Think carefully how you proceed down this slippery slope.
Comment by sue Hobart (Cape Cod, MA) on 04/08/2013 at 8:17 pm
nocebo…LOVE IT!
.
Editor’s note: The author, Sue Hobart, was driven out of her home in Falmouth, Mass., by the infamous “Falmouth wind turbines.” Before the wind turbines were built in Falmouth, Sue had a thriving floral shop. This was destroyed by her having to abandon her home and home business.
Comment by Sherri (Ontario) on 04/08/2013 at 8:23 pm
Many have already written to Esther to offer support, financial and otherwise. It’s just another example of Big Wind bullying. I doubt very much that Next(oops) will persist. It would be foolish to up the ante, because groups around the world will and have offered to fight this as well. I think the MOST embarrassing thing for them is the video of the Eagle nest removal, especially that nasty part where one of the hired hands says, “We are here to destroy the nest.” DESTROY. Not remove. That must be very embarrassing. Caught in the act of environmental terror….am I allowed to say this? Permitting on a Friday for removal by Sunday also smacks of back room deals and something akin to terror.
Aside: The strangeness of this event for me mirrors when residents of Scarborough (Ontario) had to talk of “flower pots” in the lake because downtown councillors had already addressed a motion on turbines….and it could not be dealt with “twice.” How bizarre does life get with turbine hell! We all know: VERY.
If the company wishes to have a legal skirmish, this would be an extremely foolish one to engage on. Every inch of the tangle would/will go viral, and they (it) must be prepared to have incredible public scrutiny of the lies they have told about wind energy, their business. In fact, it might sprout another suit: like tobacco lies exposed. Some features of these suits might be: careless or negligent manufacture (many on fire, breaking-down gear boxes, etc.); negligent manufacture—the tobacco (wind) companies failed to act with reasonable care in making and marketing cigarettes; product liability—the tobacco (wind) companies made and marketed a product that was unfit to use; negligent advertising—the tobacco (wind) companies failed to warn consumers of the risks of smoking cigarettes; fraud; and violation of state consumer protection statutes (most of which prohibit unfair and deceptive business practices).
The amount and seriousness of bullying from developers has been discussed recently among groups, and there is the idea percolating of documenting incidents and putting them all on-line for the public to see. This ranges from “shutting down” residents at so-called “consultation meetings” to outright threats of damage to a truck by a thuggish developer, to bullets (yes, bullets) in a mailbox.
Esther is one of the most intelligent and courageous warriors we have. Next(oops) would be well to leave her be. Do themselves a favor.
Editor’s note: Sherri Lange is the very capable CEO of NAPAW, North American Platform against Windpower, based in Toronto, Ontario (Canada).
Comment by Ella on 04/08/2013 at 9:09 pm
Dear Jesus,
Hold Esther high upon your shoulders, towering her to a magnificent height. Shield her with Armors of Gold protruding like the rays of abundant light on high.
Let her will for justice be the heaviest weight Goliath has ever endured.
Amen.
Comment by Marsh Rosenthal (Cape Cod, MA) on 04/08/2013 at 9:41 pm
Dear Esther,
You are our Queen Esther and Joan of Arc, all rolled together into a petite and courageous woman. You are the spirit of “Never Again!”
Many people have waited a long time for you to come and save their lives.
We are with you in Solidarity!
Marsh
Comment by art Lindgren (Maine) on 04/08/2013 at 11:17 pm
Oh, I don’t know. I’m particularly interested in NextEra suing. Sorry about that, Esther, but you’re an experienced hero. So maybe we shouldn’t clue the Nexterrorists into all the good reasons they shouldn’t sue. All of us (and there will be a lot of us) will support Esther through the ordeal, and it’ll generate all that media attention we need, educate a lot of people who simply have no idea there are issues with wind energy, and gain public support that has proved so elusive for us to obtain.
I say, let’s do our best to bait ’em into suing.
Editor’s note: Art Lindgren, shown above, is a retired computer software engineer. He and his wife Cheryl had to abandon their retirement home on Vinalhaven, Maine, due to the Vinalhaven wind turbine fiasco. (The fiasco being, the Town of Vinalhaven built 3, I believe, wind turbines near people’s homes. All the neighbors have suffered from Wind Turbine Syndrome. The Lindgrens were among those who fled.)
Comment by Sherry Eaton (Oregon) on 04/08/2013 at 11:26 pm
My Hero!
