Skeptical Climate Documentary Set to Rock UN Climate Summit – ‘Climate Hustle’ To Have Red Carpet Premiere in Paris
0 comments Posted by SARTRE at 6:50 AM
The New ‘Consensus’: 97 Percent Of Americans Aren’t Worried About Global Warming
0 comments Posted by SARTRE at 5:05 PM
Obama’s climate agenda doesn’t seem to be gaining traction with Americans despite increased efforts to tie global warming to extreme weather, public health concerns and national security.
Democratic mega-donor Tom Steyer spent $73 million during the 2014 election cycle backing liberal candidates and trying to make global warming a top tier issue in campaigns — but with little success it would seem.
Negative Realities
of the ‘Clean Power Plan’
New York State Attorney General,
Eric Schneiderman, claims that President Obama’s ‘Clean
Power Plan’ is making a difference here in New York State. It certainly is,
but it has been a NEGATIVE impact!
The
destruction
of rural America is ongoing thanks to those -- like NY AG Schneiderman and
Governor Andrew Cuomo -- who continue to push ‘unreliables’ like industrial
wind energy as a fantasy-cure for the alleged problem of “Climate
Change.”
$Trillions have
been spent on ‘renewables’ worldwide, yet carbon dioxide has not been
significantly reduced, while rural America is paying the ultimate price. Our
countrysides, wildlife, and Constitutional private property rights are
being sacrificed on the altar of “Green” energy … for no net benefit.
Sadly, the mad rush
for unreliable, non-dispatchable 'renewables'
is taking New York State - and the nation, down the same path that has caused
"skyrocketing" electricity rates in Europe over the past 20+ years,
which has led to widespread 'Energy
Poverty' (defined by power
bills exceeding 10% of a household's income). Energy Poverty has been blamed for
causing tens of thousands of deaths annually.
One would think that
emulating such destructive energy policies would be off the table here in the
U.S. However, when greed and ideology are the main drivers, denial of
long-term reality occurs.
Wyoming County in western New York
State (where we live) was originally slated to have over 2,000 industrial wind
turbines littering its beautiful countrysides. Thanks to many good people getting involved, thus far there
are only 308 (308 too many!) industrial wind turbines littering five townships on the west side
of the Warsaw Valley here in Wyoming County (which negatively impact all those
for miles around).
Instead of focusing on long-term
realities for all ratepayers and taxpayers (the ones who are funding this
consumer FRAUD), officials have focused solely on the recycled
taxpayer and ratepayer money payoffs that large landowners and targeted townships
are promised they will receive from Big Wind developers. The Wyoming County Townships who chose to turn themselves
into sprawling industrial wind factories may not have to pay any town tax for
the 10 – 20 year life of the project (usually a couple hundred bucks a year,
per household), but the costs we’ve been left dealing with, far outweigh any
short-term payoff.
Consider:
1.) Wyoming
County taxes have risen
yearly over the past 12 years (concurrent
with the proliferation of wind factories in the County) - up another 9.68% this
year.
2.) Wind
factories are NOT paying their fair share of taxes, but instead "shift
the burden of taxation on to local residents and small businesses."
3.) Real Estate 101: LOCATION!
LOCATION! LOCATION! Property values are significantly
negatively-impacted. Many homes are
selling below assessed value, if they sell at all. (Three more properties in
the area of the wind factories are going to auction this week (11/7/15).
4.) The
Town of Eagle, which has a wind project, was reassessed to what they were told
was 100% just last year (2014), and had their assessments jacked up another 40%
again this year (2015).
5.) Few -
if any, meaningful permanent jobs were created here (maybe a few dead bird/bat
picker-uppers). Western and
Upstate New York continue to hemorrhage jobs as high taxes and electric rates
continue to drive business, industry and people out of the state.
6.) The population
of Wyoming County has decreased by 2.2% since 2010 as people flee the area.
7.) Nobody is getting
"free" or reduced rate electricity here. In fact, NYS electricity rates continue to "skyrocket" as
$Billions more of our taxpayer and ratepayer dollars are thrown into the
wind.
