Seen in the AJC:
Curt and Christine Mann are renovating their Grant Park house to make it green to the nth degree. They’re recycling wood, installing airtight foam insulation and solar lighting, and capturing gray water to flush toilets.
But what sets the Manns apart from other enviro-conscious families is their plan to install a device not seen in any other Atlanta neighborhood ? a 45-foot wind turbine.[...]
Opponents say the tower, which received a permit from the city, will be nothing more than a giant yard ornament on a street where old houses have been lovingly preserved.
“Do we want to turn historic Grant Park into a proving ground for residential wind energy?” asked tower opponent Scott Herzinger in an e-mail to neighbors. “Is this an experiment we want to be part of?”
The opponents have started themselves a website: treesyestowersno.org.
I give a hat-tip to the Manns for trying to make a difference, rather than just talking the talk. Not many folks have actually taken steps to reduce their environmental footprint among those for whom global warming angst is trendy. These folks are doing things that I’d love to do…if only my wife would let me.
As someone who’s in the second year of a three-year experience of having a neighboring lot turned into a 55-unit development, I can appreciate some of the disgruntlement that folks in that neighborhood feel. However, if there is going to be a cultural shift away from dependence on nonrenewable energy, changes like turbines in yards and PV cells on roofs are going to eventually be happy.
I guess this one liberal neighborhood isn’t quite ready to be progressive.