Is wind farm OK for Sand Hills?
Credit: Omaha World-Herald, www.omaha.com 25 November 2011 ~~
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Translate: FROM English | TO English
The Nebraska Legislature passed legislation to protect the Sand Hills and the Ogallala Aquifer from the Keystone XL pipeline.
At the same time, an energy expert from out-of-state suggested that Nebraska should get heavily into the business of using wind power for the generation of electricity.
I hope the legislation is broad enough to protect the Sand Hills and the Ogallala Aquifer from any activity that could be detrimental to either. I think the construction of a large wind turbine farm, with accompanying transmission lines, could be as damaging to the Sand Hills and the aquifer as the pipeline.
It takes a lot of space to get materials and the construction equipment to the site, let alone the area required. Then there would be the construction of transmission lines and permanent access roads for future maintenance work.
I don’t know that anyone has recommended the Sand Hills for a wind farm, but if that should happen, would the recently passed legislation be adequate? Since wind power is considered a “green” energy source, environmentalists who were so opposed to the pipeline should likely have no objection, yet the potential for damage could be just as great.
Dan Sanders, Omaha
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