According to NYSERDA,
the average NYS residential electricity rate in 1999 was 13.3 cents per
kilowatt hour (kWh). The first wind factories went up in New York State in
2000 (Wethersfield & Madison). 20 wind factories later, and the
average residential electricity rate in NYS as of February, 2015, is now 19.8
cents per kWh (according to the EIA, as cited by NYSERDA) – one of the highest
rates in the nation, and nearly a 50% increase since New York State began
mindlessly plastering the NYS countryside with redundant generation of industrial
wind factories, which have been averaging a pathetic 24% Capacity Factor
(actual output).
Noteworthy: New York State was already getting nearly 50% of its
electricity from emissions-free sources back in 2000 - 29% from nuclear, 19%
from hydro, and about 1% from all other renewable sources. 15 years later, with countless
$Billions of taxpayer and ratepayer dollars thrown into the wind, and the
breakdown is now: 30% from
nuclear, 23% from hydro, and approximately 3% from all other renewables (wood,
biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, etc).
Natural
gas is now providing the largest percentage of NYS electricity generation
(approximately 40%), while coal is approximately 2% of electric generation in
NY.
8.) The
only thing that has been reliably generated by industrial wind is complete and
utter civil discord. Community
relations have been ruined. People who used to be friends no longer speak. Even
families have been divided.
9.)
Habitat Fragmentation associated with the miles and miles of industrial sprawl
and access roads associated with wind factories has forever destroyed “the
sense of place” Wyoming County was famous for, and is cited as one of the main
reasons for species decline worldwide.
10.)
Negative impacts from wind turbine-related ‘infrasound’ have been documented
worldwide. The mental and physical stress this places on those stuck
living too close worsens after prolonged exposure and increased loss of proper
sleep. (Observation: Murder,
suicide, domestic violence, health issues, etc, have seemingly increased in
correlation with the installation of wind factories, though no studies have been
done.)
11.) Lawsuits
persist.
12.) Radar
systems are severely impacted, thus impacting Homeland Security. Since it wasn’t in Invenergy’s contract
to cover it, Wyoming County residents are stuck paying for a new Emergency Communications
tower (costing an untold amount) after the one we had no longer works
adequately following the construction of Invenergy's Orangeville wind factory
in 2013 (Another county-wide impact, as the new tower sits unfinished).
13.) The
“flicker”/strobe effect created when the sun is behind the turbines, and the
blinking red lights at night drive some crazy. The light
pollution in our night sky now looks like a cheap blinking Christmas tree
spread out for miles.
14.) All
of the environmental,
economic and civil devastation has been for naught, since the diffuse
energy of wind cannot replace reliable, dispatchable, baseload generation
sources. Thus, consumers are paying
twice for the redundancy of wind.
The cost of the transmission lines that must be added to run across New
York State to New York City (where the power is actually needed in New York
State) is also significantly adding to New York State ratepayers’ electric
bills.
15.) It
remains to be seen who will take these giant fans down
once they are defunct. According to a prominent wind industry attorney, should
the corporations abandon a project – whatever the reason, “The landowner will be liable.”
For more on the reality of industrial wind in
New York State over the past 15 years, see the history as documented in this
partial list of articles:
New
York State Windpower: Enough Business/Government Cronyism
Local Wind Subsidies: New York State's Money-Road to Nowhere
Local Wind Subsidies: New York State's Money-Road to Nowhere
Critical
Thinking vs. 'standing firm' (Regarding local 8th graders being given a
'science' lesson by wind salespeople at a local wind factory.)
Learn more at:
~ Mary Kay Barton
Lisa Linowes of Industrial Wind Action offers update regarding Congressional action on the federal subsidy for industrial wind Production Tax Credit (Thanks Lisa!)
Hi Folks. I’m long overdue in sending out this update re: the Wind PTC and what’s happening in Washington.
Where things stand: As
you know, the wind PTC expired December 2014. Due to the “begin
construction” language in the law and the overly lenient IRS rules that
interpret Congress’ intent, projects can still squeak by as PTC eligible
even if they have not yet turned a pebble of earth provided they are
placed in service by the end of 2016. The wind industry is quickly
losing its window for starting projects which explains why the pressure
is building.
