Opinions
Category:
Minnesota
"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.
Also filed under [
Noise]
Goodhue County has become an involuntary guinea pig ...And the "experiment" isn't over. Further legal challenges are possible, and the PUC ruling still leaves some significant hurdles in front of AWA Goodhue, which is still trying to determine how many of its 50 proposed windmill sites would be affected by the 1,600-foot setback requirement is now in place.
Also filed under [
General]
Minnesota's renewable energy objectives are both arbitrary and impractical
January 7, 2011 in Minnesota Post
January 7, 2011 in Minnesota Post
The Renewable Energy Objectives in Minnesota Statute 216B call for public utilities to get 25 percent of their energy from renewable technology by 2025. Eligible renewable technologies include wind, solar, biomass and hydroelectric. The impact of this impractical legislation can be seen by showing its effect on a utility like Minnesota Power, which serves northeastern Minnesota.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
Stearns County residents should attend an important public hearing Tuesday to express their questions and concerns about large-scale wind turbine projects, the tax dollars that subsidize them, and their possible detrimental impacts on people, animals and the environment.
Also filed under [
General]
Wind companies argue that the newer generation of turbines is quieter, but you can't capture the wind with 270 foot diameter blades chopping through a two acre vertical air space without disturbing the air, i.e., generating audible and inaudible noise.
Also filed under [
Impact on People]
Outside of manufacturing, wind jobs are not so much in demand. One example: on the new Prairie Wind development near Minot, N.D., there are 77 turbines but the project requires just eight operations and maintenance employees, or about one for every 14 megawatts. As a job-creator, wind proponents themselves admit that coal plants put many more people to work.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy]
Then I got hit over the head. I was reading the New York Times and came upon an article about multiple lawsuits against wind farms all over the United States because of health concerns, and I said to myself, "What health concerns?" Three hours of intense Internet research later, I was shocked.
Also filed under [
Impact on People]
But with no energy policy, the future for wind, solar and other energy technologies depends, to a certain degree, on how well those interests can work the halls of Congress.
To date, things aren't going so well in this department.
My husband and I were contacted by National Wind and the AWA Goodhue Wind project late, too. ...they wanted us to sign a wind lease contract for a minimal amount to compensate us for having the wind turbine close to our home. We decided there was not a good reason to sign away our land rights for 20, 30 or possibly 50 years for any amount of money, let alone a pittance. The two representatives from National Wind came to our house twice. We had many questions and never felt like we got answers to those questions.
Also filed under [
Impact on Landscape|
Impact on People]
Rural, suburban or urban, headlines across Central and southern Minnesota show that as much as some Minnesotans want to harness the renewable power of wind, others are decidedly in the NIMBY camp.
What's the answer? There isn't one. At least a one-size-fits all answer.
However, as a starting point, the Legislature should make it a higher priority to update the state's setback requirements on wind-energy systems.
Also filed under [
Impact on Landscape|
Impact on People]
Before the general public knew about the wind project that was supposed to be community based, several large landowners had been approached in secret, and significant acreage was placed under easement. Next, members of the community were invited to "invest" in the project in increments of $10,000, with the caveat that it was possible for the investment to disappear in its entirety if the project does not go through.
Also filed under [
General]
It figures to be a doozy, pitting neighbor against neighbor in a debate over the economic, environmental and social impact of a giant wind farm that would turn 32,000 acres of the county's densely populated farmland into a Don Quixote-like landscape dotted with 400-foot tall wind turbines, capped by rotors the size of football fields.
As many area residents are aware, there is a plan for a wind energy conversion project being proposed in Goodhue County. ...Some residents have asked for my position on the wind energy proposal. I personally have no problem with expanding alternative energy sources. However, I would suggest the move toward these sources should be directed by technological advances as opposed to our current mandates.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
For those of you affected by the wind turbine debate taking place in Goodhue County, I thought I'd provide an update on the issue.
What you need to know is this: Goodhue County can -legally according to the Public Utilities Commission - zone wind turbine projects and provide setbacks without taking over the costly permitting and inspection process.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
The Feb. 22 Your Turn "We need lasting energy plan" offers more smoke than wind when it suggests we can harness the erratic "wind that is literally passing us by to create the true clean energy economy." It is delusional to think wind can replace base load coal and nuclear power.
Also filed under [
General]
‘Symbolic' wind turbines generating more P.R. than power
March 4, 2010 in Breitbart's Big Governmentg
March 4, 2010 in Breitbart's Big Governmentg
Now that most of twelve California wind turbines retrofitted for Minnesota winters are finally operational, several cities have acknowledged to the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota that the $5 million project may be more suited for generating PR-both good and bad-than producing significant quantities of power.
Also filed under [
General]
I am writing to dispel misinformation presented as fact by a representative of Farm Bureau Insurance to Goodhue County officials on the behalf of 484 families that belong to Goodhue County Farm Bureau.
That letter is untrue and not endorsed by all those members. In fact, they are almost entirely unaware of this representation.
Also filed under [
Impact on People]
In Minnesota, the wind is blowing but turbines aren't turning. The machines, bought used from California and installed last fall, are completely frozen in place. Even on the windiest days, the blades sit at a standstill, producing no power. Why should anyone care? The problem highlights some of the less intuitive challenges associated with wind power - long considered to be the most feasible and cost effective source of renewable energy.
Also filed under [
Structural Failure]
Considering the wind farm(s) projected for Goodhue County, many are concerned for surrounding areas, the affects of sound, flickering reflections, killing of birds, human and wild life habitat, erosion of soil, etc.
After attending meetings of the county commissioners where some issues were addressed I checked with some in the foot print of existing farms.
Also filed under [
General]
You are responsible for protecting the public, and that includes protecting us against possible terrorist attack on the nuclear plant (radar clutter.)
Public opinion is turning against wind farms as more information is becoming available. We can't let them in when information is just now coming into public view and scrutiny.
Also filed under [
General]
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