CWW posterous

The film begins, as Ms. Israel herself did, with a rosy picture of wind generation. But the whole business of wind farming is portrayed more and more negatively as the movie progresses. There is the physical downside — the risk of “ice throw” from turbine blades, the light flicker, bat mortality, the accidents, the noise. There is the financial downside, a depiction of the way big institutions harvest depreciation allowances and other public money as they harvest wind. There is the legal/moral downside — the pressure brought to bear on townspeople to stifle opposition.

Much of the motivation for encouraging the turbine development was to save local farms, since dairying had become unprofitable. Much of the opposition came from people who made their money elsewhere and had come to Meredith as a retreat. The wind farm supporters wanted an income; the opponents wanted a lifestyle. Read more at www.mvgazette.com

Offshore wind turbines subject of Erie hearing

Two Erie-area state lawmakers are exploring the idea of offshore wind turbines located in Lake Erie.

Monday's public hearing was hosted by Republican state Sens. Jane Earll, of Fairview Township, and Mary Jo White, of Franklin.

The Erie Times-News says officials from state and federal agencies that would regulate the wind farms testified, as did those from businesses who would like to build the farms. Erie-area residents and environmentalists who oppose or are at least concerned about such plans also testified. Read more at pottsmerc.com

The New York State Senate on Tuesday passed legislation sponsored by Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, to create a new, permanent program called “Recharge NY,” that would provide low-cost power to help businesses create and retain jobs.

“The passage of this legislation will enable more businesses across New York to access cheap electricity to create jobs,” said Maziarz, who is chairman of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee. “The program has been renewed on an annual basis for several years, but we’ve needed a permanent solution so businesses can plot their growth. The passage of this legislation ensures that businesses across New York will have the stability needed to plan long-term.”

The discount would be reduced to $70 million in 2014, $50 million in 2015 and $30 million in 2016 and beyond. This phase out would be offset by savings from the scheduled expiration of the electric utility surcharge passed by Senate Democrats in 2009, as well as costs paid by NYPA through a combination of hydroelectric power and other resources. Read more at thedailynewsonline.com

FALMOUTH, Mass. — Standing on his home’s porch, Neil Anderson points through the thicket of trees in his front yard and across Blacksmith Shop Road towards one of his closest neighbors: A wind turbine.

“Right now we are 1,320 feet, which is one-quarter mile south of Wind One, which is Falmouth’s first wind turbine. It’s been online since April. And we’ve been trying to get it stopped since April,” Anderson says.

Wind One, as the turbine is officially called, is owned by the town of Falmouth and is located at the town’s wastewater treatment plant, where it stands 262 feet tall to the turbine’s hub. That’s about 10 feet taller than the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown. The blades extend just shy of 400 feet, which is about half the height of the John Hancock Building in Boston. Read more at climatide.wgbh.org

The first is the pretence that turbines are anything other than ludicrously inefficient.

The second great lie about wind power is the pretence that it is not a preposterously expensive way to produce electricity. No one would dream of building wind turbines unless they were guaranteed a huge government subsidy.

The third great lie of the wind propagandists is that this industry is somehow making a vital contribution to 'saving the planet' by cutting our emissions of CO2.

In Spain, their rush for wind and solar power has proved a national disaster. In Germany, having built more turbines than any other country in the world, they are now building new coal-fired stations like crazy.

In Holland, meanwhile, they have now given two fingers to the EU by slashing all their renewables subsidies.

Only in Britain is our political class still so imprisoned in its infatuation with wind that it is prepared to court this dangerously misguided pipedream. Read more at www.dailymail.co.uk

The second-largest utility in Massachusetts has agreed to buy electricity from three wind power companies to help it meet renewable power mandates, but it won't be buying from a high-profile wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod.

Cape Wind, the nation's first offshore wind farm, is still trying to find a buyer for half its power. It agreed last year to a 15-year deal to sell the first half to National Grid starting at 18.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, and increasing 3.5 percent annually.

If Cape Wind doesn't sell the rest of its power within the next several months, it may be forced to move ahead with a project smaller than the 130-turbine, 468-megawatt wind farm planned in Nantucket Sound. Read more at www.delawareonline.com

All future wind turbine debates will be moot if a citizens petition article passes at town meeting in May.

One of three citizen-inspired articles on the draft warrant dealing with turbines, Article 40 would amend the board of selectmen’s authorization to negotiate with the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative to “not site any Medium-Scale Wind Energy Turbine or Large-Scale Wind Energy Turbine within 1.2 miles of the nearest residence.”

Another citizens petition (draft Article 41) would amend the town code for noise. The article is similar to draft Article 29 proposed by the board of selectmen. Both amend Chapter 125 of the town code, but the citizens’ article says “any person or entity shall be deemed in violation of this chapter,” as opposed to just “any person” in the selectmen’s version.

The third citizens article dealing with turbines is essentially the same as one proposed by the selectmen, draft number 25, that revokes the authorization to develop the Barrows property, which consists of three lots off Freeman’s Way, for renewable energy. Read more at www.wickedlocal.com

FREDERICTON — A $200-million wind farm in northern New Brunswick is frozen solid, cutting off a potential supply of renewable energy for NB Power.

The 25-kilometre stretch of wind turbines, located 70 kilometres northwest of Bathurst, N.B. has been completely shutdown for several weeks due to heavy ice covering the blades.

GDF SUEZ Energy, the company that owns and operates the site, is working to return the windmills to working order, a spokeswoman says.

But with energy market prices changing constantly, she says there’s no way to know if NB Power is paying more or less for replacement power. Read more at www.nationalpost.com

It is a medical fact that sleep disturbance and perceived stress result in ill effects, including and especially cardiovascular disease, but also chronic feelings of depression, anger, helplessness, and, in the aggregate, the banishment of happiness and reduced quality of life.

Cardiovascular disease, as we all now, leads to reduced life expectancy. Try and get reasonably priced life insurance if you are hypertensive or have suffered a heart attack.

If industrial wind turbines installed in close proximity to human habitation result in sleep disturbance and stress, then it follows as surely as day follows night that wind turbines will, over the long term, result in these serious health effects and reduced quality of life.

In my investigation of Mars Hill, Maine, 22 out of about 30 adults (‘exposed’) who live within 3500 feet of a ridgeline arrangement of 28 1.5 MW wind turbines were evaluated to date, and compared with 27 people of otherwise similar age and occupation living about 3 miles away (Not Exposed). Read more at www.wind-watch.org

Energy Minister Charles Hendry told MPs governments had spent £2.2 billion supporting wind power over eight years - and it was impossible to predict when the energy source would prove profitable without grants.

And he said estimating how much more taxpayers' cash would be spent before wind power became economically viable was 'not feasible'.The Government has already pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020, and by 80 per cent by 2050.

The costs of switching to green power and transport would be covered by new environmental taxes and higher fuel bills. Read more at www.dailymail.co.uk