Letter to the Editor: Where’s the fuss?

There has been an uproar in the press and on social media over the proposed destruction of pristine (so called) forest land for the expansion of the power transmission line through the state. I’ve never seen the land under consideration, but I would imagine that the bulk of the degradation of the land has already occurred and the additional work would likely result in (relatively) little additional damage to that already done. Not a good or bad thing but likely true.

Two other developments in the state in general and our area in particularly have me wondering why there has been little uproar about them because they seem to be similar in many ways to the power line uproar.

The first is the 140 acre expansion of the Sugarloaf ski mountain. I like skiing well enough and it’s good that so many people enjoy it and it’s an economic engine for the area. However, the scars made by the trails on the mountain are an ugly sight, compared to a pristine mountain, winter and summer from most vantage points. That doesn’t seem to be worthy of organized opposition or outcries on social media.

The second is the swallowing up of large tracts of farmland, both in production and fallow, next to highways for the installation of solar power facilities. I like solar power well enough, and I’m glad that the landowners are able to capitalize on their land and the base of solar power is expanding. But, even as an engineer, I find nothing attractive about a solar power field, miss the former vistas as I drive the roads, and mourn the loss of farming. Again, this loss doesn’t seem to be worthy of organized opposition or outcries on social media.

There are likely many factors, including social, economic, and cultural, that determine what we let ourselves get excited about. In the examples I’ve listed I haven’t been able to make sense of them.

Maybe you can.