Thoughts For Consideration - Where Are We Now?

A lot has happened in the last 24 hours, at least publicly with the announcement from BP that they are terminating their Cape Vincent Wind Farm project.  I think I could say that no one in this community is happier to hear that news than I am.  Or at least as equally happy as others.

This should be among one of the happiest days of my adult life.  But I am having a little difficulty getting fully to that point. Not sure I ever will.

Assuming this announcement is genuine, and there is not another shoe to drop on the issue in coming months, I felt I wanted to make a statement. And I take the BP news with a great deal of caution until a little more time plays out.

I am seeing a lot of celebration on the blogs…but I am cautious.  I’m not sure I personally can be in that spot yet after all is considered.

I have a strict rule in my mountain climbing that I really don’t celebrate fully on the summit.  Too many climbers are killed on the way down which is often the most dangerous part of the climb.   I am applying that same rule here on this news today. 

But as of today and assuming this news is real this is a statement of sincere thanks to all the people who fought against this industrial wind insanity for at least eight long tough and demanding years. And for some at great personal cost.  Many have paid a high price.

SO THANK YOU TO EVERYONE…and I mean EVERYONE!

I extend that thanks to everyone in the wind opposition, even the ones who don’t agree with me and probably won’t in the future. 

History is the one who will determine the rest! 

And like anything in life, a great deal of luck and irony may have played a big part as well.  Maybe a terrible environmental oil spill disaster 1000’s of miles away, actually saved a community and another coast line here!

If you were in opposition…no matter what your approach was, and particularly if you put your name behind your beliefs and actions, or even if you didn’t, you played a roll.  Big or small you may have truly saved a community and  a region and accomplished a feat against overwhelming odds.
 

If this announcement is real, I think many would agree that in large part the reality of the economics BP was facing was a big determinant if they are truly walking away.  But you can bet that the wind opposition was a factor, maybe a big factor for any potential buyer who simply looked at it and was unwilling to enter the hornet’s nest ALL the opposition created in Cape Vincent against wind.

And for me personally ... you can damn well bet, I’m hoping the Governor is reading the news over dinner and spitting out his Tater Tots!!!

I think the funniest reaction to this is my own.  When I heard the news it was like…Oh well another day of the wind insanity!  But slowly (with caution) it  is sinking in.  With eight years of beating ones head on the wall it is going to take me personally a while to grasp it, and recover. It seems like a bit of a dream yet.  Like this is just another news headline that somehow I am detached from that doesn’t involve me.  Or that it is going to be suddenly yanked away.
 

So please be cautious.

And we face another reality that will not go away soon.  If the news is true, another part of our community just got handed their back sides on a platter.  Some may say they deserved it.  But no matter which way you choose to view it they are still a part of the community.  If you choose to move ahead with unbridled victory celebration that is your choice.  But I would suggest not trying to gloat or rub salt in the wounds. 

If this is a victory in that sense…maybe that is what is muting my celebration.  In reality I find myself more relieved than happy right now.

A tremendous amount of damage has been done and this community has paid a terrible terrible price and that is not likely to go away overnight.  We ALL had a hand in where our community is today, me included.

 If you took a stand, and didn’t shrink from the battle on either side, there are going to be scars. 

NONE OF US walks away clean no matter which side you are on. NONE!!!  When you consider the entire community and the events of nearly a decade here, if you think you walk away clean  with some great victory then you are only fooling yourself and have not truly comprehended the battle.

 If you are fair enough to look at the WHOLE community…this didn’t end as a victory, it ended as the tragedy, just as it began and always has been.  The only one who walks away is the original perpetrator, the wind developers!  They left EVERYONE holding the bag, and to clean up their mess if that is even possible.  And I think this community should take action to ensure that NEVER happens again…NEVER!

Please consider … if this is truly over. 

 

 Are we as a community going to suddenly kiss and make up?  No that probably isn’t even possible at this time.  BP took that way from ALL of us.

From day one of this battle I have thought about what happens when this is all over one way or the other.  I'm am sure you have too.

I have been extremely blessed with 63 years off incredible precious experiences in Cape Vincent that have deeply impacted and defined my entire life. I can honestly say there hasn’t been  a day gone by in my life I haven’t thought about  or longed for my little cottage or the River built long ago by my parents.

 Yet for eight years of that same time  in the same community I have always loved I was in a battle that was one of the ugliest things I have ever experienced in my life, and that too changed me.  I am not the person I was when this started.

Now I have to weigh which proportion of that time line and experiences I will let define the rest of my life and experiences in Cape Vincent.

I will have addition comments regarding these events.  But this is what I wanted to place first in my comments. I felt it was the most important for right now.