Sherry
Editor’s note: The author, Sherry Eaton, and her husband Mike have been suffering from Wind Turbine Syndrome in rural Oregon for several years. Mike is a Vietnam War veteran who suffered vestibular damage in the war. The turbines are a torment for him, especially.
Mike Eaton, Oregon
Comment by Bill Heller (New Jersey) on 04/09/2013 at 12:40 am
In the US, the Supreme Court has upheld the right to parody and to use satire. I don’t know if that holds true in Canada. If it does hold true there, then calling this wind shark NextTerror should be her right—and appropriate.
Anyway, WAY TO GO GIRL! And may I humbly suggest a rally with many people putting the spin on Next.
Editor’s note: The author, Bill Heller, is a professional living on the New Jersey Shore, where his community is trying to install a wind turbine (or more) in the town’s sewage treatment plant—very close to people’s homes. Bill and his group have been expertly fighting this folly for years, and so far they have succeeded in stalling the project.
Visit their website, here.
Comment by Itasca Small (Arizona) on 04/09/2013 at 1:50 am
Well done, Esther!
Thank you for your courage – the will to stand on your principles. Your appropriate play-on-words is terrific! You have succeeded in putting FEAR into Big Wind. Goliath would not be threatening you if he wasn’t running scared. You have broken through the arrogant front to expose the rotten core beneath the script that has worked – until now. Goliath doesn’t know how to fight fair, especially when his opponent scores BIG in the public relations arena.
One of my big frustrations has been the fact that Big Wind has been able to lie with impunity and not have to answer for perjury and for perpetrating fraud! I also do not understand how they can hold injured parties to contracts with “gag clauses.” How is it legal to use threats of prosecution to silence lessee victims when the contracts are all poisonous fruit springing from the ultimate fraudulent con game? How is it legal for courts to “gag” witnesses like Acoustic Engineer Rick James when agreements are reached to shutdown IWTs, but no one can publicize the facts?
Esther, you have succeeded in rolling the rock off the scorpion’s lair; causing him to run scampering with his tail curled tightly over his back seeking a new dark hiding place!
May Goliath make good on his threat, drawing even brighter lights to illuminate the ugly evil of this fraud. I hope your deeds deliver the fatal blow, and it is the linchpin that brings all the Wind Goliaths crashing down! Never to rise again.
Thank you!
Itasca
Editor’s note: The author, Itasca Small, was driven from her home by Wind Turbine Syndrome. Read her account, “Truly, I was dying.”
Comment by gail (Italy) on 04/09/2013 at 3:23 am
A heartfelt “thank you” from turbine-beaten Italy. I was just succumbing to a second round of post-depression depression (flashback-like) following the realisation that another installation has been built in what I presume was a cloak and dagger action not too far from us. I’m up in arms again and spreading the word in my neck of the woods, and I’m tapping in to the energy from your side of the pond.
Thanks Esther!
Editor’s note: Gail Mair and her husband Walter were forced to abandon their home in Italy because of Wind Turbine Syndrome. Walter is a grape grower & wind producer. Gail is a writer.
Comment by Andreas Marciniak (Australia) on 04/09/2013 at 4:25 am
“All such uses of the NextEra name and logo in the Video, the Second Video and on the Website are unsanctioned, in violation of NextEra’s intellectual property rights, and defamatory.” What! Complaining about their property rights! What is this? Are the developers saying someone is interfering with their property right? What the hell about our right? What about the violation of our right to get a good night’s sleep?
Scum bags! That’s all they are!
Thanks, Esther,from a wind turbine refugee.
Editor’s note: The author, Andreas Marciniak, was driven from his home in South Australia by wind turbines, as he was suffering from unbearable Wind Turbine Syndrome. He is currently living in a shed on his mother’s property, well away from the turbines.
Comment by Melodie Burkett (Ontario) on 04/09/2013 at 7:31 am
Hello Esther,
A famous quote from the Icon, Actress Betty Davis, in an old movie of days gone by. “Fasten your seatbelts; we are about to hit some turbulence!”
How appropriate for this ‘pickle’ this egocentric wind company finds themselves in, brought on entirely by themselves. By drawing world attention to themselves because they made a decision to bully a private citizen, they will forever more be known as “Nexterror” instead of Next Era. How ironic is that!
This story must be kept alive on every website, new and old, that has been trying to expose the lies and treachery by the government-sanctioned wind industry which has invaded our lives and made families so sick that they have had to abandon their very homes all over the world. An industry that took advantage of people’s fear of global warming and exploited that fear in an attempt to gain financial success off the backs of the people through generous subsidies that, ironically, are now being slashed in most countries that have found this Green experiment with wind power… is not too Green at all!