Last
summer, Senate Finance voted out of Committee a $95 billion tax extender
bill that included a 2-year extension of the wind PTC (2015,2016). The
PTC was the 3rd most expensiveprovision in the bill at $10.5 billion. In October, Senator James Lankford (R-OK) submitted a bill to end the wind PTC. On the house side, the PTC Elimination Act offered by Congressmen Marchant and Pompeo (H.R. 1901) is still pending and new cosponsors have signed on every month since the bill was introduced. These different bills will need to be reconciled.
Last month, Speaker
John Boehner handed the gavel to Paul Ryan (R-WI). Ryan was chair of
the powerful House Ways & Means Committee. When he ran on the Romney
ticket in 2012, he agreed with Romney that the wind PTC should expire . He still might support a phase-out so we’ll be watching. News from today is that Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX) has been named the new W&M chair. The renewables industry is suggesting they can work with Brady, but so can we! Info on Brady can be found here - http://kevinbrady.house.gov/ . Brady will be a key voice in how the House deals with energy tax policy.
Next steps: It’s
time to start beating the drum against any extension of the wind PTC.
We need to call on our representatives, and the entire House leadership – with special focus on Rep Brady -- to walk the walk on fiscal issues. We can’t afford any more billions to “spur” wind growth. With the DOE touting wind as competitive with (or under) the price of gas, there is no justification for further subsidies. The 1992 tax credit had done its job and It’s now over!
Next week
House members will be home in their districts. Please, please take every
opportunity to attend a town hall meeting or (low cost) fund raiser.
Stand up and ask your representatives where they stand on the PTC. Let
everyone know that the PTC is toxic and will not win votes. Call the
district offices to get an events schedule. (If you need assistance, let
me know).
Demand a standalone vote: There’s
one more important ‘ask’. The wind PTC has rarely been put forward in
the House or Senate as a standalone vote. The last time this happened
was in 2012 and Senator Menendez’s amendment to the Transportation Bill. It failed. If the Senate and/or House insist on considering the wind PTC we want a standalone vote.
That way we can know who in Congress is with us and who’s against us.
We also don’t want big wind to gain a boost from other more beneficial
tax credits seen as “must pass”.
Thanks
everyone for all your efforts! There have been impacting developments
across the country that suggest the wind industry is quickly falling out
of favor. Keep up the great work! You are all making the difference. As
always, if I can be of any assistance, do not hesitate. Meanwhile, I’ll
keep you posted on the PTC and our next steps.
Best,
--Lisa
www.WindAction.org
These peoples' sad testimony is just one example of why industrial wind turbines do NOT belong anywhere near where people live:
Comments submitted to NYS PSC re: APEX's proposed 'Lighthouse Wind' project, 9/14/15
Case number: 14-F-0485
Hon.
Kathleen H. Burgess, and members of the New York State Public Service
Commission,
This
submission is regarding the proposed Lighthouse Wind project along the shores
of Lake Ontario - Case number:
14-F-0485.
The Mission Statement of the New York State
Public Service Commission (PSC) according to the PSC's website, reads as
follows:
"The primary mission of the New York State Department of Public Service is to ensure affordable, safe, secure, and reliable access to electric, gas, steam, telecommunications, and water services for New York State’s residential and business consumers, while protecting the natural environment. The Department also seeks to stimulate effective competitive markets that benefit New York consumers through strategic investments, as well as product and service innovations."
Thus, the
PSC's own Mission Statement advises AGAINST the installation of unreliable,
unsafe, market-altering, environmentally destructive, industrial wind
factories! In fact, to use the word "reliable," and the
phrase "protecting the natural environment" -- in any statement
referencing unreliable, environmentally destructive industrial wind factories
-- is an absolute oxy-moron.
APEX's proposed 'Lighthouse Wind' project would
forever alter the rural-residential, major migratory flyway along the shores of
Lake Ontario, and be detrimental to all New York State taxpayers and ratepayers
- especially those residents in the targeted areas.
Fact of
the matter is -- Industrial wind energy
is a NET LOSER – economically,
environmentally, technically and civilly.
