Wind Power News: Florida
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Windfarm OK’d by county to generate power, jobs in struggling Glades region
In the months before Thurday's vote, Wind Capitol launched a public relations blitz, mailing thousands of brochures about the project to county residents, touting the project. Complete story »
NextEra executive: Florida isn’t right for a wind farm
JUNO BEACH – With the county commission poised to decide today whether to allow Florida’s first wind farm, an executive at the nation’s largest wind energy producer is questioning whether the project is viable. Wind farms don’t make economic sense in Florida because the wind is too weak, and it’s cheaper to produce electricity from natural gas, nuclear power and coal, Mike O’Sullivan, senior vice president of development for NextEra Energy Resources, said Wednesday. The Juno Beach-based company is North America’s . . . Complete story »
Time to assess bird damage
Facing a choice between renewable energy and more bird deaths, Palm Beach County commissioners will decide today whether to approve plans for Florida’s first wind farm on farm land near Belle Glade. Commissioners should move the project along but require more study of the proposed turbines’ effect on endangered species and insist that the wind farm track and mitigate bird deaths. The project calls for more than 100 wind turbines, standing 500 feet tall, on 12,000 acres of farmland. The . . . Complete story »
Questions for wind backers
While I sympathize with the fate of the poor birds, it seems to me that we should ask the promoters of the proposed wind farm in Palm Beach County some hard questions before a permit is issued. Among them: How many dollars per kilowatt are they going to charge the consumer? If the cost is above market values, will they force Florida Power & Light to absorb their more expensive electricity, after which FPL would pass the difference on to . . . Complete story »
Campaign blitz touts benefits of proposed wind farm near Belle Glade
A brochure landing in thousands of Palm Beach County residents’ mailboxes shows photos of a house cat, a car, an office building and a wind turbine. Which one doesn’t belong with the others?” it asks. It’s not an IQ test, just part of a public relations campaign by Wind Capital Group in St. Louis, which wants to build Sugarland Wind, a project that would include 114 500-foot tall wind turbines on 13,000 acres of farmland east of Belle Glade in Palm . . . Complete story »
‘Wind farm’ beside Everglades gets initial go-ahead, despite bird concerns
A “wind farm” proposed on the edge of the Everglades passed a key hurdle Thursday, despite concerns about tall, spinning blades killing endangered birds. The Palm Beach County Zoning Commission voted in favor of erecting more than 100 wind-catching turbines on western sugar cane fields to produce electricity. The County Commission on March 22 gets the final say on development approvals needed to build what would be Florida’s first commercial wind farm. The 500-foot-tall turbines and their fast-spinning blades offer . . . Complete story »
Palm Beach County zoning board approves wind farm application
WEST PALM BEACH – Palm Beach County Zoning Commissioners voted today to allow construction on Florida’s first wind turbine farm near Belle Glade. Commissioners voted 6-0 to allow wind turbines at the 12,900 acre site. The plan now will go before the County Commission. Wind Capital Group, a St. Louis company, seeks to convert the wind blowing off Lake Okeechobee into energy that could power homes and businesses. Complete story »
Campaign tries to win support for western Palm Beach County wind farm
Generating alternative energy on the edge of the Everglades could start with PR power. “Wind farm” backers are targeting mailboxes and in-boxes alike to try to build support for an alternative-energy project planned in western Palm Beach County. Pamphlets mailed to thousands of residents across the county, as well as an email lobbying campaign aimed at county commissioners, seek to build support for putting towering wind turbines on sugar cane fields to produce electricity. With a County Commission vote on . . . Complete story »
Wildlife ‘holocaust’
The planned 119 wind turbines in Palm Beach County will not clean the air, nor will they reduce consumption. They will, however, create environmental damage. According to the Golden Gate Audubon Society more than 100 golden eagles, 350 burrowing owls, 300 red-tailed hawks and 333 American kestrels are killed by wind turbines annually. If wind power made sense, why would it need government subsidies? The wind farm experience has left 14,000 turbines no longer in use and decaying. Green energy . . . Complete story »
Wind turbines not answer
Wind turbines do not clean the air. They will not reduce consumption they only help to meet demands. And at what price? Some species that use this flyway can’t spare one bird. Wind turbines go deep into the ground and create more environmental damage. They also produce CO2. Birds are at risk of cars, planes, trains, guns, towers, power lines and many other things. None of those things are natural, they are all man-made and wind turbines are just like . . . Complete story »