Only Ontario, perhaps too embarrassed to admit they should have done their homework first, is charging ahead full force to ensure the wind industry free rein to terrorize our people and our wildlife for emission reductions too trival to mention anywhere on the planet. Ontario continues to destroy our economy and reduce our once great province to a “Have Not” province, and label us as a credit risk worldwide!
The words “Pride always goeth before the fall” come to mind. Our provincial Liberal government simply cannot admit that they made a huge “error” of judgement when they willfully enacted the Green Energy and Economy Act of 2009 that would set off a rural rebellion, the likes of which have never been seen before.
Kudos to the salt of the earth people who will not be silenced. The courageous everyday people, the taxpayers and ratepayers that are willing to risk all so that the truth can be told and this travesty and tyranny can be halted.
Thank you NextEra for opening the door to this worldwide discussion about how a company tries to terrorize a young family for speaking the truth. And thank you to the legal teams from around the globe who have offered to represent Esther as she bravely faces this corporate bully.
Comment by Bob Lewis (Ontario) on 04/09/2013 at 12:56 pm
Never mind the “five feet” stuff; our Esther stands tall—away above the moral goblins that tried to (nex)TERRORize her.
And she doesn’t stand alone. She’s been inspiring our group for years and we stand solidly beside her.
The ‘Cease & Desist’ letter was a really stupid move, but no surprise. We watch with interest to see what their Next ERROR will be.
NexTerror, Scumcor, and the rest are all despicable slime. They epitomize the worst aspects of our political/economic system.
Even though I know that these comments embarrass Esther, it can’t be helped.
Esther isn’t some extraordinary, goddess-like being. She is an ordinary human who shows us what WE TOO can do if we’re just willing to step outside our comfort zone and stand up for what we know is right. That’s what’s so inspiring—the rest of us can do the same—we just have to reach inside for the strength and integrity that is there if we really want it.
Esther, Muriel and Marcelle are the “Three Sisters of MLWAG.” Spending time with them in the last couple of years has changed my life.
(Sorry Esther, but it’s all true!)
Comment by Kaz (Maine) on 04/09/2013 at 2:09 pm
What is it they say? “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!”
Esther may be diminutive in size, but she’s displaying the courage, tenacity and steadfastness of a mighty warrior. She is a true leader, and I am in awe.
As I’ve read the comments here, I realized that I am in the company of Greatness. All those who’ve dedicated themselves to righting these wrongs, to standing up for truth and common sense and integrity—all you who’ve suffered at the hands of uncaring and arrogant corporate greed—you who have sacrificed your time, money and emotions to try to help others and bring sanity and ethics back to the forefront: you are each heroes in your own right.
Represented here are people from all around this beautiful globe we call Earth. Many of you have never met each other and yet, here you are, pledging your support to a stranger—and ultimately, to one another.
That speaks volumes. VOLUMES!
No matter what NextEra does as it deals with “The Esther Debacle” (which it created itself in its haughty belief that all citizens would kowtow to their might and demands), it’s inevitable that she will find comfort from your encouragement and offers of assistance. I don’t know Esther, and yet I find myself feeling very proud of her. She is, after all, a team-mate. A fellow soldier. One of us, and a stellar example, at that.
Whatever the future holds, Esther has bolstered this effort. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I am humbled by her. And yes, rejuvenated, too.
Modest and unassuming. A mother, wife and citizen. Esther might not seem impressive to the wind industry, but she is someone I’ll advise my daughter to look toward when she’s searching for a heroine or someone to model herself after. Without hesitation I’ll say, “You should check out Esther Wrightman of Ontario, Canada! Now THERE’S a woman!”
Thank you Esther, and thanks to the rest of you who are staying the course and giving up so much. You’ve stepped up to the plate to do what needs doing. Wow.
Yep, I’m in the presence of Greatness.
It won’t be long now. The winds are changing and that’s because of you and a multitude of others like you. As long as we stick together, I truly believe we will soon see an end to this fiasco and the unconscionable “taking” of our health, our quality of life and our property values.
From Lexington Township, in the western mountains of Maine (U.S.A.)
“Kaz” (Karen Bessey Pease)
Editor’s note: Kaz stands at, oh, 6’2″ maybe? I’ve met her. Kaz and I have been dear friends for several years. Like Esther, she’s a mighty woman.
