A different view of wind power
Credit: By Joanne Eliot Moore, The Times Record, www.timesrecord.com 28 December 2009
Having read the Dec. 9 commentary by Douglas Rooks, “Wind Farms: A piece of our future” and expressing my views directly to Mr. Rooks (which he kindly addressed) I would like to expand on this subject so that others might learn of a different viewpoint.
I became aware about the wind-farm business when I overheard someone mentioning it as a viable use for land on BNAS once it was closed. At first I thought, “Why not?” I am all for “green” sources for energy, which are badly needed to replace our dependence on fossil fuel with its destructive carbon dioxide gas polluting our environment.
After weeks of research my “Why not?” has become a big “WHY?” Let me try to answer:
Wind farms are not necessarily “green.” Improper placement of these 400-foot towers destroys the ecology. Their placement on ridgetops not only spoils the wilderness for people, they destroy natural habitat for all living things near them. Areas once abundant in wildlife are now abandoned by the animals who once thrived there. And the land used by these wind towers cuts up the vast stretches of wilderness needed for survival by many species.
People around the Mars Hill sites report that where there was plentiful wildlife, now there is none. And the blasting needed for the huge concrete-and-steel foundations is similar to mountaintop removal used by the coal industry in West Virginia … despite the statements made by the wind industry and others that tower placement is benign and those who speak out against it are just Luddites or NIMBYs. (Not in my back yard).
As someone who has fed the birds for years at my backyard feeders, I would like to add these unanswered questions to explain my distrust of the wind industry folks and other assorted “experts.” What will happen to all the birds? Why build on migratory corridors? Why build on ridge tops where the raptors (eagles, hawks, etc.) fly and nest? What about the huge bat kills reported at wind farms?
Rachel Carson wrote “Silent Spring” as a warning against the use of DDT and pesticides that were killing off the population of birds of prey.
Our national bird, the bald eagle was once on the brink of extinction because the “experts” touted the use of DDT against nasty bugs and stated that DDT was safe. Now we know better.
Are we going the same route once more by listening to the experts when they tell us that wind power is safe? Are we going to let our environment be saved by killing off the environment for so many that depend on our constant vigil against people who tell us that wind power is safe?
The sad part of all this is that wind power, worldwide, has not shut down one single coal-fired plant. Not one. Nowhere.
We continue to increase our dependence on power at a rate of about 1.8 percent a year. Wind power does nothing to reduce this dependence. There is no conservation mandated into the mix. We continue to use and abuse the planet we share with other species. They have no say. We must speak for them.
Please go to this site, http://www.wind-watch.org, and learn what I have about the dangers of wind power. Let’s educate ourselves so that we do not have to rely on faulty information from those who profit from building wind towers.
There is a list of videos you can watch to see for yourself what is happening around the country. And, if you really want to know about Mars Hill and what happened there, scroll down to a video titled, “Welcome to Mars Hill.”
Joanne Eliot Moore lives in Brunswick.
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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