Agri.Commissioner Darrel Aubertine may contribute to huge Agri. Industry financial losses.

The agricultural industry is poised for huge financial losses and
NY State Agricultural Commissioner Darrel Aubertine may contribute to these losses.

According to a study that you can read here in the journal Science, Insect-eating bats provide pest-control services that save the U.S. agriculture industry over $3 billion per year the study warns that these valuable animals are at risk: Bat populations are declining due to fatalities associated with White-Nose Syndrome and wind turbines, which could lead to significant economic losses on U.S. farms.
White nose syndrome is a deadly mysterious disease that has killed more than a million hibernating bats across the Northeastern U.S. since 2006.

A large number of bats are dying at wind turbines in the United States. The number of bat deaths is higher than any fatality rates seen in this species in the past. There's something strange happening with bats and wind turbines. It is not known why bats are so susceptible and why they're showing up in these surprising numbers.

Within 3/4 of a mile from the shores of Cape Vincent there already is an operational 86 turbine wind power plant on Wolfe Island, Canada. The Wolfe Island post construction bat mortality report determined that an estimated 1720 bats are killed per year. Cape Vincent can expect the same numbers because of similar habitat and shared species with Wolfe Island.
Aubertine’s land is slated for transmission lines to facilitate St. Lawrence winds 53 turbine project.

Acciona’s St. Lawrence Wind Power project has the potential to significantly impact the future survival of the Indiana bat and all bat species existing in Cape Vincent , their wind development will cause fragmentation of habitat and destroy foraging ground ,this will have a devastating effect on Cape Vincent’s dwindling bat population.
How long it will take to see these population declines having a noticeable effect? Perhaps in the next few years in the northeast where White-nose syndrome has already had a substantial influence on bat population

When Darrel Aubertine was appointed as Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner he said, "New York's diverse agricultural industry and vast marketplace requires responsible oversight and advocacy – roles I am proud to take on. I look forward to working with our agricultural partners to help our farmers and industry flourishes."

Aubertines involvement with Acciona's St.Lawrence wind is not responsible oversight, and it will not help farmers and New Yorks agricultural industry flourish.

Aubertine has weighed in the topic of wind farms in Cape Vincent, when asked about it in the fall of 2009; Aubertine said “Who are you to tell me what I can do with my land"?
Agricultural Commissioner Aubertine is supporting the slaughter of Bats for personal gain.
 Below is a partial map of the area that is proposed for utility scale wind turbines and the necessary transmission lines to facilitate the project. Notice the project is in the heart of the Indiana Bat areas. Notice too that land owned by Agricultural Commissioner Darrel Aubertine is slated for transmission lines in or perilously close to the Indiana Bat habitat areas...

AUBERTINE PROPERTY
slated for development~




ACCIONA TURBINE AREAS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Link here to read the
Wolfe Island Wind Post-Construction Avian & Bat Mortality MonitoringReport 2011-01-24

Link here to read the WOLFE ISLAND ~WIND FARM~ BIRD AND BAT POST CONSTRUCTION MONITORING REPORT ~ July December 2009


Wolfe Island Bird and Bat Wind turbine Mortality report January to June 2011

Anti-wind group dividing Cape community

SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 2011 It's good to see the Cape Vincent community coming together to support our elementary school. I was hoping we could move beyond the destructive divisiveness the Cape's anti-wind group has dragged our community through.

But instead, they've stepped up their political games, trying to make people believe that the only thing that matters is banning renewable energy from our agricultural district. Just as we are rallying support for our community's school, local blogs are labeling our community members as Nazis and terrorists.

I guess the anti-wind group feels threatened by Voters for Wind. Though many in Voters for Wind are our volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians, opponents of renewable energy can't stop writing about how much these community members are nothing but terrorists and thugs.

While our community is going through a crisis of the possible school closing, the anti-wind preachers are doing all they can to distract people from the fact that wind revenue will benefit our school district. While we have a crisis of not enough young families living in the Cape year-round, local blogs are screaming that all focus must be on Cape's summer resort interests, and all potential year-round business development must be chased out of town.

And while we are trying to unite our community, the blogs are trying to drive a wedge between year-round residents and seasonal residents, when I know for a fact that many seasonal residents know wind revenue could reduce taxes and improve Cape's waterfront, and they support wind development for those reasons.

Anti-wind group members target community members and make you feel like they're your best friend, when they are only using you for your vote. Will they stay your best friend after the next election?

Wind opponents say they're not manipulative, but I've seen how they talk online and everything is all capital letters, all exclamation points, and everything is blown way out of proportion. First they say something is a certain number. A few months later, that number is doubled. A few months later, the number is tripled. No evidence is ever given to support their escalating numbers. When one fictitious number isn't scary enough anymore, they just come up with higher, scarier fictitious numbers.

