TO THE EDITOR: THE NORTHFIELD NEWS LAST TOWN Meeting Day the people of Moretown and Waitsfield voted to support the closing of the aging Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. In Moretown we did this largely because of the threat that toxic and radioactive leeks pose towards public health and the environment.

With this brave decision comes the responsibility of facing our collective energy future with sober senses and making hard choices about where our power will come from in years to come. Do we want to be reliant on the out-of-state open market and all the uncertainty that such a gamble would entail concerning our utility rates? Do we want to buy energy from coal plants that result in acid rain and increased greenhouse gas emissions? Can we continue to rely on off shore oil production and again risk the economic and environmental disaster we are today witnessing in The Gulf of Mexico? To these questions I would venture that most Vermonters would answer with a resounding “NO.”

It is common sense that Vermont should strive to build the electrical capacity needed by Vermonters squarely within our own boarders and under our relatively high standards of public oversight. It is also common sense to envision such an instate energy future as one that will utilize renewable, locally available sources that incorporate carbon neutral technologies whenever possible. Wind power fits this bill and surly has an important role to play.

The New England based Citizen Wind is interested in exploring the possibility of constructing a wind farm on the ridgeline that runs through Moretown, Waitsfield, and possibly Northfield. Such a wind farm, if built to capacity, could provide enough clean electricity for at least 12,000 homes. It would generate “green” power that is carbon neutral, and it would provide over forty good paying jobs during the construction phase, and five additional longterm jobs upon its completion. It would also generate a projected $375,000 in annual revenue to be split proportionately between the effected towns as part of a host town agreement; revenue that could be used to reduce the property tax burden on local working families. These are the reasons that I am interested in this project, and why, in principle, I am a supporter of wind development projects. However, I have got ahead of myself…

While I support wind in general, the fact is we do not yet have a solid and detailed proposal in our hands that we can be rationally for or against in any definitive way. There has been no site studies done concerning the wind, the environmental impact, or the social impact that a wind farm would entail. In short we do not have all the facts and details we require to make a final informed opinion.

Therefore, what we, as a community, should now do is encourage studies (paid for by Citizen Wind) that clarify if wind farming is feasible on our ridgelines. In addition we should require studies that will determine the social and environmental impact that a wind farm would carry. And finally, we should also welcome a detailed development proposal from Citizen Wind.

With such a proposal in our hands, and with full public access to all the findings entailed in said studies, we would then be in a position to formulate an informed and rational opinion about the merits of this particular project. Towards that end I would expect and encourage a spirited and respectful public debate through a series of public hearings in all the effected towns. And in turn, such public hearings should culminate in town-wide votes on any comprehensive proposal on Town Meeting Day, 2011. In brief, any project of this magnitude should only be done by the informed consent of all the voters. While I do not claim to speak for anyone other then myself, this is what I believe and will support as a Selectman in Moretown.

DAVE VAN DEUSEN Moretown Selectman