Wind Power News: Editorials
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These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted.
Justice in Freedom?
Putting aside the merits and flaws of a proposal to build three, 400-foot-tall wind turbines on Beaver Ridge in Freedom, we have to ask: What the heck are local officials thinking?
On May 1, the town’s Board of Appeals heard a request by opponents of the project to revoke a building permit issued to the developers in July 2007. The opponents said work had not “substantially commenced” within the six-month period required by local ordinance.
The appeals …
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Stacking the deck
Last of two parts:
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has exposed the federal government’s review of Cape Wind’s alternative sites for what it is: a sham.
When the Minerals Management Service, which is reviewing the proposal to build 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, defined the purpose of the process, it stacked the deck in favor of the developer.
The “purpose and need statement” developed by MMS describes “a facility that utilizes the unique wind resources in …
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'Do this right'
Numerous conclusions in draft report on Cape Wind in draft report on Cape Wind are unsupportable.
First of two parts:
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has delivered a blistering assessment of the federal government’s review of the Cape Wind project.
Seven years after Cape Wind staked a claim on 24 square miles of Nantucket Sound, the developer and the U.S. Minerals Management Service have failed to answer critical questions about the effects of the project on the …
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Don't force overreliance on renewable energy; Consumers will decide viability of solar and wind power
Wind farms will have a niche role in generating electricity for Michigan. But their role should not be mandated by legislation.
The economics of wind power will determine if it is viable and cost effective. Mandating or subsidizing a marginal player in the power industry will, in the long run, be costly.
Wind power’s chief drawback is obvious: The wind doesn’t blow constantly. A too-heavy reliance on wind generators risks brownouts and blackouts. No industry or household …
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Talk about a dilemma…
The Maryland Public Service Commission yet again heard testimony at a hearing yesterday from several local residents who do not want giant wind turbines in Garrett County. Thanks to legislation passed a year ago, some wind-generation projects, such as the one Clipper Windpower Inc. wants to erect on Backbone Mountain, qualify for what is referred to as “fast-track approval,” a move designed to circumvent much of the resistance created by those who are opposed to …
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Where now for wind energy?
Lewis plans turned down
The decision by the Scottish Government to scupper controversial plans for Europe’s biggest windfarm on Lewis raises many questions about the country’s future energy policy, but fails to give clear answers.
There are so many contradictory issues at play in this complex application, which has far-reaching effects for similar plans elsewhere in Scotland.
Much was made by the windfarm’s backers of the huge potential economic benefits for the Western Isles. Yet the plan attracted …
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Obstructed sunrise
The United South and Eastern Tribes, an organization of 25 federally recognized Indian tribes in 12 states, has joined with the Wampanoag of Gay Head (Aquinnah) in their opposition to the wind factory on Nantucket Sound.
The board of directors of the organization called upon the U.S. Minerals Management Service, which is reviewing the Cape Wind application, to “respect the Traditional, Cultural, Spiritual and Religious beliefs of the Wampanoag People and preserve the spiritual integrity and …
In rush for wind farm action, science must come first
Gov. Carcieri’s call for bids to develop a wind farm near Block Island, due in five weeks, came as a surprise to islanders, and apparently to most of Rhode Island and even, perhaps, the governor’s administration. That’s a little disturbing.
Is this a bold attempt to speed progress toward the governor’s alternative energy goal, or a lurch into unknown quicksand? Does the state intend to lay the legal and scientific foundation for a huge enterprise, or …
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Energy project raises alarms
We’ve had a couple of calm weeks after initial gusts of blustery rhetoric over a wind energy project proposed for the southern extremity of Cape Breton County. The debate will pick up again, perhaps more in a spirit of consultation than confrontation.
On paper the plan by Cape Breton Explorations Ltd. to combine a wind farm with pumped water storage has an elegant appeal for those with a taste for engineering. Up to 44 wind turbines …
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Ohio House’s renewable-energy bill has its warts
House Speaker Jon Husted and his GOP caucus drafted a solid Ohio renewable- energy bill, but as the General Assembly’s research arm points out, it’s not without its potential pitfalls.
The truth, never denied but certainly understated, is that power from renewable sources probably will cost more, not less. Still, the environmental and health costs posed by conventional generating fuels could drop as renew- able-energy production rises.
Further, as this page has said before, Husted’s draft …
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