First Amendment Rights of Amish Take Center Stage In Battle Over Huge New York Wind Project

Cattaraugus County, New York – The Swartzentruber Amish community in Cattaraugus County, New York are in danger of having their horse-drawn carriages run into the ditch by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s all-renewable-energy express train. That train is barreling out of Albany station and aims to plant huge numbers of wind turbines and solar panels across upstate New York, including the 340-megawatt Alle-Catt wind project.

But the Swartzentruber, who are among the most conservative of the Amish, might derail some of Cuomo’s efforts to turn New York into the climate-change promised land. And it may be the Amish sect’s religious devotion and the First Amendment that does the derailing.