Vermont is about to make one of the most short sighted and truly awful decisions in permitting twenty one 40-story windmills to be built on the LOWELL RIDGE in the States Northeast Kingdom............A true wildlife haven and a critical wildlands link to Maine in the North and the Green Mountains and Taconics(Vermont and Massachusetts) to the South............We are going from destructive fossil fuels to destroying the last remaining wild mountains, deserts and praries in the name of "green energy"...............How is it green when as former Vermont Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Steve Wright saids: These 40-story high ridgeline windmills require massive construction equipment to be transported on newly cut roads in some of the most sensitive mountain regions in the United States. In order to stabilize the wind turbines on the headwater ridges, the mountaintops are blown off and the intricate water system that feeds pristine streams, waterfalls, ravines and lowland meadows are redirected picking up silt, mud and debris as the runoff makes its way into the farms and small towns of this ancient countryside......

Vermont Black Bears in Danger of Losing Winter Food on Lowell Mountain

By the summer of 2012 Vermont's Northeast Kingdom will have 21 460-foot high wind turbines visible along more than three miles of the Lowell Ridge as part of Green Mountain Power's Kingdom Community Wind project.

In early February, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources told Green Mountain Power the project was a "go" despite the fact that 1) the Agency of Natural Resources scientists had said there was no way to offset the ill effects of the wind project; 2) the official directives had not been issued by the Vermont Public Service Board and; 3) there were no public hearings.

The tacit, premature approval of the Agency came after heavy lobbying by Green Mountain Power and pressure from Gov. Peter Shumlin — a longtime supporter of putting wind power on Vermont's ridgelines.

In order for Green Mountain Power to qualify for $40 million in federal tax credits, the turbines must be up and running by the end of 2012. "The governor is free to make deals," said Steve Wright, Craftsbury resident and former fish and wildlife commissioner under Governor Madeline Kunin. "But his appointees also have an oath to protect the natural resources of the state and represent the citizens of the state."

These 40-story high ridgeline windmills require massive construction equipment to be transported on newly cut roads in some of the most sensitive mountain regions in the United States. In order to stabilize the wind turbines on the headwater ridges, the mountaintops are blown off and the intricate water system that feeds pristine streams, waterfalls, ravines and lowland meadows are redirected picking up silt, mud and debris as the runoff makes its way into the farms and small towns of this ancient countryside.
The Vermont Public Service Board awarded a "Certificate of Public Good" to Green Mountain Power which enables the project to go forward. The Vermont Supreme Court could proclaim this Certificate was issued in error. Small groups of environmentalists are raising money to bring this before the Court.

We humbly ask Vermont's U.S. Senators to help avert the environmental disaster that is about to occur on this precious piece of land.

For Further Information Contact:
Save Lowell Mountain
P.O. Box 81
Craftsbury Common, VT 05827
salmo@vtlink.net