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jumping on the activist bandwagon


may 19, 2009

The province of Québec, Canada is considered to be one of the best, if not the best, territories for windpower in N. America. Unfortunately, the neocon "free market" ideology has, in recent years, blinded our provincial leaders to the golden opportunities that a regulated, rationalized wind power industry could provide for our citizens.

Today, the "free market" idiotology reigns supreme, meaning that mega-corporations (many with little or no experience in windpower) profit from badly conceived and worsely executed projects in rural regions of the province. Local environments, on the other hand, are scrapped by industrial scale windpower projects while local communities get royally $crewed (esthetic degradation of rural landscapes, health problems, low return on investments, no control over pace or scale of "development", little or no positive economic spins offs in jobs or royalties, etc). The province itself - who conceived these ill-begotten projects in the first place! - even manages to get ripped off (are we ruled by idiots or what.. emoticon ) Ah! What a strange little world is the 3rd rock from the sun..

A final tragedy is that renewable energy gets a black eye from all this silliness and greed.. emoticon
 
Things though could go quite otherwise emoticon if we Quebecers collectively had the wisdom to reject the neocon "free market" idiotology. So, frustrated, I decided to look into ways I can push things along a more favorable evolutionary path..
 
In the information age, the net is an obvious source of info. So are libraries (municipal, college / university..).

I began my quest by searching the net for names of people and organizations active in windpower development at the community level. I tried search terms like "parc éolien communautaire", French for "community wind park", a term use here to denote small, community initiated / owned wind power installations. These searches led me to the names of prominent invdividuals, groups and texts of interest. Example: M. Gaétan Ruest, engineer and mayor of Amqui, Québec, a strong, out-spoken proponent fo small scale, community-based wind power development.

Texts, too, are important sources of info. "Knowledge is Power!" This is expecially true today for the activist who necessarily runs up against the organized lies, slanted interpretations and phony "citizens' groups" created and / or piloted by big fossil fuel lobbies and their spokespersons, the corporate owned mass media.
5/19/2009, 7:31 pm Link to this post Send Email to HOMBREDELATIERRA Blog
 
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Re: jumping on the activist bandwagon


21 may, 2009

Here's the badnews on the destructive role the media play in distorting the political process:

Noam Chomsky: Media Control: the spectacular achievements of propaganda, Seven Stories Press, NY, 1997
 
Robert W McChesney: Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy, Seven Stories Press, NY, 1997


Anyway, my searches on the net and the library located the following useful text: L'Éolien: pour qui souffle le vent? (Wind power: for whom does the wind blow?), Écosociété, Montréal, 2007. It's not available in English but Paul Gipe's work is a standard reference in English for small scale wind power development:

http://www.wind-works.org/

The following link describes the work of a community based, small scale wind power project in France, discussed in L'Éolien: pour qui souffle le vent?
 
http://www.wind-works.org/FeedLaws/France/Les_Haut_des_Ailes.html

There are grave problems associated with unregulated ("robber baron"), industrial scale wind power projects. In truth, these corporate-driven, neocon inspired resource grabs embody the "boom or bust" psychology of late 19th century goldrushes. The goal is to make the biggest possible buck in the shortest time (and to hell with the local economy, flora, fauna and folk!) The talk is "sustainability" but the walk is quite otherwise..
 
On the other hand, small, participatory, community initiated / community owned wind power projects generally embody a totally different dynamic which

- psychologically revitalizes economically depressed, depopulating rural communities
 
- provides royalties sufficient to stimulate local economic development and job creation

- limits esthetic and environmental degradation which large scale development of any sort entails

- reduces health risks (infrasound, audible noise..)


L'Éolien: pour qui souffle le vent? puts forward some interesting arguments for nationalizing wind power ("un bien commun" / a common good):
 
1- more rational development of green energy. As seen in recent health care, railway and water supply privitizations, neocon "free market" ideology usually leads to boom-and-bust ("goldrush") cycles of chaotic economic growth. The usual outcome is degraded services and environments with the brunt being borne by the poorer, most vulnerable members of society which, in the long run, exacerbates disruptive social / political tension within and between societies, nations and power blocs.