Kaz lives in rural Maine, where she is a writer and blogger and commentator and mom and wife and farmer. Mostly, she is a steward of God’s good earth and she is an allo-mother within her community. (Allo-mothers are “additional” mothers.) Her dad was a celebrated Maine forest ranger, and he taught his daughter well—to love the land and its creatures (our kinsmen), and to love her fellow man and woman.
Kaz is one of the most compassionate, warm, and solid people I have ever met—and this is no exaggeration. Unknown to her, Kaz (and Dr. Laurie) have kept me going in this campaign longer than I would otherwise have done.
Knowing Kaz Pease and, now, Esther, and knowing Dr. Laurie and a host of other men and women (many of whom have spoken in the comments, above), I now have, more than ever, confidence in Margaret Mead’s famous observation:
Comment by Esther Wrightman on 04/10/2013 at 11:13 am
Wow – that’s a little overwhelming (-;
But if anything comes out of this, I hope that we do see people rejuvenated and objecting to the treatment and ‘rules’ that these wind developers and government officials flaunt in our faces. I have nothing to lose in saying NO to them, and everything to lose in taking a step backwards.
And like Kaz noted, I have 2 children who are watching. I want them to be strong, and they are already showing that force in their little minds. My son once said to me, “I’m not even sure I know what the ‘law’ means anymore…”. He’s 10 and is beginning to understand that we don’t always have to obey the big guys with the money and the the lawyers. The Green Energy Act is not an act to be obeyed – it was put in place to keep us tied up – we need to start cutting through those ropes and showing that each and every one of our voices and actions will make change.
So many of you who have written above have already lived through hell and back again because of these wind developers. It is so painful to read. At a Suncor wind meeting last week I approached a wind rep and asked if she knew the people I was standing beside. She said no. I asked again wondering if she just wasn’t paying attention. Nope, no recognition. The couple standing with me were Lisa and Michel Michaud, the first people to be affected by a wind development (Thamesville) that was installed under the GEA. Suncor was the developer of that project. They had met with Lisa when she was first affected 2 years ago. They have since completely forgot about her and her family. The outrage and pain I feel from that moment…that complete disregard and care for the harm they are creating. I can’t even put it in writing. They said that they could not look at ‘mitigating’ (turning off the turbines) around her, because they were in a legal action with them. So what, if you challenge them you are less likely to get help? I asked another rep, “If i was more “cooperative” would you be willing to do more ‘things’ for me?”. His answer was yes. Nextera wanted a cooperative conversation on a telephone with me. Cooperation in their language means: do as I say and all will be good. That’s why I gave them the finger.
We can’t accept this. The only way I can go down in this fight is burning, and with my mouth still open. Keep the heat on them, and hopefully they will be the ones to go up in flames.
Comment by Michael on 04/13/2013 at 12:28 pm
In the UK, wind turbine and solar farm companies are gorging on OUR money from MASSIVE taxpayer subsidies. Here in Cornwall UK a Government Minister (so no bias) is addressing a conference on solar farms next week—all with the encouragement of Cornwall Council which in turn is the planning authority giving permission for turbines/solar farms.
Cornwall’s prosperity depends on tourism, which is being damaged as a consequence.
So, good luck to the lady! Big Wind is like Big Tobacco. The latter spent $billions denying that there was a link between cancer and smoking. Big Wind is doing the same over the impact of turbines on our health and the environment.
Comment by Friends of the Tundra Swans on 04/14/2013 at 8:37 am
Brave Esther may very well prove to be the Erin Brockovich of the Ontario wind industry!
Ontario apparently gave carte blanche to the wind industry with the Green Energy Act (GEA), which, according to the Fraser Institute report released April 11, 2013, gave the companies “long-term guarantees of above-market rates for power generated by wind turbine farms.” The consequences have proven to be “unambiguously negative,” says the report.
That’s putting it mildly:
The mind boggles! If these are the appalling facts, why are the turbines not instantly turned off and all projects put under an immediate moratorium? Sheer madness, wilful blindness and gross irresponsibility!
Click here for the full report.
Comment by Bill Heller on 04/14/2013 at 11:12 pm
The US Supreme Court has upheld the right to parody and create satire. But that may not hold true in Canada. But even here, a wind shark can hit a protester with a SLAPP, or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. Basically, some entity like NextCrony can sue in the hopes that you’ll back down to avoid legal costs, even if you’re in the right, which Esther is.
I hope a lot of people make up T-shirts. bumper stickers and the like and also blog like crazy using different versions of NextChaza—so many folks, that it’s too many for NextSleezebag to pursue.
