Anti SASS, Anti Govt Blowholes!

In the report that supports the SASS designation for our region, it says this about large industrial structures like industrial wind turbines.

"There are presently no techniques to mitigate the visual impacts of these structures because they are so tall, massive and frequently in motion."


However, the 1000 Islands towns along the St. Lawrence on the NY side, and many other communities have done exactly that, and charged right ahead and attempted the futility of trying to "mitigate" industrial wind using zoning laws and setbacks even though a quick look at Wolfe Is. will graphically show you how this approach fails miserably.

When we talk about mitigating these huge structures it would take setbacks in the 10's of miles or much more.  Fact is most communities simply aren't big enough to apply even the mitigation setbacks that might work with significant distances.  That is one reason a regional approach is relevant. 

It is one reason the SASS IS RELEVENT!!

Industrial wind energy has simply turned traditional zoning on its head!

What makes this zoning approach even more futile is that NYS can simply override a local wind law with Art. 10.

So the completely out of context paradigm zoning approach used so far is to try to mitigate with setbacks what obviously can't be mitigated, and no town has the appropriate land area to achieve, and use zoning laws that can simply be pre-empted anyhow.

 Zoning laws which in the end are a tacit invitations to wind developers to start wind development conversations.

Why give them that opening

It is time for a different approach and Henderson prohibiting industrial wind is the right approach.  And that can be backed by other political moves as well.

The prohibition approach puts the right argument on the table, both politically and for protection of significant regional scenic resources, instead of getting into a losing pissing match with a wind developer and the State over setbacks that in fact don't even work anyhow.

The real fact is by involving yourself in setback zoning and the Art. 10 process you have already given away the relevant and most powerful tools to actually protect your community.

Now think about this for a minute.  Communities get convinced by the Sate to get involved in the zoning/setback, Art. 10 paradigm.  You bring to the table zoning and setbacks as your primary weapon.  However the State and wind lobbyist aren't that stupid.  Sure they encourage you to write a wind law...now gee why would that be?  Because they are also bringing to the fight  a weapon that can simply make your primary weapon (zoning and setbacks) completely irrelevant, and powerless!!!

The state and wind developers come to the fight knowing they have the power to not even make it a fight.  Yet this is how virtually every town facing wind development takes on this battle. You come to the battle with a gun, yet the state determines if you get any bullets.  Yet town after town charges into these battles as it is a fight they can win.  Under these circumstances this is not bravado, but political stupidity.

Yet some people, towns, and blogs, try to convince you to engage in this effort as if it is a fair fight, when in fact under the rules it isn't even a fight at all...but cleverly engineered to be a slaughter.

Whenever you hear them telling you, you will have "input" you should recognize the "code words" and who real controls the fight and you are going to get slaughtered. 

Besides, wake up!  Any game that starts by trying to convince you that you have "input and it will be important", at the very same time they can simply preempt your input, then it should be clearly recognized who controls the game and why.

What fool plays this kind of game???? 

How does SASS play into this?

What the anti SASS anti govt people really fail to comprehend
is if you want to oppose govt in your lives, then stand up as a political region and take on NYS backed wind energy and Art. 10 head on instead of playing the wind zoning game that the state can just preempt anyhow.

You anti SASS people aren't even making sense in your own anti govt. arguments and need to get your head screwed on straight.

The way to fight govt., if that is what you want, isn't to withdraw yourselves in pissing matches behind little community borders, prodded on by outside influences, but make yourself a real geographic political force.

That is what the wind developers and people like Cuomo fear and understand.

What you miss, no matter what the issue is, is that SASS, although born of govt. identifies you as power in a political region. 

If you want to fight Cuomo's Safe Act, (and I haven't seen you repeal it yet), do you think Cuomo or the legislature is politically frightened when your region is so politically impotent it can't even get behind something as simple as SASS to protect the best interest of your area?

The tourism economy is the backbone of this region, and SASS helps protect it.  Cuomo and the legislature are probably laughing their asses off watching you anti SASS people piss right on an opportunity to enhance and protect your own economy.

You can't even do this right.  So I doubt Albany isn't real threatened by your ramblings about the Safe Act and anti govt. rhetoric.

As long as you are pissing all over yourselves they know you aren't going to piss in them!!!

A fact  many "anti" people don't seem to consider is that political power in Albany promoting wind and renewables, themselves may in fact not be real comfortable with SASS in a region where they want to promote wind development.

The biggest threat to this region isn't the Safe Act, or SASS, it's  the fact that despite your anti govt bullshit you don't have the first clue about the subtleties, or ability to actually back your anti govt rhetoric with effective political action, by organizing to support even a simple regional concept. 

And you may think I am blowing smoke, but the fact is myself and a few others took a political battle right to Cuomo' office door and got our foot in.

We sat across from his top lawyers and staff and had the political "goods" to get him to investigate the old wind conflicted Cape Vincent govt.  Apparently he calculated there was a political cost to ignoring us.

Now some might say that the investigation was never completed and didn't amount to anything.  That is true, but that would be very politically naive, and was but one political goal.  Finished or not, the political PR was priceless, and basically helped overturn a local govt. 

It doesn't hurt your campaign to truthfully say your opponent is under an ethics investigation by the NYAG!!!

You anti govt, anti SASS people are so distracted I doubt you can even focus your political efforts coherently or on the right target.