Those who support industrial wind power, even in our public forests, are promoting a renewable energy source they believe will help solve the energy crisis (“Wind helps propel clean energy future,” letters, Dec. 14). Unfortunately, they are deceived by the industry’s greatly exaggerated claims. To fulfill the promised level of energy, thousands of turbines would be required.
In Maryland, the industry’s proposal to build 100 turbines would destroy hundreds of acres of Maryland’s ecologically richest unfragmented forests and impact endangered species and migrating birds and bats.
But it would only intermittently provide a relatively small amount of electricity to the grid, and little electricity would be produced during most of the summer – when energy demand is highest and the wind blows least.
Commercial logging of our state forests is bad enough. However, timbered lands can eventually recover. But once permanent structures and access roads are built, the forests cannot regenerate.
I believe that if the public were aware of the scant electricity wind turbines would produce and the enormous impacts they would cause, many people would not be ready to accept wind as the savior for our rapacious energy demands.
Ajax Eastman
Baltimore
22 December 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/12/22/wind-power-claims-greatly-exaggerated/