Opinions
Category:
General
Forget lower subsidies, the wind industry has a much bigger problem brewing
July 26, 2012 in Money Week
July 26, 2012 in Money Week
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) - which sets property valuations for the purposes of council tax - appears to have accepted that having wind turbines near your house can (and does) reduce the value of houses.
Until now, all suggestions that this is the case have been firmly rejected by the industry.
Also filed under [
UK]
Wind almost never blows when the weather is hottest and the demand for electricity is highest.
That stark truth hasn't stopped state and federal policymakers from using consumer and taxpayer dollars to fund aggressive state renewable portfolio standards and generous federal subsidies to add expensive wind power to the nation's electricity grid.
Also filed under [
Illinois]
Shumlin stated that he listened to both sides and met with industrial wind opponents in Montpelier to hear their views.
"An eight-minute meeting with a few people in your office is hardly engaging in a dialogue. Coming to the Town Offices and driving through town is not the same thing as going to the site and talking to neighbors in their homes," said Snelling.
Also filed under [
Vermont]
What the Siting Council chose to do in response to the new law was to create wind regulations based upon industry favorable siting requirements. States that have accepted development of wind turbines in populated areas are spending much time and money on the effects on neighbors who are truly suffering day to day.
Also filed under [
Connecticut]
This letter describes one man's determination to end his lease agreement with wind developer Reunion Power.
Also filed under [
Vermont]
Thanks, but no thanks. Let's see how the already approved bird-blenders do before we green light the further carving up of New Hampshire's scenic landscape for inefficient power projects that scar the land, blight the views and kill the wildlife in the name of "green" energy.
Also filed under [
New Hampshire]
Increasingly, however, it seems that people have made up their minds about wind. A large wind farm - with 20 or 200 large turbines - may fit well on the open plains of Texas, the Palouse of Washington state or the coast of Denmark. The close, intimate, untrammeled landscape of Vermont is not such a good fit. That is the message that wind developers are hearing.
In the end their money may not do the trick.
Also filed under [
Vermont]
Indeed, had any of the myriad advocates for renewable energy bothered to use a simple calculator, they would see that their favored sources simply cannot provide the vast scale of energy needed by the world's 7 billion inhabitants, at a price that can be afforded.
It's not just the "insidious, life-deadening noise," as one letter-writer to the Whig put it, but the fluctuations in air pressure and the vibrations that cause breathing problems, digestive issues, anxiety, headaches, struggles with concentration and disrupted sleep. And then there's the horrifying thought that the windmills could also cause learning disabilities in their children.
Also filed under [
Canada]
Dr. Chris Back is a Liberal Senator from Western Australia and Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate. His essay below offers thoughtful insight into the wind industry issues and the impacts of large development wind within the communities of rural Australia.
Also filed under [
Australia / New Zealand]
Apparently, the state of Vermont in the form of the Public Service Board and Public Service Department is ready to roll out the red carpet for big corporations at the expense of Vermont citizens. Between the lines of all of the politically correct jargon, what I learned from this meeting was that the public had better aggressively advocate for themselves, because the state is not going to protect us adequately.
Also filed under [
Vermont]
This letter was written by a landowner in Vermont who chose not to lease his land to wind developer Reunion Power.
Also filed under [
Vermont]
More melt down in wind ‘industry’ as global giant Vestas hits serious debt burden
July 2, 2012 in Forargyll.com
July 2, 2012 in Forargyll.com
Serious investors in a serious industry are there for the long haul. These are fly-by-night carpetbaggers, grabbing and running in an ‘industry' thrashed into existence simply because the subsidies were there; and governments were desperate to achieve carbon emission targets.
Now, in harder economic times ...both available subsidies and potential demand are shrinking.
Also filed under [
UK]
Say no to the corporate takeover of our government at the expense of the people! Stop corporate welfare! End the Production Tax Credit for Big Wind. Taking money from hard-working American taxpayers and ratepayers to put into the pockets of multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporations is complete insanity that must stop!
Also filed under [
New York]
Since official word spread that a wind developer wanted to put stakes down in Brighton, Ferdinand and Newark earlier this spring, local opposition has grown.
Residents in effected communities have filed their official concerns to the Vermont Public Service Board, which will now decide if the would-be project - by Seneca Mountain Wind, LLC - should get a Certificate of Public Good (CPG).
Also filed under [
Vermont]
AWEA's biggest member companies may be promoting wind energy -- and in the process they are reaping lucrative subsidies -- but they are also among the world's biggest users and/or producers of fossil fuels. Many of those very same fossil-fuel companies have garnered billions of dollars in tax-free cash grants and/or loan guarantees from the US government to deploy "clean" energy.
Also filed under [
USA]
Cape Cod Wind Farms - When agencies put business interest over public safety
June 15, 2012 in The Legal Examiner
June 15, 2012 in The Legal Examiner
We live in a world where agency approval is deemed the gold standard. ...If the agency is rushing to the business interests of its lobbying friends, and avoiding its mission of providing the safest product to the public, then what value, if any, does the approval of the agency mean to consumer safety?
Also filed under [
USA|
Massachusetts]
Wind farms, while infinitely preferable to coal-fired generating plants, still carry environmental costs. They tend to kill birds and other wildlife - commercial wind turbines at Alta-Gas's Bear Mountain wind farm in northeastern B.C. are being blamed for the deaths of endangered bats.
They can also leave a hefty mark on the landscape.
Also filed under [
Canada]
But the industry has been arrogant, overbearing, greedy and bullying. It has often ridden roughshod over local communities and has mopped up the financial gains, giving little back. No wonder that, while wind power remains broadly supported, the industry is increasingly hated by those who have come into contact with it.
Also filed under [
UK]
| Technology >> |