Wind Power News: Editorials
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 and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
Winds of change
As Prime Minister, David Cameron is one of the most photographed men in Britain. Yet one of the most iconic images comes from the early months of his Tory leadership, hugging a husky on a visit to the Scott-Turner glacier in Norway. Even though he had hired a private jet to see evidence of global warming, Mr Cameron wanted to embrace the environment as a campaigning issue and show to voters that the Conservative Party would be radically different under . . .
Now the fight’s above ground
It isn’t possible that the directors of the Suffolk County Water Authority would harbor a grudge, is it? They wouldn’t seek to erect a power-generating windmill, as big as any standing anywhere on the North Fork, in the middle of wooded preserve teeming with wildlife near the shores of a tranquil lake as a “gotcha!” for the town’s unyielding — and ultimately successful — opposition to their cockamamie scheme to spend millions to bring public water to Orient, where the . . .
Editorial: Keep wind turbines far from homes
A Massachusetts report last week that concludes there is no evidence to support the existence of “Wind Turbine Syndrome” is welcome news to wind energy proponents. But the study does not invalidate the complaints and suggestions raised by residents who live in their shadow and think that homes and wind turbines are a bad combination. Like any other power generator, wind turbines come with their own unique set of annoyances and potential dangers. Those who live near them have raised . . .
Behind The Headlines: Wind farm arguments go on
In recent months it seems rarely a week goes by in our newsroom when information about a wind farm proposal, application or appeal does not land in our inboxes at the Chronicle & Echo. With an ever-growing list of sites for me to keep an eye on for updates – currently standing at 21 – it wasn’t much of a surprise when the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) contacted us this week about its fears that Northamptonshire is becoming . . .
Project Hayes: counting the costs
The extent to which Meridian Energy’s ditching of its controversial Project Hayes wind farm has been met with mixed reactions by even ardent environmentalists gives some clues as to the complexity of the energy issues the decision anticipates. On the one hand, while many people who are not otherwise particularly “green” have been able to appreciate, and react against, the visual pollution the wind farm on the Lammermoor Range would have represented, other environmentalists who believe staunchly in renewable energy . . .
Going green has its hiccups
Having crafted its Green Energy Act in too much of a hurry, Ontario’s government is making changes on the fly. Its exclusive and secret development deal with Samsung was so lucrative for the Korean industrial giant and potentially so costly to Ontario’s economy and its power consumers (i.e., everyone) that the government said it would pay less. It rushed to get solar energy customers signed into power deals that were also lucrative but it failed to measure the ability of . . .
Wind farm report: when spin meets research
The evolution of spin and manipulation of fact reached new levels this week following the release of a CSIRO report which detailed research into community sentiment about wind farms. Included in the report was an analysis of media coverage of wind farm developments and a conclusion that a minority opposed to such projects received better coverage than those who held more supportive views. The Courier, which was not assessed as part of the research, was one of the few media . . .
When spin meets research
The evolution of spin and manipulation of facts reached new levels of clarity this week following the release of a CSIRO report which detailed research into community sentiment about wind farms. Included in the report was an analysis of media coverage of wind farm developments and a conclusion that a minority opposed to such projects received better coverage than those who held more supportive views. The Courier, which was not assessed as part of the research, was one of the . . .
Turbulent times ahead for SNP energy policy
Scotland has an energy policy but is it sustainable? A precursor to the tensions ahead was indicated yesterday when Highland councillors rejected plans for a major windfarm on the borders of the Cairngorm National Park. The application must now go to a public inquiry before Scottish ministers decide whether to give it the go-ahead. A public inquiry will delay this proposal by months or years but it will allow Scotland to have a debate it desperately needs about the relative . . .
Fairhaven needs answers before turbines are built
If opponents of the two industrial wind turbines being constructed in Fairhaven have followed all the rules, they will succeed in forcing a special Town Meeting vote on the project, perhaps in February. We hope such an election can take place, because there has been little to demonstrate what the deliberative body feels about a wind project initially approved by a vote of 141-98 almost five years ago. The democratic process isn’t limited to Town Meeting, however, and based on . . .
