Irreversible change

by Sabra Field

SunCommon is in preliminary negotiation with a neighbor in East Barnard, and we are unsure whether to remain part of the global warming problem or become part of the solution.

New technology can be upsetting. Vermont has accepted many changes in our landscape. Handsome blue Harvestore silos, for instance, were considered ugly when they were new. Green steel truss bridges are disappearing, in favor of highway-style spans. Hardest for me to accept is the sprawl of malls and roadways. That’s change that’s irreversible.

Solar panels, on the other hand, are reversible. And I find them a whole lot better than letting a stretch of our few remaining fields disappear into forest, as has happened now to 85 percent of our lovely state. We’ve lost most of our vistas, becoming like New Hampshire where roads are tunnels in the trees.

The backbreaking labor of our ancestors to make the wilderness into a garden is demeaned by our lack of concern for our fields and meadows. I find fields planted with solar panels a fascinating succession crop that promises a harvest of independence from imported power sources.

I’d be even prouder to be a resident of East Barnard if we reject “not in my back yard” in favor of a hopeful future.

Sabra Field

East Barnard