Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Wasted on wind
Credit: www.pittsburghlive.com 15 October 2011 ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
In response to the letter “Not wind power’s fault” (Sept. 25 and TribLIVE.com), in which wind industry lobbyist Bruce Burcat spins the failure of wind power in Texas this past summer, the public needs to consider the scientific and economic realities about wind power:
• It is inherently unreliable. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission records show wind turbines operate to only about 25 percent of capacity in Pennsylvania because our winds are insufficient.
• It can never replace fossil-fuel plants that produce constant, reliable power, so there is zero greenhouse-gas reduction.
• It is terribly expensive. The Energy Information Administration estimates that in 2016, onshore wind power will be 80 percent more expensive than gas-fired electricity.
• It cannot exist without huge state and federal subsidies. Taxpayers fund 65 percent of the cost.
• It requires a tremendous amount of land to harness even a tiny bit of energy. If it had constant winds, the entire state of Connecticut would need to be devoted to wind turbines to power New York City.
Given that our country is $14.8 trillion in debt with a 17 percent effective unemployment rate and 15.1 percent of its citizens live in poverty, we can ill afford to waste tax dollars on a scam.
Jack Buchan
Westmont
The writer is co-founder of Sensible Wind Solutions, a nonprofit group that opposes wind power development in the mountains of the eastern United States.
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: