It has been my pleasure to work with Dr. Luther Gerlach a couple of times over the past few years as he continues his studies of transmission line opposition groups. Dr. Gerlach is professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Minnesota, and has been studying transmission opposition since the 1970s.
In 2013, Luther updated his encyclopedia article, Public Reaction to Transmission Lines (EEI has made the article publicly available for download here). After it was published in 2014, the Edison Electric Institute invited him to present at their recent Utility Siting Workshop. I again participated in discussions with Luther over several months as he put together his presentation for the workshop, Transmission Lines: Characteristics and Effects of Opposition.
Discussion with Luther has a way of making you think! During the most recent discussions, Luther shared with me a film he narrated in the 1990s from footage he had acquired during the CU power line fight in Minnesota in the 1970s. This battle was the subject of Paul Wellstone's book, Powerline: The First Battle of America's Energy War, which is sort of a transmission opposition primer. A lot of us have read it to analyze what went wrong with their fight so we can improve on our own. If you haven't read it yet, go get a copy!
I downloaded Luther's film, Grassroots Energy, and settled in to watched it by myself.
Then I invited a fellow transmission opponent over to watch it with me a second time so we could discuss the similarities to our own fight.
Then, with Luther's permission, I shared it with a few other transmission opposition leaders across the country.
Now, I can share it here... Download and watch this film! For even more fun, watch it with your transmission opposition buddies and plan a discussion afterwards.
Although it's been 40 years since the CU battle, I was struck by how much we're still reacting to new transmission proposals with the same emotions and actions that formed these opposition groups many years ago. We still share information with others, and we still try to find better solutions.
Now I'm going to go watch it again... while waiting for better solutions!
In 2013, Luther updated his encyclopedia article, Public Reaction to Transmission Lines (EEI has made the article publicly available for download here). After it was published in 2014, the Edison Electric Institute invited him to present at their recent Utility Siting Workshop. I again participated in discussions with Luther over several months as he put together his presentation for the workshop, Transmission Lines: Characteristics and Effects of Opposition.
Discussion with Luther has a way of making you think! During the most recent discussions, Luther shared with me a film he narrated in the 1990s from footage he had acquired during the CU power line fight in Minnesota in the 1970s. This battle was the subject of Paul Wellstone's book, Powerline: The First Battle of America's Energy War, which is sort of a transmission opposition primer. A lot of us have read it to analyze what went wrong with their fight so we can improve on our own. If you haven't read it yet, go get a copy!
I downloaded Luther's film, Grassroots Energy, and settled in to watched it by myself.
Then I invited a fellow transmission opponent over to watch it with me a second time so we could discuss the similarities to our own fight.
Then, with Luther's permission, I shared it with a few other transmission opposition leaders across the country.
Now, I can share it here... Download and watch this film! For even more fun, watch it with your transmission opposition buddies and plan a discussion afterwards.
Although it's been 40 years since the CU battle, I was struck by how much we're still reacting to new transmission proposals with the same emotions and actions that formed these opposition groups many years ago. We still share information with others, and we still try to find better solutions.
Now I'm going to go watch it again... while waiting for better solutions!
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