February 4, 2014
Letters, Virginia

Wind bill shot down over money matters

Roanoke Times | February 4, 2014 | www.roanoke.com

Virginia Senate Bill 123 was defeated last week. The purpose of the bill was to introduce regulations to protect Virginia’s birds and bats during the development of large industrial-scale wind turbines. The big news was the close vote. The bill failed 20-18, but about half the Senate agreed that protecting wildlife should be a priority in Virginia.

However, Sens. Frank Wagner and John Cosgrove, both Republicans from Hampton Roads, opposed the bill on the Senate floor.

This project is not about producing electrical energy. These turbines, like all other industrial-scale wind turbines, will never produce electricity at beneficial levels. The proposed offshore wind energy project is about taxpayer subsidy money, not electricity.

Sens. Wagner and Cosgrove don’t see megawatts coming; they see megabucks coming their way.

Where will the millions come from? Not from private industry or investors, as it should. The answer is: from us, the taxpayers.

STEVEN G. HANES

BENT MOUNTAIN


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/02/04/wind-bill-shot-down-over-money-matters/