The
reasons include, but are not limited to:
1.) Economically:
New York State (NYS) has one of the highest
electricity rates in the continental United States – a whopping 53% above the
national average. This is due in large part to
literally throwing Billions of our taxpayer and ratepayer dollars into the
wind. High electricity costs drive people and businesses out of the state, and
ultimately hurt poor families the most.
According
to NYSERDA, the average NYS
residential electricity rate in 1999 was 13.3 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh).
The first NYS wind factories went up in 2000 (Wethersfield & Madison).
20 wind factories later, and the average residential electricity rate in NYS as
of February, 2015, is now 19.8 cents per kWh (according to the EIA, as cited by
NYSERDA) – one of the highest rates in the nation, and
nearly a 50% increase since New York State began mindlessly plastering
countrysides with redundant generation of industrial wind factories. (Of further
interest – only 2% of NYS’s electricity comes from coal.)
A NYS
resident using 6,500 kWh of electricity annually will pay about $400 per year more for their
electricity than if our electricity prices were at the national average.
That’s over $3.2 BILLION dollars annually
that will not be spent in the rest of the state economy.
Why
destroy entire towns, when just one single 450-MW gas-fired
combined-cycle generating unit located near New York City (NYC) – where the
power is needed in New York State – operating at only 60% of its capacity,
would provide more electricity than all of
NYS’s wind factories combined?
Furthermore,
that one 450 MW gas-fired unit would only require about one-fourth of the capital costs –
and would not bring all the negative civil, economic, environmental, human health and property value impacts that
are caused by the sprawling industrial wind factories. Nor would it require all
the additional, habitat-destroying transmission lines to NYC.
I live in Wyoming County of western New York
State, where we already have 308 industrial wind turbines strewn throughout
five towns here. Contrary to all the FALSE CLAIMS continually being made
by the wind industry, few - if any, meaningful permanent jobs were created
here.
The Institute for Energy Research tallied the
numbers and found that each wind job costs $11.45 million and costs
more than four jobs that are lost elsewhere in the economy, in large part due
to all of the subsidies enabling wind to exist and the resulting “skyrocketing” cost of electricity. In fact, on a unit
of production basis, wind is subsidized over 52 times more than
conventional ‘fossil’ fuels.
2.) Environmentally:
According
to the AWEA, the USA has approximately 45,100 Industrial Wind Turbines (IWTs). Remotely-sited
IWTs are located far from urban centers where the power is needed. This
requires a spider web of new transmission lines (at ratepayers’ expense), which
exponentially adds to the needless bird and bat deaths caused by IWTs
themselves.
Additionally,
sprawling industrial wind factories cause massive Habitat Fragmentation, which
is cited as one of the main reasons for species decline worldwide.
Studies
show MILLIONS of birds and bats are being slaughtered
annually by these giant “Cuisinarts of the sky,” as a Sierra official dubbed
IWTs in a rare moment of candor.
Governor Cuomo is supporting “dimming the lights” in New York
City to help stop migrating birds from becoming disoriented and crashing into
buildings. Yet simultaneously, Governor Cuomo is pushing for many more giant,
bird-chopping industrial wind turbines along the shores of Lake Ontario - a
major migratory bird flyway, and across rural New York State. The 600-foot-high
blinking red lights would also create unwanted, disorienting light pollution in
night skies. This blatant hypocrisy is astounding.
3.) Technically:
Because
wind provides NO capacity
value, or firm capacity
(specified amounts of power on demand), wind requires constant “shadow
capacity” from our reliable, dispatchable baseload generators to cover for
wind’s inherent volatile, skittering flux on the grid. Therefore,
wind cannot replace our conventional generation sources. Instead,
wind locks us into dependence on fossil fuels – and represents a redundancy
(two duplicate sources of electricity), which Big Wind CEO Patrick Jenevein
admitted “turns ratepayers and taxpayers into double-payers for the same
product.”
The list
of accidents, blade
failures (throwing debris over a half mile), fires (ten times more than
the wind industry previously admitted) and other problems is updated quarterly
at a website in the UK. This lengthy
and growing list is evidence of why these
giant, moving machines do NOT belong anywhere near where people live!