2- more rational integration of windpower into Québec's massive provincial hydro-electric grid (nationalized and one of the better run utilities on the continent, neocon idiotology aside..). Hydropower provides a natural corrective to the variability of wind power: during periods of peak wind power production, excess power can be used to pump water behind hydro dams thus providing a needed storage capacity for excess wind produced energy. During periods of low wind power production / high power consumption, power can be obtained by increasing water flow, spinning up hydro turbines. A rationalized wind power policy would site large scale wind parks near hydro dams, combining - and thereby reducing - power regulation / distribution infrastructure requirements for both systems of electric generation.

Such rationalized development, optimalized on the provincial scale, obviously requires the steadying hand of the State, not the destabilizing 6-shooter of the get-rich-quick cowboy-developer !!

3- some even argue that, given Québec's great potential for wind power, the province should use dividends from wind power to create a local home-grown, N. American, wind power industry involving all stages of research, development, commercialization and marketing; an industrial system which could compete with the mighty Danes, Swedes and Germans who, years ago, realized where the wind was blowing from and got into wind power well ahead of fossil fuel brainwashed N. Americans

 
Finally, as part of my effort to get more practically involved in the Great Paradigm Shift to Green Energy, I joined a provincial group of activists,

http://www.mcn21.org/

Maîtres-chez-nous - 21e siècle (Masters in our own house, 21st centuryy)

    They have as a goal:

il s’agit de mener à bout le projet d’indépendance énergétique du Québec de toute forme d’énergie polluante, importée ou non.

    To free Québec from dependance on all forms of pollution-generating energy, imported or not.
 
     I left a message on their facebook account (I joined it too):

Bonjour tout le monde,

J'ai une suggestion pour mettre le Développement Durable sur les écrans de radar. Les membres de MCN21 devraient s'organiser en petits cercles d'intérêts partagés (éolien, biomasse, efficacité énergétique, transports publics,...) pour composer des lettres et des articles pour les journaux et d'autres périodiques (communautaires, régionaux, provinciaux..)

.......

S'il y a des intéressés, SVP nous contacter à [email protected]

hello everybody,
 
I have a suggestion how to put SD on the radar screens. The members of MCN21 should organize ourselves in small circles of shared interest (wind power, biomass, energy efficiency, public transport..) and write letters and articles for newspapers and other periodicals (community, regional, provincial..)
 
....

If interested, please contact me at (e-mail address)

Well, we put out the bait. Now we'll see if any fish bite.. emoticon

Last edited by HOMBREDELATIERRA, 5/21/2009, 5:27 pm
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Re: jumping on the activist bandwagon


Good luck, Frank.

Perhaps if you get a reply from the mayor of Amqui, you could ask him about how communities would go about financing such a project if they desired to do so.

I also wonder if people have any independant streak left in their bones. It would seem to be the most importent thing to getting any small project up and running.

I detect a mindset not conducive to independance:
Its so much easier to leave it up to the big conglomerates.
I dont have to attend meetings or make decisions.
Our taxes will go up to pay off bonds.
How will we pay to repair one if it breaks down. Will that increase my taxes even more.
Let the big boys do it. Not me.
5/26/2009, 10:40 am Link to this post   Blog
 
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    Well, I did get one nibble so far. One of the founders of MCN21 contacted me by email, seemed interested in collaboration. In my response, I asked if he had any contacts to help spread word of the letter and article writing campaign.

    Ball's in his court now..

    Here in Québec, the issue of small scale community-based wind power projects versus industrial scale, "top down", projects imposed from above may represent a "leverage point" for both green energy and "social ecologism". The neocon inspired provincial Liberal Party engaged large, out-of-province, windpower developers to "develop" the resource. The result was unsightly, unpopular projects which grossly under-compensated landowners (compared to similar projects in neighboring Ontario built by the very same companies)

     On the plus side: it got some people hoppin' mad so they are less likely to get fleeced next time. Furthermore, some are now the biggest proponents of small scale, community based windpower projects.
 
     On the negative side: windpower got something of a black eye, which it does not need, and which people like me will have to do the best we can to dispel.

5/26/2009, 7:11 pm Link to this post Send Email to HOMBREDELATIERRA Blog
 
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You might want to take a look at the posts here:

http://www.runboard.com/benvirows.f7.t39

they could be of some value to you.

