Wind Power News: Opinions
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.
Is White House too easy on green energy firms?
President Obama’s support of green energy projects has resulted in some legendary failures that are responsible for the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds. Solyndra, the Northern California solar panel company, received $529 million from the federal government. Today, it is out of business. Fisker Automotive asked for and received some $200 million to develop a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Fisker’s vehicles operated off a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, with an estimated range of 300 miles. Fisker . . .
The latest wind-energy outrage
The wording of the Eagle Protection Act could not be any clearer. It “prohibits anyone, without a permit issued by the Secretary of the Interior,” from “taking” bald or golden eagles. The law defines “take” as “pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, molest or disturb.” Despite that language, the Obama administration continues to cast a blind eye to the largest eagle-killing industry in America: the wind-energy sector. Not only is the Department of Justice refusing to . . .
Viewpoint: Vetoes mean more expensive energy
If talk is cheap, political talk is even cheaper. We can thank our governor for reminding us of this, when he vetoed two bills, unanimously endorsed by the PSC, that would have provided consumers with well-deserved protection against rising energy costs. Steve Bullock won the election by convincing enough people that his brand of big government would somehow help working folks and people on fixed incomes. But the game is over, the crowd went home, and the scoreboard reads: Radical . . .
Herbicide spraying is wind industry’s toxic secret
Herbicide Mitigation? What is that? I heard these two disturbing words and felt panic. I knew instinctively that it was going to have something to do with this Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility because nothing good has come from this controversial project since the day Pattern Energy uttered its first words of deception to the town of Ocotillo. Since the day the company first tried to convince us that its massive 438 foot-tall industrial-sized wind turbines were good for the economy. . . .
An ill wind blows for Quebec taxpayers
Pity Pauline Marois. Her government has been making good on its promise to balance the books. Yet the business community, still unsettled by higher personal income taxes, a new mining regime and proposed changes to the language law, won’t give the Quebec Premier any credit for it, as she recently lamented in front of the Conseil du Patronat du Québec lobby group. All the while, the left-wing Québec Solidaire party has been ferociously criticizing Ms. Marois and her government’s austerity . . .
No, really: We’re going to keep burning oil—and lots of it
I am grateful that Amory B. Lovins devoted so much attention to my piece, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to stand my ground. As I understand him, Lovins makes five main critiques: 1) My article “is entirely about quantity of [petroleum] supply,” when “mainstream analysts see ‘peak oil’ emerging not in supply but in demand.” The purported lack of demand is because “oil has become uncompetitive even at low prices.” 2) One of “many errors” in my article . . .
Cudnohufsky: The devastation of ridgeline turbine installations in New England
The absurdity of adding the equivalent of a roughly calculated 1,000 miles of additional New England interstate system on New England’s precious ridges is unconscionable. The reality is the current 2020 onshore wind energy goals for Massachusetts and the five New England states is exactly that, approximately 1,000 miles.
Additionally sobering are the additional clearing for access roads to the ridges, and the necessary clearing for new transmission lines, in total equal to or exceeding the cost and area of disturbance of the ridgeline turbines themselves.
My Turn: It’s really about money
“It’s not easy being green.” Those immortal words spoken by Kermit the Frog keep running through my brain. Over the last few years the environmental concept of being green has been turned upside down here in Vermont. A term that once meant to protect the natural environment has now been usurped by power industries, politicians and activists to mean whatever they deem necessary to further their interest, regardless of the true reality. Ridgeline wind power — free energy, carbon neutral, . . .
Local power agency: Con
On April 23, the same county supervisors who made the odd decision to abandon pavement preservation on 86 percent of Sonoma County’s roads — and have done almost nothing to reduce our billion dollar pension problem — decided they would like to become your power provider by creating a local power authority called Sonoma Clean Power. The advisory committee at New Sonoma has been reviewing the county’s claims that Sonoma Clean Power will result in lower carbon emissions, lower rates . . .
More expense for customers
Recently I read a letter complimenting elected officials for supporting Senate Bill 252 (which has now passed) with great interest. I was not surprised to see that the letter was written by someone in the wind industry — a special interest group. I would to provide my view as an electric utility engineer who has worked in grid reliability and has great concerns about future blackouts. There are three independent electrical grids in the United States. They are the WECC, . . .