Adding insult to injury, the actual output of
all of New York State’s wind factories combined has been averaging a pathetic
24 percent. If IWTs were cars, they would have
been correctly dubbed ‘lemons’ and relegated to the junkyard a long time
ago! Which one of you would buy a vehicle that only operated 24% of the
time? You wouldn’t. You couldn’t afford to. It’s just that
simple.
Physicist and Malone, NY Town Board member, Jack Sullivan, reported on the
reality of wind’s failure to produce in his article: “Some Lessons from New York.”
Sullivan
explained, “Both Vesta and GE turbines have a manufacturer’s life expectancy
rating of 20 years, yet no New York wind project is on track to sell enough
electricity in 20 years to pay for itself.”
Mr. Sullivan used the wind industry’s 20-year
life expectancy claim for his calculations. The inconvenient truth exposed in
another report, however, says that “wind turbines last only half as long”
as the wind industry has claimed – making the fact that they can never pay for
themselves even more evident. Even
the AWEA admits that the life of a typical wind turbine is only 10 to 13 years
(January 2006: North American Wind Power).
4.) Civilly - Health, Safety & Welfare of
New York State Residents:
The only
thing that has ever been reliably generated by industrial wind is complete and
utter civil discord (already evident in Orleans and Niagra Counties). Neighbor
is pitted against neighbor, and even family member against family member.
Sprawling industrial wind factories have totally divided communities, which is
already apparent in towns across NYS and the country. It is the job of
good government to foresee and prevent this kind of civil discord – not to
promote it.
Regarding Human Health, NYS officials admitted at
a 2009 NYSERDA meeting on wind that
they knew “infrasound” from wind turbines was a problem worldwide.
The growing list of problems
globally highlights that these problems are only getting worse.
At the
June, 2009 NYSERDA Environmental Groups meeting specific to industrial wind
energy, a former noise control engineer for the New York State Public Service
Commission, Dr. Dan Driscoll, testified that ‘infrasound’ (sounds below 20 Hz)
are sounds you can’t hear, but the body can feel, and that 'infrasound' is
known to be a problem associated with industrial wind factories.
Dr. Driscoll said that ‘infrasound’ is NOT
blocked by walls, and it can very negatively affect the human body – especially
after prolonged, continuous exposure. He said symptoms include headache,
nausea, sleeplessness, dizziness, ringing in the ears and other maladies.
Dr.
Driscoll said that setbacks from the 1.5 MW turbines being installed at that
time in 2009 should be at least 3200 feet. Obviously, setbacks from the
much larger turbines being proposed by APEX would have to be at least 1 mile (possibly much further)
to adequately protect New York State citizens.
NYS
Department of Health official Dr. Jan Storm testified that, despite knowing the
global nature of the “infrasound” problem, NYS still had not done any health
studies (despite having federal Stimulus money available to do so).
Here we are six years later, and indefensibly,
NYS officials still have not called for any independent studies to assure the
protection of New York State citizens!
The New York State PSC would be negligent in
its' duties of protecting NYS citizens if the PSC were to approve what would be
the largest land-based turbines in the nation among New York State citizens'
homes without requiring that independent health studies first be done.
“The Golden Rule,” as espoused by Rotary International’s excellent ‘Four-Way Test’ of the things
we think, say and do, should be the moral and ethical standard our public
servants aspire to uphold. The test asks:
1. Is
it the truth?
2. Is
it fair to all concerned?
3. Will
it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will
it be beneficial to all concerned?
When
applied to APEX's proposed industrial wind factory along the shores of Lake
Ontario, the answers are a resounding “NO!”
Respectfully
submitted,
Mary Kay
Barton
New York State-certified Health Science Educator (retired),
Life-long New York State resident, and spokesperson for www.CitizenPowerAlliance.org -
New York State citizens for scientifically sound, RELIABLE, affordable
electricity for everyone.
APEX's Windy-Disinformation Campaign
Continues
Have you seen the recent sales propaganda
brochure APEX has distributed in Orleans and Niagra Counties?
Much like APEX's website
(which pictures APEX's staff in an idyllic countryside setting, with NO
industrial wind turbines in sight!), the front cover of APEX's most recent
windy-disinformation campaign pictures a farm - without a single industrial
wind turbine in sight - absurdly titled: "Wind
Energy: Good for Property Values."