Last edited by AgnesW, 5/26/2009, 7:52 pm
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2 juin, 2009 - mardi

    I guess you would say I am now completing my initial phase of research. The group I mentionned above, MCN21, only produced a solitary reply from one of the founders to my posting (and my return reply wasn't, apparently, deemed worthy of further correspondance: OMG! did I make a terrible gaffe in French, my 2nd language ???) Worse, they even deleted my initial posting seeking writers for my letter writing circles! I will try again, of course, on a more visible page and hope it doesn't get deleted.

    So why bother trying to promote green energy in this province?
 
    Several reasons are evident.

1- As a linguistic minority (French- speaking) in the ocean of English speaking N. America, Quebecers tend to be "nationalistic" - thankfully (usually) not in the racist sense. But, being outnumbered, makes us sensitive to the fact that we are culturally fragile, a threatened species. Identity and defense of borders are really important here. Hence the appeal of a home grown wind power industry (and energy autonomy in general): "maîtres chez nous!" - masters in our own house - has at times been an important mobilizing political slogan.

     It is interesting to note that this need to defend boundaries and identity is reflected on several levels, hence represents an active force in the collective psyche (one to be exploited by the activist..)

     Law 101 protects the French language on commercial signage and as the dominant language in the workplace and school.

   Our neighboring province, Ontario, has integrated its provincial power utility into the neighboring American grids. Our Hydro-Québec followed a different philosophy. We sell excess hydro-electric power on contract to neighboring American utilities but our grid is NOT integrated. Hydro-Québec has installed giant circuit breakers which isolate our grid in case of power outages in our clients' grids: when they go down, we cut the connection and let them sink on their own..

     Identity and defense of borders are collective motivational factors that could tip public opinion in favor of energy autonomy "chez nous"..

2- Another good reason for getting involved with wind power is Québec's enormous potential for wind power which could provide energy for ourselves and for export to power hungry New England, stimulate economic development in declining / depopulating rural regions, and create the basis for a world class, home-grown renewable energy industrial sector (THINK BIG!). There is, grossly put, $$$ to be made here, boys! This wealth, rather than profiting foreign investors, should benefit the Québécois collectivity: maîtres chez nous!
 
3- While the neocon idiotology has, alas, made inroads over the past 2-3 decades, the train must be halted, reversed, and turned onto a new track. Perhaps community wind power development will provide the needed fulcrum or leverage point from which to effect this change of course. It is to be hoped..
 
    With our already nationalized hydropower utility, we have precedent and experience for creative regulation of large resource development projects. Perhaps the anti-neocon revolution will begin here - we, at least, have the wind on our side..

       Vive la Révolution!

Last edited by HOMBREDELATIERRA, 6/4/2009, 5:19 pm
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Re: jumping on the activist bandwagon


I feel like the foreward thinking groups are getting smaller and smaller. Is it perhaps that most activists are all talk and no action?
Why else would an outstretched hand be ignored?

I am almost afraid to admit that I am an environmentalist when Im out in public. The venom that erupts from some is alarming. It is hatred, pure and simple.

Sadly, some days I can feel the frothing venom in my own anger at "them".

I know there is great progress being made towards the goals we champion. I read about them every day but they wont be here soon enough to stop the tipping point from being reached. I guess we should take heart in the fact that those who survive will do so with a respect for sustainability. At least for a time!
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Hi Agnes,

     You wrote:

"I am almost afraid to admit that I am an environmentalist when Im out in public. The venom that erupts from some is alarming. It is hatred, pure and simple.

Sadly, some days I can feel the frothing venom in my own anger at "them"."

 
      Yeah, I know, it's tough to take that crap. I don't know if this helps to change the "frame" or perspective or not: consider why, exactly, the global warming deniers react this way; what could be the motivations? Note that I am not trying to justify their hatred but simply to suggest a reason for its existence which, in turn, might make it easier for you to deal with.

      Let us assume that Freud, Jung and company were correct, that something corresponding to an "unconscious mind" does exist (one does not have to think of this as some spooky entity à la Jung: the unconscious could simply be those portions of the mind's / brain's activity not in the central field of consciousness. A bio-cybernetic approach to the brain would even seem to demand such a division between central / peripheral processors..)

