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Wind Power
Author: BobR
Date: 04/30/2010 10:15:07
The oil spill advancing on the gulf coast like a toxic hurricane should reinforce in everyone's minds the urgent need to break our addiction to that black poison. All of the exhortations to drill off the coasts of VA, FL, and the Carolinas are getting drowned in a sludge of Texas Tea.
At the same time, an off-shore wind farm has finally passed through the biggest legal hurdles, and will anchor itself 5 miles offshore near Cape Cod:
Considering that Louisiana is looking at certain long-term destruction of shellfish beds, fishing areas, and delicate bayous, one has to look at the NIMBYs in MA with a certain amount of disdain. They're concerned about being able to see a wind turbine W-a-a-a-a-y out on the horizon. Perhaps they should look further south and consider themselves lucky.
When you consider that Denmark gets 19% of its power from wind, the investment we are making here in the U.S. seems pretty weak. However, that is beginning to change. There are currently several initiatives in various stages of development, including off the coast of Delaware, as well as VA, NB, OH, and CO.
Other than the aesthetics (which are all in the eye of the beholder), there's very little downside to the wind turbines. They occasionally hit birds and bats, but other than that... Compare that to the environmental impact of the sludge hitting the Mississippi river basin, and the pollution it creates when consumed, and it seems like a no-brainer. "Clean coal" is a joke, and the leftover spent rods from Nuke energy are toxic forever.
So it seems that wind power (and solar energy) are the two best "renewable clean" energy sources we have available to us. The spill in the Gulf should help push these forward (finally). After all - we've been talking about this for decades. Even Thomas Dolby was inspired to write this song 30 years ago:
At the same time, an off-shore wind farm has finally passed through the biggest legal hurdles, and will anchor itself 5 miles offshore near Cape Cod:
[N]ot all Massachusetts politicians or residents have been enthusiastic about the plan by Cape Wind Associates of Boston to erect 170 wind turbines--each one taller than the Statue of Liberty--in historic Nantucket Sound. The battle over Cape Wind has raged for nine years, with vigorous opposition from local landowners, including the late Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Two Indian tribes also have opposed the project, saying the turbines would disturb ancestral burial grounds that were once on dry land but are now under water.
Some of these concerns have been addressed in Salazar’s plan. He has ordered that the project be scaled back to 130 turbines, and is requiring that the developer conduct further marine archaeological surveys to avoid disturbing any sensitive ground. And he said the developer will be required to make the turbines less visible from shore...
Considering that Louisiana is looking at certain long-term destruction of shellfish beds, fishing areas, and delicate bayous, one has to look at the NIMBYs in MA with a certain amount of disdain. They're concerned about being able to see a wind turbine W-a-a-a-a-y out on the horizon. Perhaps they should look further south and consider themselves lucky.
When you consider that Denmark gets 19% of its power from wind, the investment we are making here in the U.S. seems pretty weak. However, that is beginning to change. There are currently several initiatives in various stages of development, including off the coast of Delaware, as well as VA, NB, OH, and CO.
Other than the aesthetics (which are all in the eye of the beholder), there's very little downside to the wind turbines. They occasionally hit birds and bats, but other than that... Compare that to the environmental impact of the sludge hitting the Mississippi river basin, and the pollution it creates when consumed, and it seems like a no-brainer. "Clean coal" is a joke, and the leftover spent rods from Nuke energy are toxic forever.
So it seems that wind power (and solar energy) are the two best "renewable clean" energy sources we have available to us. The spill in the Gulf should help push these forward (finally). After all - we've been talking about this for decades. Even Thomas Dolby was inspired to write this song 30 years ago:
