Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Wind not worth it
Credit: bangordailynews.com 12 September 2011 ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Wind turbines may have a place in the overall alternative energy picture as a Band-Aid approach to reduce the bleeding dependencies of imported energy and intensified fossil fuel consumption. But it should not be on Maine’s mountaintops because the scope of their permanent and devastating footprint overwhelms the ecological benefit of their procurement.
Their short life span will not allow enough time to lower Maine’s energy consumption costs or provide the general public a return on their original investment. Conservation of energy use through weatherization and advances in energy allocation through smart meters and appliance upgrades would provide everyone in Maine with an instant return on investment.
There are no immediate or long-term benefits worth permanently destroying the natural environment. To argue that local geography has already been somewhat historically altered and therefore invites further exploitation is like admitting that whatever we have done wrong in the past supports our right to continue to do so in the future.
Mountaintop wind turbines will not make Maine a global player. Since their purpose is to satisfy established industrial energy demands elsewhere, they will not guarantee that new factories will be built here. They will not create enough good jobs to keep our children here.
But, for those of us who will live in their shadows, they will forever remind us of the great irreparable injustice we have done to our environment, perpetrated purely for the financial gain of a few under the guise of humanitarian progress.
Christopher J. Short
Lexington Twp.
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
Wind Watch relies entirely on User Funding |
(via Paypal) |
(via Stripe) |
Share: