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Why would Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker propose to increase the setbacks between wind turbines and property lines to 1,800 feet? Because the newest industrial wind turbines in our state are 50 stories tall.
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Impact on People|
Wisconsin]
What is the hurry? My experience has shown the correlation between speed and quality is poor at best. ...Does the current administration want to be blaming poor forethought later because we "fast tracked" for a tax credit for Canadian Gaz Metro?
While the Liberals insist it's all about clean energy, a recent article in a British newspaper shows wind turbines are anything but green.
A story by Simon Parry and Ed Douglas in the Daily Mail, Jan. 29, describes a horrific toxic stew brewing in China as a result of our search for the great, green holy grail.
But a conference held in Denver earlier this month gave a sobering preview of major land decisions ahead for this nation. Experts at CLE International's convention on Historic Preservation and Tribal Consultation: Energy & Transmission Projects predicted that energy projects will be bigger and come faster than any of us foresee, with great impacts on ethnographic and rural historic districts.
Because of ever increasing awareness of the negative consequences of locating turbines near residential areas, many bodies with more experience in turbine siting have been applying increasingly stringent standards. For example, see the February 2011 standards adopted by the Planning and Regulatory Sub-committee of the Cape Cod Commission.
But anyone who has been close enough to such behemoths, either along the highways in southern Spain, on the coast of Nova Scotia, near the sand dunes on Prince Edward Island and in southern Alberta, knows that they are noisy and intrusive, regardless of their green credentials. Nobody in his right mind would want to live within earshot of these things.
What I have found particularly intriguing is the consistent and almost automatic dismissal of the health impacts for those colocated with the turbines. I have listened to people arbitrarily dismiss health issues as being psychosomatic or regurgitate the popular excuse of the lack of scientific evidence. With respect, I would suggest to those who support these notions that you have completely misunderstood the problem.
Dr. Lynn is right. More study is needed on the effects of wind farms on everything from the future cost of electricity to health concerns. And local planning control must be restored as a first step by the government towards making amends to the people of rural Ontario.
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Impact on People|
Canada]
Characteristic noises would include the footfalls of deer. "I have not seen a deer here since construction began," said Meyer, and the owls and hawks that used to frequent his woodlot are gone, too. While someone choosing to live near a freeway is moving next to the noise nowadays (since we're not building new freeways), in the case of wind farms, the noise is moving in.
Fair and open process? More like outnumbered and ignored, say turbines' neighbors
January 27, 2011 in Journal Sentinel
January 27, 2011 in Journal Sentinel
It's true that wind turbine critics wanted a farther setback -- one figure that gets thrown around is a 2-kilometer setback, or more than 6,000 feet. But that the PSC's figure is less than critics wanted and more than developers proves nothing about the process that produced the PSC's rule.
Was, in fact, the process fair?
If the PSC guidelines didn't reflect the state real estate association data on decreased property values, and if the industry cannot guarantee acceptable sound levels prior to construction, then the risk is all mine.
As long as there is not a clear and easy recourse to be sure my rights and property values are protected, I will object.
Being a scientific sort of chap, McMurtry began by researching the issue.
What he discovered alarmed him. In particular, he ran into evidence — re-enforced by personal encounters later — that low-frequency humming associated with wind turbines may lead to chronic sleeplessness, stress and even hypertension causing heart disease for anyone living within two kilometres of a machine.
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Impact on People|
Canada]
The concerned citizen expects his or her protection to be the guiding principal employed when examining ALL projects, no matter their location. A power plant has it's own unique package of ills. It's comedic classification as a waste water treatment plant has served to bypass those ills, by-pass planning, zoning and health board review, and by-pass the special permit process design to give the common, concerned citizen their say!
Only recently has the Ontario Liberal government stumbled into the fray by stifling local opposition to corporate wind with the Green Energy Act. Their belated attempt to establish a substantial renewable power industry in Ontario is costing Ontario taxpayers dearly with huge subsidies to Samsung and its Korean government-owned partner.
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Impact on People|
Canada]
Every business deserves the opportunity to succeed and prosper, but never at the expense of human, animal and environmental health. Unfortunately, the very people that industrial wind turbines are hurting do not have the funds for large display ads to warn people about the truth of the harm and the deceit of the provincial government's renewable energy policy.
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Impact on People|
Canada]
The BRSA is trying to force the turbine down the throats of the communities it serves and has irresponsibly spent more than $2 million on the project.
By not first acquiring the additional land and ensuring that all permits were completed, it has put the ratepayers it serves at risk.
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Impact on People|
New Jersey]
The ambient noise in rural environments such as Silcote Corners is from 25- 30 decibels, since it is not influenced by other background noises of traffic, industry and the like.
So the question becomes, how disruptive is noise of 40-45 decibels from an industrial complex (such as the wind farm) when it is located in a natural environment with an ambient noise level of 25- 30 decibels (or 15-20 decibels less)?
The ongoing expansion of wind power is an intrusion into the countryside, with a extent and effect comparable with the 1900s expansion of hydro power in the rivers in north Sweden. Wind turbines have a significant visual impact on landscape and the anxiety that they create must be taken seriously. There has been no serious research into how they affect people. It can almost be considered a violation of human rights when local opinions are met with indifference by government authorities.
Cape May is now facing a different kind of accommodation with the modern age, one that pits often-allied historic and environmental interests against each other: Green power.
The city's Historic Preservation Commission is asking City Council wants to ban windmills and only wants solar systems in the historic district that can't be seen from the street.
Tazewell board can't escape the never-ending wind turbine story
December 22, 2010 in Bluefield Daily Telegraph
December 22, 2010 in Bluefield Daily Telegraph
The board probably thought this story was finished when they passed the so-called ridgeline protection ordinance on a 3-2 vote last February. But Dominion Resources is still in town, and they say they are committed to developing the newly dubbed Bluestone River Wind Farm. They are classifying it as a long-term project without an actual construction timeline.
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning|
Virginia]