Some empirical wind evidence
Times Argus | March 19, 2013 | www.timesargus.com
By now Vermonters have had an overabundance of opinions and “spins” regarding wind turbines on our peaks. Now it’s time, like the sciences and medicine, for all citizens and legislators to examine the evidence that has already emerged – no biases or agendas, just empirical evidence.
1. Wind turbines now operating in Vermont have only about a 23 percent efficiency rating and a very limited life span estimated to be at best 15 to 20 years.
2. Destruction of the peaks is massive and permanent.
3. Vermont’s greenhouse gases come almost entirely from home heating and auto emissions – not from electricity generation. Turbines now operating in Vermont have not been shown to be reducing fossil fuel consumption or greenhouse gases.
4. GMP’s Lowell Mountain record: having to “dump” electricity they have generated because the grid could not take it or did not need it; the plight of nearby residents is simply tragic; additional costs of some $10.5 million are now required for new corrective equipment.
5. Health problems associated with people living in proximity to wind turbines are now validated by victims and by the medical profession, with continuing studies to produce clinical data on this new and real wind turbine-related phenomenon, despite statements from the wind companies to the contrary.
6. Property values of homeowners living in proximity to these giant wind turbines (distance and terrain can vary greatly) are either greatly reduced or no longer even saleable; for most it is their principal asset or only asset.
7. Realtors are confirming potential sales cancellations once a buyer is informed about uncertainty regarding wind turbine installations in the area.
8. Wind turbines provide no significant permanent increase in employment (three or four per array?).
9. Companies involved in Vermont’s wind industry include local, outsider/unknown and international, but they all have one thing in common: They are either entirely or partly dependent on federal subsidies – that is, taxpayer dollars – but there are no dollars designated to assist communities in dealing with proposals through the permit process.
Conclusion: Once these huge turbines are up it will be too late – the damage to people, our peaks and their inhabitants has been done and all Vermonters pay the price financially, health-wise or aesthetically. Ratepayers and legislators: Now you have important facts, and it’s up to you to put a stop to this scam/nightmare.
Walter Lauf
Castleton
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/03/19/some-empirical-wind-evidence/