Bans Land Acquisition for Unsustainable Energy Systems
Massive wind turbines installed by an Iberdrola project tower over ridges in Grafton County, New Hampshire and have had a devastating impact on the environment and this rural community. Iberdrola is Spain’s largest energy group and a global leader in wind energy. Grafton, NH residents learned that Iberdrola was proposing another large industrial wind project that would install wind turbines along other ridgelines in their County. They turned to CELDF for assistance in defining a plan of action and drafting a Community Bill of Rights. On Tuesday March 12, 2013, at a Town Meeting residents of Grafton voted to adopt an ordinance that establishes a community Bill of Rights and prohibits corporations from engaging “in land acquisition necessary for the siting or construction of unsustainable energy systems”. The ordinance recognizes rights to pure water, clean air, a sustainable energy future as a “fundamental and inalienable right to protect and preserve the scenic, historic and aesthetic values of the town,” and that the people of Grafton at all times enjoy and retain “an inalienable and indefeasible right to self-governance in the community where they reside.” The ordinance also recognizes natural communities and ecosystems have “inalienable and fundamental rights to exist and flourish within the Town,” and that “residents of the town shall possess legal standing to enforce those rights on behalf of those natural communities and ecosystems.”Read more at Grafton, New Hampshire Adopts Community Bill of Rights That Bans Land Acquisition for Unsustainable Energy Systems