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Unbiased assessment of SASS in Hammond needed

Posted 3/23/15

To the Editor: There is a major hot topic currently being discussed locally: will a SASS designation really protect 1,000 Island communities from industrial wind energy development? SASS proponents …

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Unbiased assessment of SASS in Hammond needed

Posted

To the Editor:

There is a major hot topic currently being discussed locally: will a SASS designation really protect 1,000 Island communities from industrial wind energy development?

SASS proponents say yes, and cite the fact that there is no wind energy in the other two SASS areas: Long Island and lower Hudson River. While it’s true that those communities do not have onshore wind developments, closer examination reveals that this blessing is actually due to other factors, i.e.: Highly congested population centers with almost no available land; What little available land there is, is extremely expensive and many local wealthy, well-connected people would not tolerate it.

The SASS part is a trivial, coincidental matter that has little, if any, influence.

Another related claim made is that a SASS designation will give citizens significant leverage to get the Department of State (DOS) to act in our behalf in a fight against 1,000 Islands industrial wind energy development.

But closer examination reveals that we already have several state agencies who are already supposed to be helping us….and not a single one of them has done so. In fact they have become a part of the wind promotion machine!

A careful investigation will expose the reality that there are many existing state laws, policies, procedures, and regulations already on the books, that should be protecting NY citizens from industrial wind energy encroachment. These empower such agencies as the NY Utility Commission, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Health, the Department of Agriculture, the NY Energy Research Development Authority, etc., to protect our health, safety and welfare.

These existing “protections” haven’t amounted to a hill-of-beans because the political agenda of the state is to promote wind energy, which means that goal will take precedence over all NY Laws, Policies, procedures and regulations…. which is exactly what has happened.

The situation has gotten so off track in NYS that the state Legislature passed Article 10, which knocks down what little inputs that local citizens had in this matter. Additionally, Article 10 appears to violate the state Constitution.

If you still need convincing that the state is not our friend here, consider the report that recently came out. It concluded that NYS was ranked #50 regarding the freedoms of its citizens. Dead last!

I join with the other good NNY citizens who are asking for a comprehensive and unbiased assessment of the merits of SASS — prior to any 1,000 Islands towns or villages getting involved.

Cory Tanner

Hammond