the right direction with her concerns about the State's Art X process.
I would suggest everyone who is interested in the SASS process currently going on in the 1000 Islands area go read the Pandora's Box of Rocks blog and read her last post at the link below.
http://pandorasboxofrocks.blogspot.com/
Particularly where she states that she feels towns should be fighting the State's heavy handed Art X process that removed community home rule on siting electric generation facilities including industrial wind plants.
I nearly fell off the couch when I read that quote! Right on Pandora!!! Right On. A little late but good for you! I hope she is sincere about her post and I giver her a lot of credit on this one despite my pervious disagreements with her and her blog comments. But I have been saying this for a long long time. Good to hear it from another source.
During the Cape Vincent wind fight myself and a very few others where promoting this idea to fight Art X and not fold up to the State's outrageous heavy handed robbery of our rights to promote wind energy at tremendous cost to our region. There were some other options, but they took some real political courage.
The mantra back then was that they had to go along to appease the State since it was the law and of course the State through Art X would be fair and listen to all our concerns, and we could defeat wind developers since the State would recognize our concerns and not override our zoning laws.
This was an extremely naïve belief and approach. However, BP walked away on their own which I believe gave some a very false sense that we beat them and Art X might have been part of the reason.
That is pure fantasy. We are deal with huge corporations with billions of dollars to get there own way. Art X would not even exist if these large wind developers didn't see it to their distinct advantage.
In fact even after the town officials in CV found out that the BP lawyer was the wife of a prominent NYS PSC commissioner they still didn't get it and would stay involved in the Art X process.
Art. X is a process that makes the average citizen feel important and involved, but then you get screwed anyhow...but you had INPUT... that is the buzz word that lulls people into submission.
We have temporarily lucked out in CV, but town officials still need to get a grip that Art X still insidiously hangs over our head, and in a heart beat everything could change and we would be fighting another absurd wind development. In fact the Galloo Is. project has been revived.
The SASS is fine and I agree with it, but if you want real protection, towns like CV need to toughen their comp plans and then ban wind energy altogether and go with the CELDF approach of community rights laws against corporate domination which has been successfully done in some communities fighting absurd industrial development of various kinds. They need to get support from the county and all the local environmental groups...who unfortunately have been far to weak on these points.
The one very significant power that the NYS legislature granted NY communities is the power to comp plan and zone for their land use. Art. X is arbitrary and is in direct contradiction to this land use regulation power granted to communities, and a legal fight should be waged on these grounds and the grounds against corporate constitutional rights as well.
Quote from NY Town Law Art.16 Section 272
"1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby finds and determines that: (a) Significant decisions and actions affecting the immediate and long-range protection, enhancement, growth and development of the state and its communities are made by local governments. (b) Among the most important powers and duties granted by the legislature to a town government is the authority and responsibility to undertake town comprehensive planning and to regulate land use for the purpose of protecting the public health, safety and general welfare of its citizens. "
The SASS is a good step and it is absurd for some communities leaders to back away from it. But despite that you won't save the 1000 Islands if you don't understand the implications of the other issues I have mentioned that are the real root of our problems in environmental protection for our area. Seems like Pandora's suggestion that we should be far more worried about the Art X issue and its implications than any regulation the SASS might bring, is a good step to understand the real issue we face.
Many in the Cape Vincent govt and their supporters promoted appeasing Art X, and in fact this resulted in a zoning law with wind regulations that actually allow some wind development. Yet I don't think they grasp the terrible implications of how this actually moves us further way, not closer to the protections we seek and need the protect our area.
In my view they and other towns have totally caved in to the state. If you are serious this is not how you save the 1000 Islands.
If we are serious about saving the 1000 Islands region from things like the over reaching and absurd environmental impacts of industrial wind development, then local govt and environmental leaders need to face up to the fact it will take real political courage, and a more radical, resistant, and creative approach than we have seen before. Not folding up every time the State and their large corporate clients say so!
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