Ive heard it said that in politics, timing is everythingif so, mine

is bad.
Last Wednesday my friend, the great writer Jay Parini, asked me
to join him in a letter with some other authors to the Addison
Independent endorsing Matt Dunne for the Democratic nomination for
governor. It was a well-written letter, and in any event Id encouraged
Matt to run early on, when no one else was in the field, so I said yes,
sign me on. Dunnes a very smart guy, has done a lot of good for
Vermonters, and brings a fresh eye to our problems. (I also thought
that if he was governor cellphones might actually be convinced to work
in most of the state, which seems to me necessary if we have any hope
of convincing people under the age of 30 they want to make their lives
here).
But two days later, towards the end of last Friday afternoon,
something happened that convinced me Id made a mistake. I tried to
reach the editor of the Addy Indy, but I couldnt. So as best as I know,
tomorrows edition of my favorite newspaper carries a
recommendation from me thatto use a word that only readers from
the Nixon era will rememberis now inoperative. Hence, this further
letter.
What happened on Friday? Dunne, who had been on the record
as saying that he was a proponent of large scale wind and solar
projects put out a press release guaranteeing local communities the
right to block any wind project and saying that Vermonts energy future
lay in solar and small-scale hydro. The press release also, somewhat
oddly, quoted one of his two primary opponents, Peter Galbraith, a
long-time foe of wind development in Vermont, who has since been
tweeting merrily about how hes turned Dunne around.
I disagree with this about-face. Vermonts latitude means that
wind will be an important part of any renewable energy plan hereit
complements solar well, because winter, when the sun is low, can get
blustery. And physics means that our best wind is high up. That doesnt
mean every ridgeline needs to be developed. But Ive long said publicly
that I hope for the day when some turbines spin atop the ski area on
Middlebury Gap, above my home. (Ive also said it privately, over and
over, to the administrators of Middlebury College who own the land).
I understand that this is in some quarters an unpopular stance,
and that Dunne may have made a shrewd political calculation throwing
in with Galbraith. Ive spent much of my life getting hate mail (and
worse)most of it comes from climate deniers, but some thats
particularly vitriolic, and stings very badly, comes from fellow
Vermonters opposed to wind. They usually charge that I profit from
clean energy (untrue), am so ignorant about climate and energy that I
dont understand that wind turbines lead to more global warming
because of some complicated reasoning about gas-powered back-up
plants (untrue), or that I have flown a lot of carbon-spewing airplane

miles building the global climate movement (true). They also point out
that wind turbines damage wildlife habitat and ridgeline forests. This is
entirely accurate. There are people who spend more time than me out
in the woods around Middlebury Gap, but not many; so I know that it is
sadly correct that putting in tall turbines will hurt the acres where they
go. That land wont ever be the same.
My support for them, therefore, comes from the idea that wind
power is relatively benignbetter than the realistic options. Our world
is being very rapidly overtaken by climate change. 2016 is the
warmest year in our history, beating the record set in 2015, which beat
the record set in 2014. My colleagues in the Pacific spent the spring
dealing with the decimation of the regions coral reefson which half a
billion humans dependas a wave of hot water sloshed across the
region. My colleagues in the far north spent last week dealing with the
news that melting permafrost has unearthed long-frozen and dormant
anthrax germs, which have killed thousands of reindeer and sent
dozens of nomadic herders to the hospital in the course of a few days.
The people (and plants and animals) affected, of course, have done
little or nothing to cause the problem. Given that we Americans have
supplied the greatest share of the greenhouse gases wreaking this
damage, it seems to me that it is morally and practically incumbent on
us to try and build large quantities of renewable energy. Well never
build enough to make up for the damage weve done, butif we
combine our efforts with serious conservation work and changes in
some of our habitswe can at least make a start.
I also think its wise for Vermont. Just as we understand that
producing more of our food locally insulates us from the corporate
control and distant manipulation of big ag, so producing more of our
electrons locally insulates us to some degree from an increasingly
brittle world. (Its one reason to work for more local ownership and
control of alternative energy).
Windpower is not the only, or even the most important, energy
issue of the moment (that would the shameful fracked-gas pipeline
now being built along the states western edge, a relic of our energy
past even before its rushed completion). But it is important. And its
importance means candidates basic positions on it shouldnt shift
overnight, and certainly not once early voting in a crucial election has
begun.
If at this point in this saga anyone still gives a flying fish who Im
voting for, that would be Sue Minter. I dont think Dunnes rotten or a
scoundrel; Im sure that if elected hell make a good governor. And I
dont think that people should never change their minds. But I do
believe that theres something to be said for consistency in public life. I
had the honor of helping introduce Bernie Sanders when he gave the
speech launching his candidacy for president, and I had the
(bittersweet) honor of introducing him the day a few weeks ago when

he conceded to Hillary Clinton. His issue positions in the two speeches

were identical. Some people found his constancy boring, and wished
that hed repeated himself less; I confess I thought it was a large part
of his charm.