MAIN REASONS PEOPLE OPPOSE INDUSTRIAL WIND

 MAIN REASONS PEOPLE OPPOSE INDUSTRIAL WIND:

Special political favor at the local, state, and federal levels has created an artificial industry: industrial windpower.  Industrial wind is "a political agenda" being pushed by 'green' lobbyists under the premise that it will reduce CO2 emissions, and thus, help abate Global Warming (aka: Climate Change).  However, the reality is that with approximately 250,000 industrial wind turbines installed worldwide today (45,100 of those in the U.S. according to AWEA), and with multi-$Billions of taxpayer and ratepayer dollars already thrown into the wind - ultimately “skyrocketing” our electricity rates, CO2 emissions have NOT been significantly reduced anywhere, nor has any conventional power generators been shuttered thanks to wind.  In fact, rounded to the nearest whole number, worldwide electricity generation from wind is still ZERO.  Our environment and our rural communities are being destroyed for NOTHING!

 

Industrial wind is NOT civilly, technically, economically,

nor environmentally sound energy policy.

 

1.) Civilly – and Most Importantly: Jesus commanded us to, “Love God with your whole heart, soul and mind,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself,” (aka: The ‘Golden Rule’ – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”)

 

The only thing that has ever been reliably generated by industrial wind is complete and utter civil discord.  Neighbor is pitted against neighbor, and even family member against family member - totally dividing communities.  It is the job of good government to foresee and prevent this degree of civil discord, not to promote it.  Adhering to the ‘Golden Rule’ would have halted the wind issue in its tracks.

 

2.) Technically: Large 400 - 500 foot machines that depend on hundreds of gallons of oil and thousands of pounds of rare earth elements (mined in China) per MW, with their spinning 160-foot long, 22,000 pound (11 TONS) carbon-filament blades, on their CO2-emitting, 350+ ton concrete bases, have limited life-spans of only 10 - 13 years.  These machines are notorious for frequent break-downs. Their blades often break even when they are new - endangering anyone TOO CLOSE (ie: Invenergy's GE 1.6 blade break in Orangeville – the 3rd one for GE in the past few weeks) 

 

3.) Economically: Because wind provides NO Capacity Value, or firm capacity (specified amounts of power on demand), wind can NOT replace our reliable, dispatchable baseload generators.  Thus, wind needs constant "shadow capacity" from our reliable, conventional generators – a redundancy which Big Wind CEO, Patrick Jenevein admitted “turns ratepayers and taxpayers into double-payers for the same product.”

 

ONE single 450 MW gas-fired combined cycle generating unit located at New York City (NYC) - where the power is needed in New York State (NYS) - operating at only 60% capacity factor, would provide MORE electricity than all of NYS’s wind factories combined, at about 1/4 of the capital costs – WITHOUT all the negative civil, economic, environmental, human health (www.WindTurbineSyndrome.com) and property value impacts caused by industrial wind factories and all their added transmission lines to NYC.

 

Wasting money on the wishful thinking of wind has contributed to NYS earning the dubious distinction of having the highest electricity rates in the continental United States – a whopping 53% above the national average.  A NYS resident using 6,500 kWh of electricity annually will pay about $400 per year more per year for their electricity than if our electricity prices were at the national average - over $3.2 BILLION dollars that will not be spent in the rest of the economy.

 

The Institute for Energy Research tallied the numbers and found that each wind job costs $11.45 Million Dollars, and as a result, costs more than four (4) jobs lost elsewhere in the conomy.

 

4.) Environmentally:  The sprawling footprints of industrial wind factories cause massive Habitat Fragmentation, and kills hundreds of thousands of eagles, whooping cranes, bats, and other endangered avian life every year, while failing to significantly lower CO2 emissions. The Presidents of the American Eagle Foundation and SaveTheEaglesInternational.org have both spoken out against this massive avian slaughter.  A recent study has shown that as many as 900,000 bats were killed just last year! It has been predicted that when the bats become extinct, man is next.

 

William Tucker explained in his essay, Understanding E = mc2, that the standard candle for an electricity generating facility is 1000 MW.  Since wind turbines operate only 30% of the time [Here in NY they averaged a pathetic 23% in 2012], trying to equal 1000 MW really means covering more than 375 square miles with wind turbines.  Even after carpeting over 375 sq miles with industrial wind turbines in a futile attempt to equal just ONE reliable generating facility, those wind turbines still would not work at all much of the time - highlighting Big Wind's inability to successfully replace our reliable, dispatchable power generators. 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the fact that industrializing 375 sq miles -- to try and equal what just ONE RELIABLE, conventional generating facility could provide (in a fraction of the space) – is NOT “sustainable”!

Learn more at: www.WiseEnergy.org, www.wind-watch.org,  www.windaction.org,  www.MasterResource.org

Mary Kay Barton, Friend and supporter of Clear Skies Over Orangeville   

11/23/13 Warsaw Penny Saver, Page 7: