To the editor:

Alright, I’ll do it. As a kid I could never resist throwing a rock at a hornets nest, and I’m still that kid at heart. So here goes, I’m gonna put in a good word for the much-maligned wind farm. I know that’s like defending wood ticks or biting flies, but when I see all the NO WIND TURBINES signs along the roadsides it’s no wonder that nobody is speaking up publicly for them.

First off, let me confess that I have a childish, selfish and possibly very short-sighted reason for supporting wind turbines – I think it would be really cool to watch them go up. All twelve towers are located along logging roads where I regularly mountain bike, and I have located at least nine sites so far. The nearest is about two miles from our house. Secondly, once the access roads are built and graveled I think it would be cool to have a mountain bike race called the Twelve Towers Tour. I told you I was childish, didn’t I?

Getting a bit more serious, I can understand that a lot of my friends and neighbors don’t want them, and I suspect that the main underlying reason is visual pollution. A lot of people find them just plain ugly. I’m not sure if I do. I suspect that in time I might get used to them and find them graceful and stately, and at any rate they will be a long way from anyone’s home.

It can also be argued that green energy is a good thing. I’m somewhat on the fence when it comes to global climate change, but that aside reducing our dependence of fossil fuels seems like a reasonable goal. Finally, I have a problem with the NIMBY attitude. If promoting green energy is desirable, then we should be all willing to do our part.

Lastly, isn’t it good that we have something else to fight about instead of masks, shutdowns and vaccines?