These are tactics of people who do not have facts on their side. The anti-wind group is just scaring our community members. And it's a shame they are doing this during these difficult times.

Harvey White Cape Vincent




This letter appeared in the Thousand Islands Sun ~ 4/ 13/2011

Wind farm Bird Death count minimized by ~ hiding bodies of protected species

The letter below, from noted wildlife biologist and wind energy expert Jim Wiegand was written in response to a report in the The Ognensburg Journal, Bird Deaths Prompt Wind Rules by Nancy Madsen SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011

Editor, I would like to comment and further enlighten you readers on the recent story "Bird Deaths Prompt Wind Rules - USFWS and Voluntary Guidelines". The USFWS Voluntary Guidelines need to be examined closely for what they are. As it is there are clear Federal and State laws on the books that protect rare and endangered species. But for the wind industry these laws are just voluntary. Your state has speed limits. Are they voluntary? Murder, rape, assault and so on, are the laws of any of these crimes voluntary for any special group? The point is that the USFWS is not protecting the nation's rare and endangered species nor is it upholding the laws that were written to protect them. The reality is that the voluntary guidelines along with the incidental take permit, were created for this industry in Washington to bypass environmental law.

It is well known that wind turbines cause bird and bat mortality however the total magnitude of this impact cannot ever be fully understood until there is complete transparency. Thanks to the USFWS , there is no transparency. This information is made even more difficult to obtain when the access the wind properties is conveniently limited by the industry itself. Keep in mind, wind farms have been known to conceal blade strike victims as in Spain where the bodies of 19 unreported griffon vultures were found buried on wind farm property. I have been told that wind industry contracts and leases also have gag clauses written into them so this information can be limited. I believe the concealment of blade strike mortality is it is a routine practice for the industry.

To insure transparency all wind farms should be required to operate with specific conditions. Every wind farm should be subject to inspection at any time by non-industry biologists and college enrolled wildlife biology students that would be more than willing to survey properties. Also the unreported disposal or hiding of bodies of any protected species should be treated as a felony with corresponding large fines against the wind farm. The use of 24 hour video camera/web cams with feeds to an accessible internet site should be required of any and all turbines in high priority habitats. Each wind farm should also be set up with mandatory mortality thresholds and shut down if these thresholds are met.

If the public truly wants transparency they will demand guidelines to keep the public informed of the true impact of wind farms to protected bird species in their regions. For obvious reasons, NO wind farm should ever be able to police their own facilities. In California, Condors have disappeared without a trace and in the Texas 2009, 23 Whooping Cranes disappeared without a trace. These are huge birds not even a feather was found. Wind farms sit in both of their habitats.

Electrical power lines and lead poisoning are commonly given as the probable reasons. If one were to think about all this logically the truth becomes obvious. If you were a California Condor, a Golden Eagle or a Whooping Crane would you rather glide into a stationary and even flexible power line or be smashed with a several ton wind turbine blade moving at 220 mph? Transmission lines are not killing off the Red kite population in Europe. The propeller style wind turbine is. Power lines also haven't killed the 2000-2500 Golden Eagles that have perished at Altamont Pass.

As it now stands, no state can not depend on the worthless USFWS voluntary guidelines to protect their protected bird species from this industry. If one were to interview USFWS employees in the field, they would find that most are not in agreement with the disconnected USFWS brass sitting in Washington.

There is a glimmer of hope in all this because taxpayers are finally starting to understand how their money is being manipulated and funneled off into the bank accounts of greedy corporations. The wind industry is one of these industries. The nation desperately needs a televised Senate or Congressional committee investigation into this industry. If this were to happen, this wind industry would be exposed for their use of corrupt biologists, bogus studies and to their influence on Washington.

Jim Wiegand

The Sierra Club ~ Beneath the Green Cloak

“The Environmental Defense Fund, ProPublica, and the Sierra Club are suddenly voicing opposition to the expansion of natural gas use….. You might call this the theorem of environmental duplicity: namely, there is no form of "clean" or "alternative" energy that environmentalists won't decide to oppose if it becomes practical and affordable on a large scale.”
Environmentalists, who have supported natural gas as a "bridge fuel" to kill coal, are starting to turn against gas now that it looks more abundant. Regulators want to regulate it; state legislators want to tax it more. And politicians are eager to "help" the market decide how best to use this newfound bounty,

more ~The Gas Revolution ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the past the Sierra club was one of the biggest supporters of natural gas. But now they have changed their tune. They have been pushing for stricter regulations and even called for a statewide ban on most gas drilling. Why the change?