       If then, for the sake of the argument, we assume the existence of an unconscious or subconscious mind, what does this lead us to say about the mental / spiritual health of the average person today?

- There are layers of infomation processing going on inside them they do not have access to. Much of this unconscious processing, filtering, analyzing, transformation, assimilation and storage of info is related to our innate (biological) "survival programs" (at the level of individuals, collectivities and - possibly - even at the species level).

- given the state of the world today - radical unsustainability, demographically / ecologically - alarm bells must be ringing off the walls and red lights flashing all over the unconscious. emoticon This is why, specifically, I feel these times are so perilous: cornered rats are dangerous! Desperate people are willing to follow madmen promising them a way out of the impasse; they will scapegoat in order to - temporarily - relieve their inner (unavowed) fear. This, then, is the level of the psyche where the hate you feel comes from: the unavowed, "repressed", fear that global warming denial is trying to cover.

     Yes, to some degree, their fear is being "covered" with a screen of bravado, big talk and risk taking: extreme sports, stupid stunts, absurd military adventures; the "live today, for tomorrow we die!" attitude.. in the 17-19th centuries, deuling was practiced by the European nobility rendered socially redundant by the rising bourgeoisie. But such activities are, at best, like symptom relieving drugs: the underlying problems, relating to the nature of the society we live in, are swept under the rug.

     In such times, scapegoats are brutalized to temporarily "blow off" stress through aggression: sexual, religious, ethnic minorities; women, social or economic underclasses, criminals, the mentally ill or handicapped, even the left-handed have been scapegoated..

    Traditionally, in Russia, crop failures were followed by pogroms - ENCOURAGED / ORGANIZED BY THE CHURCH - which allowed the peasants to vent their suffering on hapless Jews, sparing the nobility - and society - from social / political revolution. The fact that the church organized pograms shows there was, at the very least, some "functional" ("unconscious"!) recognition of the UTILITY OF SCAPEGOATISM AS A SOCIAL STRESS REDUCER (even if it was rationalized by ideological demonization of Jews).
 
      In short, these vicious people you write about are, I believe, running scared. One can choose to see their state as "pathetic", or "hellish" (Bhuddist psychology)..
 
      I don't know if this helps you or not but it's how I have come to see things (I still get pissed off..)
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4 de junio, 2009 - jueves
 
     A new month! Today, I emailed a bunch of activists (in French: "militant, militante") for green energy here in Québec. My idea, borrowed from Agnes, is to create "small circles of shared interests (windpower, biomass energy, energy efficiency, public transport..) to write letters and articles for newspapers and other periodicals (community, regional, state or provincial..)"
 
    I pointed out that time is running out, that the big fossil fuel lobbies run the media (the "Old Boy's Club" of the corporate elite). I added that for the little people, strength can only come in numbers..

    Among the people I contacted: a provincial politician who promotes green energy, a university researcher into wind power, a local community activist, a mayor who wants to promote community-scale wind energy projects to re-vitalize Québec's economically depressed and depopulating rural regions. Several have written books, articles, scientific paper..
 
    So, went after some big fish..
 
    Next step: expand my list of contactees.
 
    Actually, things went much easier than I imagined (searching their email addresses). Not a bad piece of work. Now I can take a few moments for a well earned coffee..
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Thats a great start Frank. I hope it pays off.

Now, back to the anger issue. I know your right. But Im not just getting cussed out for my global warming activism. Trying to protect our wetlands from developers, our water resources from over population and indiscriminate watering of lawns has painted me as an enemy of progress, even an enemy of my town.

A few days ago I sent an email to a former neighbor of mine who moved to the edge of town on 5 acres. I asked if she was aware that the Legislature had decimated our growth regulation programs inorder to encourage the building of new home subdivisions. They eliminated the rule that required the developers to pay an impact fee to help build new roads leading to their project and to widen roads that the increased amount of traffic would impact. The current residents will now be required to pay for all the necessary improvements.
Her reply was: It is better to be ignorant in these times, you don't complain, get blamed and don't have to play the game.

Multiply that by 100 million idiots and what do we have? A sad ending.
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