A Vermont anti-wind power activist is the target of a state criminal investigation for allegedly “practicing law without a license” after helping residents appear before a public service board to oppose wind turbines.
Annette Smith’s allies claim the only thing Smith did wrong was annoy the wealthy and politically connected wind power industry.
“[T]he attorney general is siding with Vermont’s large law firms and big lobbyists to deprive opponents of industrial wind the advice of a person who knows the intricacies of the proceedings and can help those who cannot afford the high priced lawyers the developers can,” Deb Bucknam, a Vermont attorney who has represented anti-wind clients, wrote Thursday in an opinion piece for the local news site VT Digger.
“And make no mistake: Even though this is a preposterous charge, and will likely be thrown out, its purpose will be fulfilled: to chill anyone’s free speech rights who dares to question the powerful in Montpelier [Vermont’s capital]…Only Ms. Smith, who provides similar information to those who cannot pay for those high priced lawyers is prosecuted by the attorney general,” Bucknam wrote.
According to a letter from the state’s attorney general, Smith is “squarely within Vermont’s definition of the unauthorized practice of law” by giving legal advice to Vermont residents. Assistant Attorney General John Treadwell vouched for the letter’s authenticity, but would not say who had sent it.
The complaint letter was partially redacted, but a footnote and other documents suggest it was sent by a law firm representing the founder and CEO of major solar and wind developer AllEarth Renewables. Unlicensed legal work is not a misdemeanor or felony under Vermont law. However, such work can be considered to be a category of contempt against the state Supreme Court.
Smith says she opposes wind turbines because of wildlife deaths, noise pollution and visual blight. She claims she never called herself a lawyer and does not bill people she gives legal advice to.
Major environmental groups like the Center For Biological Diversity have a long history of pursuing legal action against even “green” development, like wind turbines or solar farms, which it believes encroach on animal habitats and kill tens of thousands of birds.
Environmentalists are already concerned about how solar panels, wind turbines and the batteries required to back them up use materials like cobalt, nickel, molybdenum, or highly purified silicon. All of these materials must be mined, refined and manufactured. The industrial processes required to build solar panels and wind turbines could also potentially contaminate the environment.
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