Opinions
With so much partisan sniping in modern politics, it's heartening to find an issue where Republicans and Democrats in the New Hampshire Legislature agree. They don't think your electric rates are high enough.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
New Hampshire]
Windy Republicans: GOP Congressmen sign up for energy crony capitalism
May 7, 2012 in Wall Street Journal
May 7, 2012 in Wall Street Journal
The vote on the PTC will be a big moment for the GOP. One reason the party lost its way in the Bush years is that it became a vehicle for special business pleading instead of free markets. If the party is serious about tax reform, deficit reduction and ending corporate welfare, then it will vote to take wind power off the taxpayer dole.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
USA]
This result was in stark contrast to very recent polls by Friends of the Earth Scotland and WWF Scotland which claimed overwhelming support in Scotland for such renewable developments. It has now come to light that WWF Scotland and FoE Scotland and even the RSPB have been in receipt of substantial sums from the wind industry.
A recent study by respected energy economist Gerry Angevine for the Fraser Institute found that Ontario residents will pay an average of $285 million more for electricity each year for the next 20 years as a result of subsidies to renewable energy companies. ...Even more alarming for the province's economic competitiveness, businesses and industrial customers will be hit by almost $12 billion in additional costs over the same period.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy|
Canada]
It is spring in the Northwest. The water flows, the wind blows, and we pay people not to make electricity we don't need.
Also filed under [
Washington]
A government folly is playing out in our state's Capitol over a wind electricity project a group wants to build in Clark County.
At the root of this folly is a federal requirement. Believe it or not, a wind farm developer can force a utility company to buy its electricity, even if the company doesn't want it.
This gets worse. The wind power might cost more than the company wants its customers to have to pay for electricity.
The enemy of good policy and fairness, in this case, is boredom. A vast and powerful industry has, with a certain cool daring, presented itself as if it were some sort of warm-hearted green charity, and has characterised anyone with reservations over individual sites as self-interested. The media and the public have, on the whole, bought it.
More and more Mainers, who earlier had bought into the simplistic conclusion that wind turbines in Maine are a wonderful "green" solution for our energy needs, are learning that, by and large, Maine is not getting a justifiable economic or energy return from the wind turbines that mar the landscape.
The proposed wind farm had significant resistance from the Navy over the last year, but recently the Navy has "stood down" as nationally our current administration has issued the call for the Navy to be "greener."
The initial Navy resistance was based on the fact that wind farms cause radar interference ...The agreement calls for a "new unproven technology" that essentially "dumbs down" the high tech radar system. Now that makes sense.
Also filed under [
Texas]
Recently I hiked up to the top of Lowell Ridge to see where 21, 400-foot wind towers will be placed. As I crested the mountain I came face to face with an energy policy that is at war with itself. The environmental destruction taking place there pits those seeking to reverse climate change against those who wish to preserve Vermont's pristine natural resources.
"We don't have a noise standard that's designed to work for turbines," said Commissioner Paul Aasen, Dayton's appointee to Minnesota's Pollution Control Agency. Yet, the distance between an industrial wind turbine and your house is determined using the state's noise standard.
David Farmer's recent complaints that Gov. Paul LePage is rushing bills even if "some ideas are not ready for prime time" ring hollow when compared to Gov. John Baldacci's record.
As a private citizen who has been fighting the "not-so-ready-for-prime-time" idea of industrial wind power for three years, I would like to refresh Mr. Farmer's memory ...of one of the most destructive pieces of environmental legislation in Maine's history.
Also filed under [
Maine]
The head of Reno's renewable energy program says turbine makers misled the city about how much power its turbines would generate. ...He wants the Nevada PUC to make proof of electricity generation a rebate requirement.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Nevada]
There is nothing in this bill or in any other Maryland law or regulation that will guarantee or limit how much a ratepayer will have to pay extra for offshore wind-generated energy. If this bill is passed and if a developer succeeds in building an offshore wind farm, don't be surprised if the surcharge exceeds $1.50 in 2012 dollars.
Those customers aren't the only ones who are being fleeced. Even at high premiums the entire wind industry would be blown away by conventional power sources if not for huge taxpayer subsidies. According to a 2008 Energy Information Agency (EIA) report, the average 2007 subsidy per megawatt hour for wind and solar was about $24, compared with an average $1.65 for all others.
Kingsville officials oppose a planned wind farm near Rivera.
They are concerned about potential interference with Navy radar. I say these concerns are well founded. The turbines north of Nueces Bay definitely interfere with FAA radar right here in Corpus Christi.
More jobs promoting green energy than actually making green energy
March 31, 2012 in Kennebec Journal
March 31, 2012 in Kennebec Journal
The largest green-job producers within manufacturing are steel mills. Over 50 percent of all jobs in steel mills are counted as green -- not because the steel goes to make green products, but because most of our steel is made from scrap steel.
That's right; most of our steel is recycled steel. And according Part 3 of the BLS definition, if you recycle, your job is green.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy|
USA]
Without a doubt, the most vocal debate at Town Meeting this Saturday is likely to center around Article 13, which seeks to appropriate $3.9 million to erect a wind turbine at the landfill in Madaket to offset energy costs at that facility.
Also filed under [
General|
Massachusetts]
Herein is the biggest paradox: Many green groups want to first encourage conservation before considering more transmission -- lines that some fear would run roughshod through sensitive habitat.
Beyond the issue of conservation is the variable nature of wind and solar and how grid managers would incorporate them into the system.
Also filed under [
Transmission|
USA]
A 2011 Environmental Review Tribunal concluded, based on evidence submitted by 26 expert witnesses that wind turbines placed too close to families can cause adverse health problems. The question we need answered now is how far back do the turbines need to be placed to be safe? We know without question that 550 metres is not safe.
Also filed under [
Impact on People|
Canada]