With the improvements in the Hydro Fracking technology natural gas is now cheaper and practical for base load generation. This makes natural gas a viable alternative to alternative energy.

Wind power is an intermittent source of power it is dependant on wind to produce power. Wind farms that produce only a fraction of the energy of a conventional power plant require 100 times the acreage. For instance: Two of the biggest wind "farms" in Europe have 159 turbines and cover thousands of acres; but together they take a year to produce less than four days' output from a single 2,000 MW (million watt) conventional power station - which uses one percent as much space. In other words this makes natural gas a threat to the unstable scam based wind industry.

The bird kills and loss of habitat, caused by industrial wind development may threaten some bird and bat species to the point of extinction
Wind farms must be located where the wind blows fairly constantly these areas are often migratory bird flyways , for many protected species like Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles.

Ireland a world pioneer in wind energy ,the Emerald Isle used to be home to 10 bat species, now there are nine. Brandt's bat, a species not identified by science until 1970 and not seen in Ireland since 2003, has been declared probably extinct in that country by researchers. The reports are that this may be due to habitat loss ~ deforestation from industrial development.

The Sierra club has an agenda and it is not protecting wildlife.

They say one thing and do another ~ The Sierra Club called wind towers "the Cuisinarts of the air." and they asked their members for support to save The Endangered Species Act. At the same time they were lobbying on the side of the American Wind Energy Association to defeat legislation that would protect endangered birds and bats. Even though thousands of birds, bats, eagles and other endangered species die every year from deadly collisions with wind turbines. According to the Sierra Club's website: "The Endangered Species Act is one of America's most effective tools for safeguarding our fish and wildlife heritage."


In 2006 the Sierra club founded the BlueGreen Alliance a consortium of 10 major U.S. labor unions and four of America’s most influential environmental organizations with 14 million members pushing their green agenda in pursuit of what they call good jobs , a clean environment and a green economy .

~~~~~

“This campaign is about putting Americans back to work with good jobs that will also help solve our energy and environmental challenges,” said Carl Pope, Chairman of the Sierra Club and a co-founder of the BlueGreen Alliance. “Whether investing in renewable energy and efficiency, smart transportation choices, or protecting the rights of workers, we are standing together to make the U.S. number one in the clean energy economy of the future.” The wind industry cannot survive without massive subsidies tax incentives and corruption to keep it afloat.

One of the Sierra clubs partners behind the green cloak ~ is the San Francisco based Apollo Alliance is a very powerful coalition, comprised of radical environmental groups, organized labor unions such as the SEIU, the AFL- CIO ,UAW, and the United Steel workers, the IBEW, and the LIUA partnered with “Social Justice” groups like ACORN and its myriad of underlings… (This is the single largest radical group in America, with more than 400,000 dues-paying member families, and more than 1,200 chapters in 110 U.S. cities.)

This network is an incestuous , tangle of interwoven organizations and political activist groups, coming together to reshape our American values and ideals. Under the guise of promoting a clean energy economy.

Turbine opinions differ -

Turbine opinions differ - The Whig Standard - Ontario, CA

By Paul Schliesmann

The Whig-Standard Depending on whom you talk to, the proposed Amherst Island wind turbine project is either going to be an economic boon for the community or an environmental disaster.

Both opinions are already well entrenched within two community groups — the pro-turbine Citizens of Amherst Island for Renewable Energy CAIRE and the anti-turbine Association for the Protection of Amherst Island

Continue reading vis this link --->Turbine opinions differ - The Whig Standard - Ontario, CA

Disillusioned in Cape by town elections results

This letter should serve as a reminder to the residents of Cape Vincent of how important it is to vote.

We need representation without conflicts people that have a genuine interest in serving our community.

Disillusioned in Cape by town elections results

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2009

To the people of the town of Cape Vincent: Many of you probably feel disillusioned or even devastated by the results of the town elections. You may even feel victimized by certain "new" voters. But don't be too upset. You'll still be allowed to stock their favorite beer on local store shelves. You'll still be allowed to maintain the local highways, public buildings and local businesses while they enjoy their wine and cheese parties. You'll still be allowed to fight their fires.

And when they are sick or injured and call 911, you can still respond in the ambulance that your incoming supervisor doesn't know you have. Oh, and those of you who live in the village, don't worry about him changing the look of Broadway. He doesn't know that he won't also be the mayor of the village. And yes, it will still be called Cape Vincent, not Carthage.

I would like to express my great appreciation to Tom Rienbeck for his many years of unwavering dedication to the town of Cape Vincent. He has done an amazing job and accomplished so many positive things for Cape Vincent and its neighbors. My hope is that he won't be out of the supervisor's office for very long.

Julia Gosier