Comments - Why I Chose to be Arrested at Rollins Mountain by Don Smith - Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine2024-03-29T08:32:31Zhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=4401701%3ABlogPost%3A5883&xn_auth=noThank you, Don, for your sacr…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2015-05-07:4401701:Comment:637712015-05-07T16:22:50.514ZBarbara Durkinhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/BarbaraDurkin
<p>Thank you, Don, for your sacrifice, and to the other four patriots I offer my gratitude, too.</p>
<p>Green politics rule. Greed and graft, and industry cultivated hysteria, as opposed to Public Merit, deploys wind turbines. Your essay cites many reasons why wind offers net zero benefits to the public and environment. But, the will of the people and our needs are being ignored. Needs of developers are addressed by local boards and regulators at the state and federal level. It seems…</p>
<p>Thank you, Don, for your sacrifice, and to the other four patriots I offer my gratitude, too.</p>
<p>Green politics rule. Greed and graft, and industry cultivated hysteria, as opposed to Public Merit, deploys wind turbines. Your essay cites many reasons why wind offers net zero benefits to the public and environment. But, the will of the people and our needs are being ignored. Needs of developers are addressed by local boards and regulators at the state and federal level. It seems they've been compromised, or exploited because they lack the facts, knowledge you have acquired. We fund the blasting of mountaintops, and the clear cutting of trees not only beautiful, but they’re an economical and very effective carbon sink within critical habitat. How intuitively counter-productive is it to destroy what needs to be preserved for future generations? Is this homeopathy, "like cures like"? To address environmental damage caused by industrialization we should industrialize? To save birds, we should kill them with wind turbines, and destroy their habitat? </p>
<p>Ten years ago, I was swept into the Cape Wind debate entirely due to my objections about its adverse impact of aesthetic damage to Nantucket Sound. I live an hour and ½ away, but visit often to enjoy its unspoiled and rustic character and scenic beauty. It also recharges my spirit to witness unspoiled mountains, on skis particularly. Why industrialize the ME mountain tops, or 24 square miles of ocean area between Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard? These are world recognized tourist destination locations due to their beauty. A Nantucket Sound "front yard" utility project would obliterate the night time skyline with its flashing red lights, while harming the integrity of National Historic Landmarks according to the federal regulator, then U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The blight is every bit as objectionable when wind turbines dominate once forested mountain ranges, and lakes' view-shed of Maine.</p>
<p>As I value integrity of NHL’s present, I submitted to the National Trust for Historic Preservation for their consideration Nantucket Sound as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Places. Cape Wind had also awakened historic preservationists across the country, and they united in a valiant display of courage, with vision, to defend Nantucket Sound from industrial development by 130, 420' wind turbines. </p>
<p>Nantucket Sound was subsequently affirmed Tribal Cultural Property TCP by the "Keeper" of the National Historic Register responsible under the Historic Preservation Act for listing of properties, and for their determination of eligibility for listing to the National Register. </p>
<p>Federally recognized Tribes have been stewards of Nantucket Sound for over 10,000 years. The notion that a limited liability corporation, LLC, wind developer, could interrupt this legacy of preservation, and threaten Tribe's ancients' remains, by threat of industrialization, awakened the entire historic preservation community, including those representing more than 25 sovereign nations, federally recognized Tribes. </p>
<p>In a brazen display of arrogance, former Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar arrived in a black cowboy hat, (here’s a reprint of this pic. of Salazar taken five years ago).. <a href="http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20150503/BUSINESS/150509903#ReaderReaction">http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20150503/BUSINESS/150509903#ReaderReaction</a></p>
<p>…to engage in the Cape Wind formal Government to Government Consultation, under the National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 Consultation Process, with the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, and other representatives of the federally recognized Tribe. But, Interior Secretary Salazar left the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer behind during his tour of their Sacred Land to consider Cape Wind’s impacts to the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Secretary Salazar and President Obama dismissed their only legal Advisor by approving Cape Wind. </p>
<p>The National Historic Preservation Act established the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation ACHP. The ACHP is the only entity with the legal responsibility to encourage federal agencies, and the U.S. President, to factor historic preservation into federal project requirements. The ACHP recommended that Secretary Salazar deny Cape Wind, and the Secretary ignored the ACHP and approved Cape Wind.</p>
<p>The Tribes are the authority on the Nantucket Sound Tribal Cultural Property subject Issues and they recommend Salazar deny Cape Wind. More than 25 Federally Recognized Tribes called upon Secretary Salazar to deny Cape Wind, but the Secretary ignored the Tribes:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/82379187.html" target="_blank">http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/82379187.html</a></p>
<p>The Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Officer's SHPO findings favored the Tribes against Cape Wind:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.house.gov/delahunt/histcommission.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.house.gov/delahunt/histcommission.pdf</a></p>
<p>The National Parks Service and the Keeper uphold the SHPO findings that favor the Tribes against Cape Wind:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nps.gov/nr/publications/guidance/NantucketSoundDOE.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.nps.gov/nr/publications/guidance/NantucketSoundDOE.pdf</a></p>
<p>The National Trust for Historic Preservation findings supported Mass Historic Commission MHC's opinion, and National Park's Service's determination of Nantucket Sound's National Register eligibility based on information provided by the authority on these matters, the Tribes, and National Trust rejected Cape Wind.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?p=9186" target="_blank">http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?p=9186</a></p>
