Opinions
Far from offering residents any real protection, this latest proposal will have the likely outcome of inviting smaller turbines, in larger numbers, that can still be legally sited in very close proximity to residents. Current zoning bylaws in Fairhaven permit citing turbines in every type of zone as a so-called municipal project.
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning|
Massachusetts]
Skeptics counter that Washington's wind subsidy and grant programs actually retard innovation and unlevel the playing field in the energy market. ..."The size of the subsidy relative to wholesale prices is distorting competitive wholesale energy markets and harming the financial integrity of other, more reliable generation."
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
USA]
Blow off wind-production tax credit; Expensive source can't compete
December 18, 2012 in Washington Times
December 18, 2012 in Washington Times
While the three indirect and infrastructure [hidded] costs of wind have been acknowledged in research reports, they have not appeared in most generation-cost comparisons. That's because regulatory authorities have not required wind operators to pay for them, they've required consumers to pay for them instead. In an honest, transparent and accountable political system, that should not be an excuse for policymakers to ignore their impact on consumers, jobs and the economy.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
USA]
At some point, Democrats need to give in on this "green jobs" pitch. Extending the subsidy is a jobs-killer. Government doesn't pick winners and losers well, yet the wind subsidy certainly picks a winner. In doing so, it also picks losers (and many more losers than winners) by transferring billions of dollars away from more-effective job producers.
America's debate on green energy is pathetic. In the past year, the two biggest green-energy issues in Congress have been whether to to strip the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of various authorities and whether to renew a crude subsidy for wind power.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
USA]
How much of our precious assets will be sacrificed in green's name
December 14, 2012 in Laconia Daily Sun
December 14, 2012 in Laconia Daily Sun
The Newfound Lake area is a perfect example of green energy gone amuck. All it takes is a foreign, for- profit company and opportunistic landowners. All other N.H. citizens, from business and homeowners in a 100-mile radius suffer the consequences. Every town, ridge, and lake in N.H. could be next. This is a horrifying example of a lack of regulations and a state that needs a comprehensive energy plan.
Floor Remarks of U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.): Taxpayer Subsidy for Wind Power and the Fiscal Cliff
December 14, 2012
December 14, 2012
This government in Washington, DC, is borrowing 42 cents out of every dollar we spend. That is why I come to the floor to point out a proposal that has been made to fleece the taxpayers out of an additional $50 billion over the next 6 years. This is a proposal that is as brazen as a mid-day bank robbery on Main Street. It is a proposal by the wind developers of America to say to the taxpayers: Please give us $50 billion or so more dollars over the next 6 years to phase out the Federal taxpayer subsidy for wind power.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
USA]
We must act now to save our country from the scourge of wind turbines
December 14, 2012 in The Spectator
December 14, 2012 in The Spectator
No more would I trade in blood diamonds or child pornography than I would accept money in any shape or form from Big Wind. The time is long since past when anyone complicit in this vile, corrupt, mendacious industry - not the lawyers, not the engineers, not the land agents, not the investors - could be unaware of the damage it does: to the landscape, to rural communities, to wildlife, to people's health, to the economy generally.
The privately owned WEBB/ NOTUS/TELEDYNE turbine, identicle to the other 2, runs unabated, 24/7 full time and without investigation or much mention in the news. It gets just as many complaints. It has driven me out of my home and others out of their jobs in the tech park. Unfortunately, I know why they skate through untouched. Money talks loudest in Falmouth.
Also filed under [
Impact on People|
Massachusetts]
In the history of American business, it's difficult to find an industry that has enjoyed more political favoritism than the wind-energy sector now enjoys.
The wind industry gets subsidies, mandates, and a de facto exemption from prosecution under some of America's oldest wildlife laws. And the wind-energy lobby is doing all it can to make sure that this favoritism is maintained.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
USA]
As the scarring of New Hampshire hilltops accelerates, the politicians who promoted this have a lot to answer for. ...Do-gooders trying to force us to switch from coal to wind power have encouraged the industrialization of scenic New Hampshire ridgelines. That industrialization will not stop until these perverse government incentives are removed.
Energy Policy: Wind and sunlight are free, but that doesn't make them cheap. This is a lesson that states such as California will learn as they push hard to cut the fossil-fuel share of electric power.
It's the taxes you can't see that may gouge you the most.
Solar and wind power advocates are fighting to renew clean energy subsidies, which expires at year's end. They argue that these technologies are worth the investment because they offset fossil fuel dependence and carbon emissions. Indeed, that's the conventional assumption of most energy researchers, government labs, and think tanks. However, there is an emerging problem with that assumption - there's no evidence to back it up.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
USA]
Tax-Blowing boondoggle: Don't give wind energy more credit than it deserves
December 11, 2012 in Forbes Magazine
December 11, 2012 in Forbes Magazine
Even with all that hidden help from generous taxpayers, wind isn’t any bargain for energy customers. ...So long as this industry's survival depends upon those preferential government handouts and regulatory mandates, two things are clear. Wind is certainly not a competitive free market source of energy, or a charity we can continue to afford.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
USA]
The time is overdue that the deception and dishonesty of the government with respect to industrial wind turbines be exposed and that the people of New Hampshire learn the truth about the inadequate regulations that are seriously affecting the rural citizens of this state and their livelihoods.
It is unfortunate for the citizens of Massachusetts generally, and likely devastating to many residents of Florida and Monroe specifically, to witness the ill-conceived commitment of Gov. Deval Patrick and his administration to industrial wind turbines.
Also filed under [
General|
Massachusetts]
If you thought your monthly utility bills were high now, just wait.
According to the nonpartisan Little Hoover Commission's report, "Rewiring California," ratepayers face soaring electrical bills because of the move toward adding more solar and wind energy to the power grid.
The wind production tax credit (PTC) has created an industry that produces overpriced, intermittent power, and it will continue to produce overpriced, intermittent power so as long as there is a PTC to pay for it. Here are the top seven myths associated with the PTC.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
USA]
Ronald Reagan once observed that a federal program is the closest thing to eternal life. The latest example of this reality is the production tax credit for wind power, a program scheduled to expire at the end of this year. Despite the Beltway cacophony on the fiscal cliff, sequestration, and entitlement reform, seemingly small policy issues often carry huge implications, with economic effects far greater than the narrow budget impacts might suggest.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies|
USA]
We have all heard much about the concerns relating to industrial wind turbines on our ridgelines. Our governor wants us to install industrial wind turbines as fast as we can in order to reduce our carbon footprint and thereby slow the rate of climate change.
Is the governor correct? Remove the "install industrial wind turbines" and substitute "do something prudent" and I agree. Is installing industrial wind turbines prudent?