Sold out, but not for sale
In the space of about 30 minutes last week, the three-year debate over the suitability of wind power for Highland County shifted abruptly from what if? to what now? The prospect of placement of hundreds of wind towers on Highlands ridges along with their inevitable transmission lines is no longer just a scary prospect. Barring successful legal intervention now under way, it is, for most Highlanders, a shattering probability.
With the supervisors vote to approve H.T. Mac McBrides industrial-scale wind project, control over subsequent events has passed entirely from the county government into the hands of powerful special interests who have no interest in Highland other than how much money exploitation of its countryside will generate for them. This consortium of utility executives, politicians and industrial developers will frame their arguments in the context of the national energy debate which has already endorsed wind power as the alternative energy wave of the future. Green energy is their mantra and to the uninitiated, its easy to sell. Now that theyve been given the key to the county, its the slogan with which they intend to club us into submission.
The supervisors betrayal of the publics trust came as no surprise to those who witnessed it. The sign in the back of the courtroom that read sold out had been prepared well in advance of the event. That Jerry Rexrode and Lee Blagg support Highland New Wind Developments proposal has been a forgone conclusion for many months. That Robin Sullenberger backed away from joining his colleagues was expected too a matter of too little too late. He had disappointed many constituents by passing up his opportunity to publicly influence the debate in the weeks and months before the vote. He knew this was not the time to endorse a technology about which so little was known, and he could have made a difference.
Knowing what was coming, however, did nothing to diminish the devastating sense of loss felt by so many Highlanders who had fought long and hard to defend their property and natural heritage against a process of industrialization the scope of which no one can foretell.
By choosing to ignore the countys clear majority will, this headstrong board imposed instead its own sense of whats best for us without ever telling us just what that sense might be. Along the way, it also discounted the advice of its planning commission, Industrial Development Authority and the professional planners of the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission. Further, it short-circuited the intent of the countys comprehensive land use plan, which celebrates Highlands natural beauty as its greatest economic asset and nowhere promotes large-scale industry as the way forward. And most remarkable of all, these representatives of the people dismissed as irrelevant Aprils landmark public hearing at which residents representing all facets of the community eloquently and overwhelmingly opposed allowing the wind industry into Highland.
The sad truth is, the board majority either has no idea what it has set in motion, or worse, doesnt care what long-term damage it might have unleashed. There is no other way to explain a vote that gives the countys future over to the utility lobby and its friends in high places for what might amount to a few million dollars over 20 years. Or might not amount to anything at all. And if it does bring in more significant revenue, it will be because most of our windswept ridges will be dominated by these gigantic machines a ruinous trade-off for the benefit of a few and something even the most ardent wind supporters wanted to avoid.
In place of leadership that would protect the best interests of its people at all costs, our board has defiantly offered up the county as a test site for establishing wind power in Virginia where there today, are no rules or regulations specific to the fledgling industry. Highlanders are now reduced to pawns in this subsidy-fueled race to build corporate profits through access to billions of dollars of tax credits taken directly from taxpayers pockets.
Adding insult to injury, our supervisors have hired the services of a Roanoke law firm to defend their decision to disenfranchise their constituents. Never mind that county taxpayers will be footing a bill of many thousands of dollars over time to fight a pair of lawsuits against the supervisors, lawsuits that most county residents support. The decision is certainly consistent with the boards pugnacious attitude that made it clear from the start, no one is going to tell us what to do. That mind set was abundantly clear last week when Rexrode told citizens quietly awaiting the vote, We wont tolerate disturbances. We have law enforcement here and it will be used. And reinforced by Blagg, who in explaining his vote, said he would not be intimidated by threats. These men on this issue simply will not let the facts get in the way of their predispositions to curry to the developer.
But that no longer matters. By their vote, these men have made themselves irrelevant. The challenge now is for those who still believe in Highland County to avoid the same fate. The level of determination that carried opponents of the wind industry through this first phase of the battle must be maintained as the fight intensifies and broadens, and stakes rise ever higher.
McBride must be challenged to provide in much greater detail the specifics of his plans that to this point have not been laid on the table. The conditions placed on him by the county are vague and overly accommodating. Beginning with the State Corporation Commission review, Highland New Wind Development must be held responsible for accurate information every step of the way. The myth that wind power is free and efficient must be challenged every time it is presented as gospel. The notion that wildlife and view sheds are inconsequential in the face of the nations energy needs must be discounted. And the contention one arrogant beyond words that the rights of Highlanders are secondary to the needs of the nation must be fully discredited for what it is: Exploitation, pure and simple.
Highlanders retain the opportunity during the regulatory process to regain the voice their leaders have taken from them. The outcome of lawsuits is unpredictable, but a steady stream of factual, pertinent information provided to the regulators from the SCC to the DEQ has a very real chance to still influence the outcome of this battle. It will be another long, hard road but there remains hope that at the end, the sold out sign can be replaced with one that says,This county is not for sale.
In the long run, Highlanders must decide what kind of leadership they want in the future. Boards that continue to build walls between generational families and those who have moved here more recently? Or leaders who recognize and celebrate the strengths and contributions of both communities?
Fractured, the least populated county in the state is terribly vulnerable to energy-driven special interests who have always viewed Appalachia as their personal stomping grounds.
Together, the possibilities for the common good in this richly blessed and still unspoiled corner of Virginia are many, and remain full of promise.
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