Esther is a true grassroots hero and needs all the support folks can give her.
Comment by Michelle Levine on 05/03/2013 at 7:49 pm
Esther, you are fighting a righteous battle, but my prayer for you is that you should be joined by legions, and that some of them will take a different tack—by helping you fight in the courts, by raising public awareness, as Nina clearly has done.
I believe it is usually the combined efforts of many that help bring a win—and with you as their leader, your legions would be tenacious indeed.
My colleagues have successfully fought off wind farms in Israel, but we had a lot more organizational support, from the nationwide environmental movement—the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI). SPNI attorneys took the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) to court, and though it took a judge to issue the ruling, the IEC also understands SPNI’s position of massive nationwide public support.
Interestingly, the campaign in Israel has been and continues to be about the threat turbines pose to decimating species of migrating birds, rather than focusing on public health. Wind farms continue to be proposed, however, so it is an ongoing battle.
I will pass on word about your struggle, so that this obviously critical issue be considered as well.
B’hatslacha—to your victory!
Michelle Levine
Comment by Pam Arborio on 06/04/2013 at 10:03 am
Esther,
We live in small corner of the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont, and have been targeted by an out-of-state developer whose goal is to place Industrial Wind Turbines on irreplaceable mountain ridgelines, the Senecas. Projects have already destroyed two treasured areas within 30 miles and, as we battle to keep our wilderness untouched, a story like yours renews our commitment.
It’s amazing how a single person like yourself can renew our sense of purpose and help us continue down our path to prevent more damage to the ecosystems and wildlife disappearing every minute.
Thank you,
Pam Arborio
Brighton, Vermont
USA
Comment by Vanessa Mills Holmquist on 06/06/2013 at 9:58 pm
Esther Wrightman is a heroine. I hope she stands tall and I hope Ontarians stand strong with her. Big Wind and the corporate culture of overpowering and bullying and of laying waste and of exploitation needs to be stopped. It is not sustainable. When someone stands up in the face of the great farce that is Big Wind, rally around them! We stood for the Taconics here against investors/corporate welfare scavengers Reunion Power/Nordex.
As was proved directly here in our situation (and it’s the pattern the world over) the Big Wind playbook is one of deception and vulturous, parasitic opportunism. Raise up Esther Wrightman, who is merely trying to protect her own, against a villanous giant. The playing field is stacked, with developers who profit by bulldozing citizens. And with hired/bought stiffs who are paid big money to keep the gate and create the spin and churn out the propaganda. And with highly-paid, high-powered lobbyists to run interference. And laws and policies are often developer-centric and governments and their agencies are often in bed with the corporations; when really, the citizens and their primary (often sole) asset (being home/land/ property rights and qualitiy-of-life) should be better protected. What would any ONE individual do, when faced with the hardcore reality of protecting themselves and their own?! What would you do when backed to the wall on this?! I know what I’d do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Respect. Gratitude. Support. Esther Wrightman, you have this from so many, the world over. Vermont has seen the injustices of Corporate Wind here in our small state. Installations of corporate-scale wind power are destroying intact carbon sinks, destroying upland & lowland watersheds, affecting water quality and fragmenting wildlife corridors, killing raptors and other birds, obliterating the struggling bat populations who control mosquitos, upsetting many ecosystem balances (which will ripple out & out in unforeseen and disastrous ways for humans).
It does NOT affect carbon emmissions for the better! In our state, the renewable energy credits scam allows renewable power to be overpriced and then the corporations can (at least!) double- dip and sell the credits, allowing for other areas/regions/states to “claim” the credits bought AND continue CO2 emissions as usual! IT’S A RACKET! WIND POWER is a SCAM of EPIC and GRIEVOUSLY CRIMINAL PROPORTIONS! Without taxpayer subsidies/PTCs to keep it propped up, Big Wind cannot stand on its own! Never mind this if you can. And property rights, property values and local tax bases and individuals’ quality of life are severely impacted. Here in VT, those who live near the trubines are suffering these very real impacts as well as reporting turbine noise-related illnesses.
We cannot afford to give dollars to these giant sized shysters. We cannot afford to give our power (our voices and our possibilities) away! We cannot afford to be divided in our communities—as Big Wind strives hard to divide us, here in VT.
The world should be working hard at reducing together, simplifying, building up locally-controlled energy and local food movements in order to bolster local economies and save shipping costs/CO2s! As well as maintaining water quality and our carbon-absorbing forests and the environmental balance harbored therein. These are ways to begin a progression toward resilience and a hopeful, healthy, reslilient future for humankind on earth.