How stupid does APEX think people are? Any
HONEST Real Estate person will tell you that the most important consideration
when buying a property is: "LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!"
Even worse is the shameless Wyoming County
Supervisors who are quoted in APEX’s brochure - Eagle's Joe Kushner and Sheldon's John Knab (both
of whom will NOT
seek re-election this year, and at least one is reportedly leaving the area).
Both Kushner and Knab pimped their towns out to Big
Wind for a few recycled taxpayer dollars, making themselves some of the wind
industry’s favorite go-to-guys. Sheldon Supervisor, John Knab, has traveled as far as the state of Alabama
(that we know of), speaking on behalf of the wind industry. Knab and
Kushner seem despicably intent on turning more New York State countrysides
into bird-slaughtering, industrial wind factories by aiding and abetting Big
Wind hucksters, like APEX, with their windy-disinformation
campaigns.
The civil discord and environmental destruction Knab and Kushner
orchestrated here in Wyoming County is reminiscent of when Native Americans
sold Manhattan for a bunch of beads - their ignorance taken advantage of by
those who could not care less about them.
APEX’s
brochure also disingenuously lists two Orangeville properties as selling above
assessed value, while failing to mention that both those properties had
significant acreage – most important since farmland in Wyoming County has been
going for $6,000 - $12,000 an acre (since the installation of the Batavia
yogurt factory).
For
obvious reasons, APEX did NOT mention the fact that at least ten Orangeville
properties have sold BELOW their assessed value since Invenergy’s wind factory
went up, and many others haven’t sold at all.
APEX’s
brochure also neglected to mention the ongoing lawsuit in Orangeville, and the skyrocketing Wyoming
County tax rate, which has risen yearly over the past 12 years (another 9.68%
this year), in direct correlation with the installation of wind factories here.
It’s
no surprise that APEX didn’t include this report - which shows a 56% DECREASE in
property values near APEX’s Illinois project:
The
story is the same everywhere. Sprawling industrial wind factories negatively
impact property values!
There’s
also pesky little facts like New York State’s “skyrocketing” electricity rates that need to be considered. According to NYSERDA, the average New York State residential
electricity rate in 1999 was 13.3 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). The first New York wind factories went up in
2000 (Wethersfield & Madison).
20 wind factories later, and the average residential electricity
rate in New York State as of February, 2015, is now 19.8 cents per kWh
(according to the EIA, as
cited by NYSERDA) – one of the highest rates in the nation, and nearly a
50%
increase since NYS began mindlessly plastering countrysides with
redundant generation
of industrial wind factories. (Of further interest - only 2% of New York
State's
electricity comes from coal.)
Regarding
industrial wind’s performance - New
York State’s wind factories have been averaging a pathetic
24%. Any other piece of equipment
- be it a machine, person or animal, that operated only 24% of the time would
have been dubbed a “LEMON” and put out to pasture a long time ago! Which
one of you would buy a vehicle that only operated 24% of the time? You
wouldn’t. You couldn’t afford to. It’s just that simple. But
when the state and federal government are in charge of spending our money,
economic reality doesn’t seem to matter.
Physicist and Malone, NY Town Board member, Jack
Sullivan, reported on the reality of wind’s failure to
produce in his article: “Some
Lessons from New York.”
Sullivan explained, “Both Vesta and GE turbines
have a manufacturer’s life expectancy rating of 20 years, yet no New York wind
project is on track to sell enough electricity in 20 years to pay for itself.”
Mr. Sullivan used the wind industry’s 20-year
life expectancy claim for his calculations. The inconvenient truth exposed in
another report, however, says that “wind
turbines last only half as long” as the wind industry
has claimed - making the fact that they can never pay for themselves even more
evident.
These things aren’t ‘wind farms,’ they’re tax
farms - in the business of harvesting our taxpayer and ratepayer dollars, and
transferring them into the pockets of rich, multi-national corporations.
All of this enabled because of cronyism
in high places and short-sightedness, willful ignorance, and greed of those
willing to suck on the teat of wind
welfare at the rest of our expense.
Mary Kay Barton
Retired Health Educator, Silver Lake, Wyoming
County
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