April 7, 2021
Forget the think tanks and ivory towers of academia, or the centers of commerce and finance – the clean energy future that we need will succeed, or fail, bit by bit, in contentious meetings in small rural townships across the midwest and heartland, where clean energy projects are sited, or not, thru the ordinances passed by earnest but often overwhelmed township boards and planning commissions, who must contend with opposition that are a minority, but very loud, shrill, and often deliberately intimidating.
The meetings get a little animated, as this unusually vivid narration of a recent meeting from the Greenville, Michigan, Daily News.
WOOD-TV 8
MONTCALM TWP. For Lakeview resident Tammy Resseguire, there have been too many questions but not enough answers on the impact of the 75 wind turbines proposed for portions of Montcalm County.
“I wish people would get more active with their township. They need to go to their planning commission and find out what’s going on,” Resseguie said.
But for Montcalm Township farmer Del Christensen, a tower on his land would supplement his income.
“Is it good? Is it bad? You know, the government has mandated that this stuff has got to come, so if it don’t come here, it’s going to go somewhere else,” he said.