Opinions
We haven't seen yet a convincing case that large-scale wind energy can play a significant role in reducing carbon emissions in Vermont, which would be the only rational basis for sacrificing a landscape that plays such an important role in the state's economy and self-identity. And the ability of towns to exert some control over their destiny when it comes to development is not something that should be lightly overridden.
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Energy Policy|
Vermont]
There is some good news, however. As we report today, government sources have said that wind power subsidies are to be cut again. This is a move in the right direction and we very much welcome it.
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Energy Policy|
UK]
A wind energy company that has proposed a wind farm project in north Canadian County made its most aggressive move yet to win over the community. But after hosting two public information sessions Apex Wind Energy was left with the assurance that many still don't want wind turbines built anywhere near them.
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Impact on People|
Oklahoma]
If another golden eagle is killed a Technical Advisory Committee - comprised of biologists from federal and state agencies - will meet and make recommendations to the BLM about what mitigation to take, which could curtail operation of turbines or even shut down turbines.
The federal government's disparate treatment of various industries whose operations have resulted in the deaths of eagles or migratory birds has become an issue of late.
This piece was written by Mark J. Cool, a resident of Falmouth, Massachusetts. Mark lives 1500 feet from one of the two wind turbines installed by the town. He provides a detailed look at the history and impacts of the decision to site the towers so close to where people live.
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Impact on People|
Massachusetts]
San Francisco is about to find out how much it costs to be clean and green. After years of study and initial approvals, city residents will learn the price of a new energy diet, one that promises electricity from only renewable sources.
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Energy Policy|
California]
Strangers' money has drawn a line across the land, sowing discord. It has divided the Placey family. They no longer talk to those who sold out. "We pleaded with them; we asked them not to sell," Lynne says. But they wouldn't listen; they wanted the money. Her sister-in-law is distraught. She was close to her nieces; she can't believe that they would do this.
This division is repeated all over town, straining the North Country ethic of looking out for your neighbor.
If only wind energy worked, it would be great. But it does not - at least not that well. What's worse, most people do not know, especially the Green Energy True Believers. Those who do know, however, do not care.
"Literal beacons of the ‘green' energy movement, giant wind turbines have been one of the renewable energy sources of choice for the U.S. government, which has spent billions of taxpayer dollars subsidizing their construction ...But high maintenance costs, high rates of failure, and fluctuating weather conditions that affect energy production render wind turbines expensive and inefficient."
Germany's green energy disaster: A cautionary tale for world leaders
March 14, 2013 in Forbes Magazine
March 14, 2013 in Forbes Magazine
Germany is dirtying the planet in the name of clean energy - and sticking its citizens with an ever-escalating tab so it can subsidize an energy source which will never generate sufficient power.
This is the cautionary tale of command energy economics - one other nations would be wise to heed.
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Energy Policy|
Germany]
Because of rising energy prices from green subsidies, 800,000 German households can no longer pay their electricity bills. In the UK, there are now over five million fuel-poor people, and the country's electricity regulator now publicly worries that environmental targets could lead to blackouts ...Today, we produce only a small fraction of the energy that we need from solar and wind.
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Energy Policy]
The pro-wind side professes that "we need to destroy our environment, to save our environment!" On the surface, this may seem the more responsible alternative. But I think the next question that needs to be posed is, what are we hoping to accomplish in strip-mining our mountains?
When E.O. Wilson said "people would rather believe than know", he perfectly summed up the state of modern environmentalism; the movement which has been radicalised to the extent that its policies are now characterised by senseless agendas better described as anti-science, anti-business and even anti-human; rather than pro-environment.
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Energy Policy|
UK]
The good news is that communities worldwide are learning how to defeat these dreadful projects. More and more laws and moratoriums are being passed against them, while other projects are defeated on legal grounds or by overwhelming public opposition.
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General]
When the Legislature requires power companies to buy a certain percentage of their power from alternative producers - regardless of cost - they're already out of bounds. In addition to inviting graft and corruption this artificially drives up rates, crippling economic recovery, while sending false signals that alternatives to fossil fuels are a good investment.
“When PSC 128 was created in 2010 by a committee stacked with wind interested members, the scientific information about the devastating health effects of industrial wind turbines was ignored and kept from the record. They took away the power of local units of government to protect their families from the devastating impacts of industrial wind turbines.”
In the latest demonstration that politicians and regulators are unqualified to operate an economy, utility executives are yet again worried about blackouts rolling across the state, this time because California's expensive rush to install wind and solar has left it dependent on renewable energy that is inherently less reliable.
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Energy Policy|
California]
You cannot be at the same time a wind energy town and a location for retirees, second homes and the odd couple resettling. One of the area's most respected real estate agents has already made it clear that no one is interested in looking at land adjacent to the wind proposal property.
O'Malley's latest proposal will cost electric consumers more than $2 billion. It will raise the price of electric power for all Marylanders. Particularly hard hit will be supermarket chains, which consume huge amounts of electricity, industrial plants and small businesses that can ill afford another government-mandated expense.
Vermont, New England begin sobering up...Public support for ridgeline windparks erodes!
February 27, 2013 in No TRicks Zone
February 27, 2013 in No TRicks Zone
"Citizens investigating this technology's impact on their communities are deciding wind projects don't make for good neighbors. With four projects operating in Vermont and accumulating noise complaints, and another three communities with active developments, Vermonters are examining this technology ...We predict support will continue to erode as developers continue to push this technology on our communities," continued Snelling.