National Wind Watch: Documents » Texas http://www.wind-watch.org/documents http://www.wind-watch.org/nwwlogo-white-50.jpg National Wind Watch: Documents » Texas http://www.wind-watch.org/documents 100 40 Industrial Wind Resource Library, from National Wind Watch Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:07:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en Documents Wind power Wind energy Coastal Update — The Kenedy Wind Farms Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:10:14 +0000 01 Apr 2008 Blackburn, Jim This is a special edition of my coastal update that is written regarding the Kenedy County wind farms. The Coastal Habitat Alliance is a group that was formed to bring together environmental and private sector interests to act to protect our coast. The Coastal Habitat Alliance is working to identify some agency with jurisdiction over these environmentally damaging wind farms. We are in federal court over the absolute absence of the Texas Coastal Management Program and we hope to have the court order the construction stopped pending some type of coastal management review. In the meantime, we have identified two major environmental issues and we are trying to find a regulatory agency with jurisdiction other than the relatively worthless Texas Coastal Management Program. Here is a summary of the current situation. …

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]]> http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/coastal-update-the-kenedy-wind-farms/ http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/coastal-update-the-kenedy-wind-farms/ Documents Wind power Wind energy Resolution of Fredericksburg City Council and Gillespie County Economic Development Commission Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:05:47 +0000 05 Dec 2007 Fredericksburg City Council; Gillespie County Economic Development Commission Industrial Wind Farms

[Gillespie County Economic Development Commission]

The Gillespie County Economic Development Commission opposes the construction of industrial wind farms in Gillespie County and the surrounding Texas Hill Country area. This position is taken after a careful consideration of the issues associated with the economic and environmental impact of industrial wind farms.

The Hill Country is a jewel of Texas. It is highly touted and highly regarded for its landscapes and scenic beauty. It is a desirable area to both visit and live and property values and the robustness of the tourism economy reflect its attractiveness. Wind turbines are incompatible with the elements that make the Hill Country special. Their presence would cause irreversible harm. There is ample reason to believe that industrial wind farms would cause a general reduction in property values and would cause a significant reduction in tourism. Our county and city governments and our school districts are responsible and fiscally conservative. Accordingly, the loss of revenue from reduced tourist dollars and a tax base reduced by declining property values will result in a corresponding tax rate increase. Tax increases do not stimulate economic vitality.

The environmental impact of industrial wind farms is known. Wind turbines create a noise that is described as a penetrating low-frequency thudding vibration that travels even further than the measured audible noise. The spinning blades can create a flickering light on one side of a blade and a flickering shadow on the other side that can literally cause humans and animals to experience spatial disorientation. The spinning blades also kill and maim birds and bats. Each tower requires a cleared area of several acres at its base and the towers must be connected by roads capable of handling heavy equipment. The destruction of the landscape and wildlife habitat required for this is permanent. And, each tower is required to be lighted with a flashing red light at night. These adverse environmental impacts are a direct cause of the reduction in property values mentioned earlier.

The economic development commission generally applauds the search for alternative energy sources to satisfy our increasing demands. However, the commission is skeptical about the real potential for wind power’s contribution.

The U.S. Department of Energy reports that wind power has the potential to contribute 1.2% of our energy demand by the year 2030. To achieve this minuscule contribution to energy needs the federal government subsidizes the construction of wind farms through production tax credits and accelerated depreciation schedules. This essentially passes along a majority of the cost of construction of wind farms to taxpayers. The Gillespie County Economic Development Commission believes that the potential economic loss to the community is grossly out of proportion to the immeasurably small potential contribution industrial wind farms here could make to the energy solution.

The economic development commission respects the rights of individual property owners to make decision regarding their property without outside interference. However, the commission is concerned that property owners who exercise their property rights and sign lease options with industrial wind companies are actually relinquishing control of their property. While industrial wind farms may provide some economic benefit to the participating land owner, adjacent landowners will experience a decrease in property values and other adverse effects which effectively infringes upon their property rights. And there are additional complications. Transmission lines will be required to move the electricity from the wind farms to the electric grid. It is likely that eminent domain would be used to acquire rights-of-way for new transmission lines from non-participating, unwilling land owners.

