I have seen an alarming trend among the green news stories lately. People who are trying to better our world by going green are getting sued and/or penalized for their efforts.
A few days ago I was reading about a North Carolina man who drives a diesel car powered by 100% vegetable oil. His veggie oil bumper sticker caught the attention of local law enforcement and he was fined $1000 for not paying motor fuel taxes. You see about 30 cents of your gasoline dollars go toward fuel taxes and when you get a little creative by switching to an alternative fuel and don’t need to buy gas anymore…well you can get into a whole mess of trouble. Never mind the fact that this North Carolina man was buying the veggie oil and paying taxes on it. It looks like he will get hit with another fine from the feds in the same amount and he has to pay a $2500 bond in order to keep using vegetable oil to power his car.
Then today I was reading about Michael Mercutio, a man that cut his $340 dollar a month electric and gas bill down to an incredible $114 a year! This miraculous feat was accomplished by installing a 35 foot wind turbine in his backyard….a project that he did get a permit for. Well, his neighbors are now suing him because they think the turbine is big and unsightly and also makes noise. They claim they are all for wind power…just not anywhere near their homes. WTH?
I can honestly say I would be thrilled if one or more of my neighbors decided to get a wind turbine. I would love to have one myself. What is wrong with these people?!
It reminded me that just the other day as I was driving through Champaign county Ohio I kept seeing bright yellow signs that said “No Wind 
Turbines”. I was confused about why they were there so I came home and did a bit of research and found that Champaign and Logan counties in Ohio are proposed sites for wind farms. I think that is an awesome development but I guess residents think wind turbines are ugly and are sure to devalue their properties.
I really can’t understand it. I have driven a hundred times past the wind farms in California and I think they are beautiful. I was always mesmerized by them and of course I love what they represent…clean energy.
And I am sorry but if Mr. Mercutio’s neighbors want to sue him for using clean energy and living frugally with a wind turbine then they should have to pay his energy bills from now on.
A word of caution for anyone progressive and environmentally responsible…you might find yourself in court!
Go Green and Get Sued…
Good people getting punished for using alternative energy and fuel….
It’s terrible isn’t it? I met a man here in Texas whose homeowner’s association is suing him for installing solar tubes in his home. They claimed that they weren’t opposed to conserving energy, but that the tubes just didn’t look good. Are we really that image conscious?
People’s ignorance and inability to change is a constant wonderment to me.
This comment was left by Keith elsewhere on the blog:
“I am one of the landowners in Logan and Chanpaign Counties that has a NO WIND TURBINES sign on my 80 acres. These are not your ecologically sound small personal wind turbines. These are 450 foot behemoths that dwarf the surrounding rural and residential countryside, are noisy, create strobe effect when the sun is behind them, and they want to place them on our glacial ridges which are the most highly erosive soils in the state. They are an ecological disaster waiting to happen and construction of these factories would require wide scale destruction of our road infrastructure and our forests. On the surface, which you have seen, they sound great. If you do the research youll have a sign in your yard too.”
I appreciate your comments Keith but I would have no such sign in my yard. As I already mentioned I am very familiar with wind farms…especially the behemoth variety you mention. Most of your argument seems to be grounded in aesthetics….aka the sound, the strobe effect, etc. To me that is just not reason enough to block clean energy. Everyone wants to have energy and electricity but no one wants to see it. Well, I think you should have to make a choice. Will it be solar, wind, nuclear, petroleum, or ethanol plants in your back yard? Me? I would go with solar or wind. ALL of them will have an impact on the earth and surrounding areas but wind power will produce energy without harmful CO2 emissions or produce nuclear waste that we must dispose of in someone else’s backyard. Fossil fuels are also a non renewable resource so we will have to address the alternative energy situtation one day so why not now?
Solar power on individual houses would be a solution but it is not economically feasible for everyone. Wind power is the way to go.
I agree with you Tiffany, it’s not a matter of whether we need elctricity, that is a given, it’s a matter of where we get it from. I too would choose solar or wind given the choice. I live in Texas and we don’t bat an eye here when we see oil rig after oil rig obliterating the landscape. I don’t see the difference as far as ascetics go.
You know, that’s just sad. It goes to show why the government has “hidden” alternate fuel/power sources for some time. They have just been looking for a way for them to make money off of it before they release it.
Kind of sad…
People hate change and they fight it tooth and nail. They only change when the pain of not changing is greater than the pain of changing. I think that’s the bottom line here.
I hate to hear that about the NC man because my sister, who I just interviewed for an upcoming show, just bought a greasel on eBay a few weeks ago, and she lives in NC. She’s gotten a lot of ridicule. I hope a redneck law enforcement officer doesn’t get on her back.
Sick – we pay enough taxes! For instance, she’s paid school taxes for years even though her kids (18, 16, 14, 10) have been homeschooled their whole lives.
I live in Ma. and there is a proposed wind farm here too. So many people are complaining about it. This farm will be located off shore and one of the concerns I heard was what if it falls down? There is oil in them for the bearings and that will leak into our water.
Hello??? I suppose the oil tankers that pull into Boston harbor are so much safer. It’s just another case of “not in my backyard”.
Personaly, I am doing all I can to become more self sufficient. Where Iive now It’s not practical to have solar power or wind. There just isn’t enough land. I do plan on moving in a few years and that will be a prime concern when buying another home.
In the mean time I do all I can to cut down on how much utilities I use. For me, being self sufficient isn’t so much about “being green”, although that is a concern, as it is about not being beholden to a utility company.
Like many others I too believed I needed a new fancy car, big house, blah, blah, blah. Luckily I have come to my senses and my husband and I do all we can to keep our cars in good condition because we have decided not to buy any more new cars and we are going to hold on to the ones we have as long as we can. Our main goals are to pay off our debt so the car company and mortgage company don’t own us anymore and bring down the utilities as much as possible.
I know solar is a big investment up front and does take years to break even. However, just knowing that I don’t need the electric company anymore would be well worth the investment. I would be free.
Humans can be so cruel. When someone tries to better the world for everyone, why bother them. I support the ones that try to help save our earth!
Isn’t it funny how “they” fight wind turbines, but no one bats an eye at cell phone towers.
I just found your blog tonight and am enjoying catching up!
Gina’s last blog post..Tagged!
We have so much sun here in Arizona. I wish every home was equipped with solar panels on the roofs. It sure would make life easier and the power bills would be cheaper. However the homeowners associations run everything out here and they don’t allow this. Not fair…