I am surprised at the backlash against solar panel “fields.” We’ve all been living “high off the hog” for decades now, with limitless energy sources. Now, we have to cut back and develop new sources. Everyone knows this — even anti-environmentalists/global warming people. It’s time to turn the blinker on and change the direction of our journey.
The sun is a limitless source, as are water and wind. Fields of panels don’t bother me, nor does the sight of windmills on the Green Mountains. I’ve seen animals grazing around the panels, so they can obviously still be used for agricultural purposes. Panels are not the most gorgeous of roadside attractions, but they’re practical and rather interesting-looking.
Views are fine and dandy, but I’ll gladly do without in order to continue having electricity, which runs the world. Gas, particularly coming from fracking, is rife with potential problems, no matter what the companies claim. Gas and oil are also finite, no matter what we’re told by companies who have invested in it and try and sucker us into thinking that we can’t live without it. Where is the Vermont independence that I’ve heard so much about?
With Vermont Yankee closed, one source of energy is now gone. New England was lucky enough to be able to sign up with Hydro-Québec again, but that may not happen again. Our gas prices are low now, but, historically, that doesn’t last too long.
Are we willing to give things up … to go without .. to cut out because of a lack of energy, or do we become proactive and use what is given to us free to continue to live as we have, while still practicing conversation measures? Vermont is often No. 1 in the nation when it comes to new, productive ways of living. Let us proclaim that we are leading the nation in alternative energy sources and develop and use these sources in a very practical way.
Carolyn Van Vleck
Cornwall