To summarize, the Gillespie County Economic Development Commission believes that concern for the economic cost to the Gillespie County community as a whole far outweighs consideration of uncertain financial benefits to a few and a marginal at best contribution to future energy needs.

RESOLUTION  (Fredericksburg City Council)

WHEREAS, there have been and there may be other companies in the future who are attempting to enter into lease agreements with landowners in Gillespie County for the purpose of erecting wind turbines (wind farms) on the scenic landscape of our community; and

WHEREAS, the construction of such industrial wind farms will permanently degrade the scenic vistas of our area for long distances; and

WHEREAS, industrial wind farms viewable from Enchanted Rock will forever scar a popular recreational asset of the area; and

WHEREAS, the construction of such industrial wind farms will destroy the peaceful existence of the quality of life the residents of Gillespie County have come to enjoy over the years bey generating noise from the turbines, creating “shadow, strobe or flicker” effects; and

WHEREAS, industrial wind farms could be detrimental to the environmental integrity and wildlife of our area; and

WHEREAS, it is widely accepted by professional appraisers and members of the real estate community that land values where industrial wind farms are built and the land of the adjoining property owners could be devalued; and

WHEREAS, according to Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the amount of wind generated in this area is designated as being 20th out of 25 potential wind areas in the state of Texas; and

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG:

The construction of industrial wind turbines (wind farms) is opposed by the Fredericksburg City Council in the Gillespie County area.

PASSED AND APPROVED this 3rd day of December, 2007.

Download the City Council Resolution Against Industrial Wind

]]> http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/resolution-of-the-gillespie-county-economic-development-commission/ http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/resolution-of-the-gillespie-county-economic-development-commission/ Documents Wind power Wind energy Wind Energy Development and Wildlife Conservation Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:33:41 +0000 19 Nov 2007 Kuvlesky, William; Brennan, Leonard; Morrison, Michael; Boydston, Kathy; Ballard, Bart; and Bryant, Fred Journal of Wildlife Management
Volume 71, Issue 8 (November 2007), pp. 2487–2498

ABSTRACT  Wind energy development represents significant challenges and opportunities in contemporary wildlife management. Such challenges include the large size and extensive placement of turbines that may represent potential hazards to birds and bats. However, the associated infrastructure required to support an array of turbines—such as roads and transmission lines—represents an even larger potential threat to wildlife than the turbines themselves because such infrastructure can result in extensive habitat fragmentation and can provide avenues for invasion by exotic species. There are numerous conceptual research opportunities that pertain to issues such as identifying the best and worst placement of sites for turbines that will minimize impacts on birds and bats. Unfortunately, to date very little research of this type has appeared in the peer-reviewed scientific literature; much of it exists in the form of unpublished reports and other forms of gray literature. In this paper, we summarize what is known about the potential impacts of wind farms on wildlife and identify a 3-part hierarchical approach to use the scientific method to assess these impacts. The Lower Gulf Coast (LGC) of Texas, USA, is a region currently identified as having a potentially negative impact on migratory birds and bats, with respect to wind farm development. This area is also a region of vast importance to wildlife from the standpoint of native diversity, nature tourism, and opportunities for recreational hunting. We thus use some of the emergent issues related to wind farm development in the LGC—such as siting turbines on cropland sites as opposed to on native rangelands—to illustrate the kinds of challenges and opportunities that wildlife managers must face as we balance our demand for sustainable energy with the need to conserve and sustain bird migration routes and corridors, native vertebrates, and the habitats that support them.

Download “Wind Energy Development and Wildlife Conservation: Challenges and Opportunities:

]]> http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wind-energy-development-and-wildlife-conservation/ http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wind-energy-development-and-wildlife-conservation/ Documents Wind power Wind energy Wind Energy Easement Agreement — Annotated Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:39:23 +0000 05 Sep 2007 Anon. This wind energy lease contract from British Petroleum (BP) has comments included to call attention to its many pitfalls for the landowner.

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]]> http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wind-energy-easement-agreement-annotated/ http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wind-energy-easement-agreement-annotated/ Documents Wind power Wind energy Abilene, Texas, lawsuit Thu, 31 Aug 2006 14:58:15 +0000 31 Aug 2006 Rankin, Dale; et al. Download “Dale Rankin et al. v. FPL Energy et al.”

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