<p>Noting the extraordinary leap of faith on the part of the largest assembly in the history of our nation of Native American's, President Obama made a promise to have meaningful consultation with Tribes. "Today's conference is not lip service" stated our President, the adopted son of the Crow:</p>
<p>President Obama and Secretary Salazar, however, honored Limited Liability Corporations over treaties with Federally Recognized Tribes, more than 25 sovereign nations, when they approved Cape Wind.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncai.org/Nation-to-Nation-The-United-S.447.0.html" target="_blank">http://www.ncai.org/Nation-to-Nation-The-United-S.447.0.html</a></p>
<p>Politics advanced Cape Wind, not public merit, not only in the historic preservation arena. </p>
<p>Fast forward to Nov 2014. Now England mourns its lost beauty by collapsed planning control that allowed wind turbines to proliferate and to destroy the English countryside.</p>
<p><b>Desecration! In a ferocious parting blast, the outgoing chairman of the National Trust accuses an arrogant and philistine political class of ruining some of our loveliest countryside </b></p>
<ul>
<li><b>Outgoing National Trust chairman said English countryside is threatened</b></li>
<li><b>Simon Jenkins said we should grade countryside as with historic houses </b></li>
<li><b>Farmland has been replaced by warehouses, estates and wind turbines </b></li>
</ul>
<p> “Outgoing National Trust chairman Simon Jenkins said the English countryside is under serious threat, pictured is Sandford Orcas in Dorset</p>
<p>Rolling farmland is replaced by warehouses, bleak housing estates, wind turbines and advertising hoardings in fields. It is the start of the 'tat' that is familiar the world over when planning control collapses.</p>
<p>I am sure politicians such as David Cameron, George Osborne, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg never rose one morning and declared: 'This is just how I want England to look.' They have probably not noticed. </p>
<p>They holiday in 'unspoilt' places at home or abroad, and see England only from train and car windows…”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2835353/Outgoing-chairman-National-Trust-accuses-arrogant-philistine-political-class-ruining-loveliest-countryside.html">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2835353/Outgoing-chairman-National-Trust-accuses-arrogant-philistine-political-class-ruining-loveliest-countryside.html</a></p>
<p>Keep fighting to prevent the blight from consuming your back yards in ME. The wind developers will exploit well intended by ill informed local boards and Maine’s scenic beauty, and we will fund this destruction if we remain complicit in our silence. </p>
<p>Cape Wind will find me in a rowboat swinging my oars if this developer survives, which appears very unlikely :)</p>
<p>Thank you, all, who are engaged and voicing your objections to the wind scam, and risking arrest. </p> Hi Don.
I thank you for your…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2010-11-24:4401701:Comment:60072010-11-24T04:42:36.000ZMary Elen Maruccihttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/MaryEllenMarucci
Hi Don.<br />
<br />
I thank you for your stand and eloquent explanation. I too was dupped into thinking wind was green and clean. While doing a GIS project for the Fort Kent area, I became aware of the noise issue, but also the economic incentives for the companies and the potentially sited towns ( and states). I think you covered that well. What I haven't heard yet is all the loss of divesity of plants and animals<br />
unique to these mountain ridges. With global change upon us the drive to monoculture is not…
Hi Don.<br />
<br />
I thank you for your stand and eloquent explanation. I too was dupped into thinking wind was green and clean. While doing a GIS project for the Fort Kent area, I became aware of the noise issue, but also the economic incentives for the companies and the potentially sited towns ( and states). I think you covered that well. What I haven't heard yet is all the loss of divesity of plants and animals<br />
unique to these mountain ridges. With global change upon us the drive to monoculture is not sustainable, and we need all the diversity we can get! Don,
You are incredible! I w…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2010-11-17:4401701:Comment:58872010-11-17T13:52:24.000ZDenise Hallhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/DeniseHall
Don,<br />
<br />
You are incredible! I work in Westbrook and a bunch of my friends asked me if I was one of the people who got arrested at Rollins. You have brought needed attention to our cause and opened up the door for many conversations about how wind power is not a good thing for the mountains of Maine. We should try to distribute your story widely. And you should be mighty proud of your new founded criminal background ;-)
Don,<br />
<br />
You are incredible! I work in Westbrook and a bunch of my friends asked me if I was one of the people who got arrested at Rollins. You have brought needed attention to our cause and opened up the door for many conversations about how wind power is not a good thing for the mountains of Maine. We should try to distribute your story widely. And you should be mighty proud of your new founded criminal background ;-) Don Smith is my HERO!!! He wr…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2010-11-17:4401701:Comment:58852010-11-17T05:13:44.000ZBrad Blakehttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/BradBlake
Don Smith is my HERO!!! He wrote this piece and I helped with editing. It has been submitted to the Portland Press Herald as a "Maine Voices" essay. Let's hope it gets published. Don has lots more to say, but the essay had to be limited to 750 words. Don is a great guy, has been with Friends of Lincoln Lakes since its formation, and climbed Rollins Mt. with me in 85 degree heat back on July 4th, which, by the way, had not a whisper of wind that day. He drove a group of us up the mountain the…
Don Smith is my HERO!!! He wrote this piece and I helped with editing. It has been submitted to the Portland Press Herald as a "Maine Voices" essay. Let's hope it gets published. Don has lots more to say, but the essay had to be limited to 750 words. Don is a great guy, has been with Friends of Lincoln Lakes since its formation, and climbed Rollins Mt. with me in 85 degree heat back on July 4th, which, by the way, had not a whisper of wind that day. He drove a group of us up the mountain the day before the Rollins Rally, enabling me to take the photos that are on this website. Thank you, Don, for all you have done to help our cause!