Quotes
Simon Parry and Ed Douglas
The reality is that, as Britain flaunts its environmental credentials by speckling its coastlines and unspoiled moors and mountains with thousands of wind turbines, it is contributing to a vast man-made lake of poison in northern China. This is the deadly and sinister side of the massively profitable rare-earths industry that the ‘green' companies profiting from the demand for wind turbines would prefer you knew nothing about.
Rupert Soames, chief executive of Aggreko
We may wish the replacement to be wind, we may wish the replacement to be tidal but wishing isn’t going to make it happen and I think you have responsibly to have a Plan B. We have to move on from the days of holding hands and singing Kumbaya to the great green God or believing that Scotland is going to be the centre of the universe for renewables.
Maurice Gunderson, senior partner at the venture capital firm CMEA Capital in San Francisco
Well-meaning voters and legislators come up with things like 33 percent renewables in California by 2020. Well, it sounds like a good idea, but you really have to be a utility geek to get into the details and realize that it simply cannot be done without storage.
Eli B. Martin
Fervent environmentalists are good at laughing off such complaints as trivial compared to the need to reduce our use of destructive fossil fuels. But this objection actually cuts to the heart of the issue of why we invest in wind energy. If our intent is to protect nature and the environment for future generations, then building massive turbines in some of the truly unspoiled areas left in the world makes little sense. In short, wind farms mar beautiful places but, as we have seen, do little to actually help save nature in the long run.
Bill Wilson, president for Americans for Limited Government
Whenever the government picks winner and losers by its choosing to fund various programs, in this case wind farms, taxpayers' money ends up wasted and more harm is done than good.
Richard D. Horonjeff
It is safe to say the scientific community does not know the exact sound exposure attributes that are causative to the health and welfare concerns of wind turbine sound. Until such time as a better scientific understanding of the cause / effect relationship becomes available, the margin of safety must include an uncertainty of estimation factor when using the A-weighted sound level, the C-weighted sound level, or combinations thereof.
Lorre Goldstein
The root problem is [Ontario Premier] McGuinty has set up an unfair legislative process for ramming industrial wind factories into rural communities, a stunt he would never have pulled in Toronto, if land-based wind factories were feasible in urban centres.
NJ State Senator Paul Sarlo
This is an unproven market here in New Jersey. We’re going to give (builders of the turbines) $100 million and raise rates. ... What if they build these farms and they don’t work?
David Newstead
It is commonly asserted by representatives from these companies that the high-tech Merlin SCADA system can shut down turbines when birds are approaching. The question though, is not CAN they, but WILL they? This morning, apparently, no.
Member of STOP (Stop Wind Turbines Here)
We're not NIMBY, we're NIABY. Not in anyone's back yard. Yes, global warming is a crisis, but let's stop interlocking capitalist directorates, both local and global, from invoking this crisis, which they actually have caused, to roll over ordinary people and animals.
Les Tlustos of Northwest Rural Public Power District
Presently, it is very difficult to make wind energy cost effective today even with the subsidies that now exist. ...When much of the subsidies come through the electric utility a disproportionate amount of the subsidies will be on the backs of the rural customers where the lowest quantity of the population live.
Homer Simpson
From now on the Simpsons are living... intermittently.
Linda Rogers
The national grid has power generated thousands of miles away from where it's being used, and that doesn't make sense. Small generation facilities near the point of delivery are more economical and environmentally friendly. The country needs power, but it's time to take a deep breath, step back and think logically instead of just throwing up power lines wherever you can throw money at it. Don't just do it, do it right.
Chris Dagenais
If this were strictly a utilities invoice saver, then this whole project wouldn't have made sense," said Dagenais. "It's a very expensive way to offset 25 per cent of our energy needs. Rather, the project is meant to demonstrate the viability of wind power.
George Bias
I'm devastated by this. All I want to see are hills, and all I want to hear are birds.
Michael Jefferson
“Too many developments are underperforming,” he said. “It’s because developers grossly exaggerate the potential. The subsidies make it viable for developers to put turbines on sites they would not touch if the money was not available.”
Sally Wylie
Imagine how you would feel if turbines were built in your neighborhood and suddenly you were forced into an unimaginable situation? There are so many families in Maine that are overwhelmed trying to deal with problems related to wind farms because the Maine state noise regulations are outdated and inappropriate for neighborhoods. I sincerely hope that you take the time to cover the whole story, not just for those of us who are struggling on Vinalhaven, but also for the many families in places such as Mars Hill.
R. Y. McMurtry M.D.
Unless and until appropriate studies are completed there should be a moratorium on further construction of wind farms. None of us should be indifferent to the plight of hundreds of rural Ontarians.
Mike Landis
Wind Capital Group claims its turbines don't make any more noise than a home refrigerator, but KQ2 returned three different times over the span of a week, we heard a much different story. The sound was the roar of the turbines filled the air, making Charlie's property sound more like an airport than a horse farm.
Matthew Huffine
Green does not, by definition, aid in the extinction of a species.