Thank you, Esther, for your stand! Hold this line! More and more people are understanding the truth. This is to be the tipping point! We are reaching critical mass.
SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER! POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
Vanessa Mills Holmquist
Pittsford, Vermont
USA
Comment by sandcanyongal on 06/10/2013 at 1:58 am
March 16, 2012
I can’t help but wonder if NextEra is a repeat offender already caught with their “pants down” using the oldest trick in the book by sexually bribing aging government energy executives to favor them. It’s altogether possible they are holding out the same carrot to the judge who will hear and judge on the suit against Esther. Just saying…
I feel exactly as she does. We live on the Crown Jewel of our entire galaxy and NextEra thinks they should have the right to slaughter and shove aside the wildlife and lands to put up electrical equipment. NextEra is nothing more than a vendor that installs electrical equipment. They’re dispensible.
Here is a story about Steve Black, Quote: the head architect for who had a “romantic” affair with the NextEra lobbyist assigned to him. Counselor to the Secretary at the U. S. Department of The Interior, and chief architect of the Obama administration’s alternative energy policy initiatives, has been ordered by the department’s ethics office to recuse himself from all matters involving California wind and solar energy company NextEra, because of his romantic relationship with NextEra’s lobbyist Manal Yamout. Yamout, NextEra’s Director for Governmental and Regulatory Affairs, formerly served as special advisor for alternative energy to California governors Arnold Schwartzenegger and Jerry Brown. Black leads the federal Renewable Energy Policy Group, a network of senior federal and state energy officials who make key decisions on multimillion dollar solar and wind energy projects.”
Federal renewable energy adviser told not to deal with renewable projects developer NextEra
LOS ANGELES _ The chief architect of the Obama administration’s renewable energy policy has been instructed to refrain from any dealings with the country’s largest renewable energy company because of a romantic relationship with the firm’s Washington lobbyist.
Steve Black, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s alternative energy adviser, discussed his relationship with a NextEra Energy lobbyist with officials in the department’s ethics office last fall, an Interior spokesman said. To avoid a conflict of interest, Black was later told to recuse himself from matters involving NextEra, which has more than a dozen wind and solar power projects in California.
Black, 51, has been Interior’s point man on renewable issues and is closely involved with the department’s push to expand green energy projects on public land. Renewable energy is the singular environmental issue for both the Obama administration and Salazar, who has repeatedly traveled in the West to promote wind and solar projects.
Black, who was legislative counsel for Salazar when he was a Colorado senator, represents Interior on a handful of committees and working groups trying to come up with a road map for renewable energy. The department is in the midst of large-scale planning efforts that affect every renewable energy company that does business on federal land.
Some conservationists who work with Black question his ability to extricate himself from matters concerning NextEra, given the broad nature of the administration’s effort. A prohibition against dealing with one of the largest renewable energy companies might hamstring Black’s ability to appropriately manage the planning effort.
“We’re looking at these large-scale planning processes _ it’s going to amend land management plans in perpetuity, essentially,” said Ileene Anderson, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity who is also a member of planning groups with Black. The Interior Department “needs to have someone engaged that doesn’t have ties to any company, so that they can make the best decisions to get renewable energy off the ground.”
County and state officials, in particular, have worked to ensure the transparency of the land-use planning work. Any hint of conflict of interest undermines that effort, said one official.
“I absolutely see the concern,” said Kern County, Calif., planning director Lorelei Oviatt, who is working with Black on a large-scale planning project. “I think the integrity of the process is very important. Landowners and public land users … sometimes think that the process is not fair and equitable. Anything that raises questions about the integrity of the process is not good.”
There has been no suggestion that NextEra received special treatment from Interior.
Black leads the Renewable Energy Policy Group, a network of senior officials at state and federal agencies who make key decisions on multimillion-dollar solar and wind projects.
Also with that group was Manal Yamout, the woman now in a relationship with Black. Until last summer, Yamout was special advisor on renewable energy facilities to Gov. Jerry Brown. She held the same position in the Schwarzenegger administration.
Yamout declined to comment for this story.
NextEra spokesman Steve Stengel said that since the 28-year-old was hired as a lobbyist in July 2011, she has not engaged in any lobbying involving the Interior Department or the state of California.
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(c)2012 the Los Angeles Times
-Silence is Consent, from the Tehachapi Pass