Letter to the Editor Defends Wind Energy Project
Welcome to our letters to the editor/opinion section. To submit yours for consideration, please send to [email protected]. Please consider including an image to be used–either a photograph of you or something applicable to the letter. However, an image is not necessary for publication. Remember opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of Redheaded Blackbelt nor have we checked them for accuracy.
The Climate won’t wait.
I am incredibly disheartened at the short-sighted view of my beloved Humboldt community in their response to the Terra-Gen wind project. As I have said before we seem to have lost sight of the need to ‘Think Globally, Act Locally’. We have, in the past, showed a consciousness that included more than our own, local, immediate benefits vs long-term, broad-based benefits.
Some of these fears and arguments are only based on speculation and ignorance of certain facts. All electricity generated on large scale (and home solar intertie systems) in Humboldt goes on the grid. That’s how the system is set up. Still, the elctrons/electric power is drawn off at the first point that needs it so, if Humboldt needs it, Humboldt gets it.
Some arguments say the jobs will all go to folks from out of the area. But the local Union they have signed with has it in the contract that it will be local folk who get those Union jobs. And any out of town workers will have to find lodging, food and other services locally which might also prove a boon to the local economy.
Some are concerned about the impact on local wildlife, particularly birds, but even down to worms. These are not as dire as imagined and nothing compared to the extinctions and changes already happening and likely to increase annually as a result of the changing cimate and pollution and loss of habitat on an even larger scale. *1
Some are concerned because of how it will impact the view. I have nothing to say to this except ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. I hate how clear cuts look. Nor do I like the way large active, natural landslides look.
Some feel that a company with investors who do things they don’t like, or enough money to do a large project like this are evil by nature and that we should not support even the good things they do. I agree with Mohandas Gandhi’s outlook –
“Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation and a wicked deed disapprobation, the doer of the deed, whether good or wicked, always deserves respect or pity as the case may be. “Hate the sin and not the sinner” is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.”
If we don’t encourage investment in good projects we lose the opportunity.
Some feel it is insignificant in the larger picture. But there is no one giant project that is going to solve our global climate problem, our global pollution problem. If you believe in recycling, if you believe in personal actions, you must believe it will take many small actions to add up to make a difference. If we and other communities do not allow these ‘small’ projects there will be nothing to add up.
Many feel that the impact on a sacred place is too great, but they may not realize that the impact on indigenous peoples and other sacred places is already too great all around the world as a result of pollution and our changing climate. And all places, sacred and otherwise, will be impacted in the future if we do not act now. *2
Some feel that the impact and the disturbance of the construction on the community will be too much to bear. It will be a pain, and difficult. I am personally living in the middle of a major road project that has impacted my community for 4 years now and at least another year to go. I know of what you fear. It is a major inconvenience and sometimes directly negative impact on us here. But we will survive it. Not the same as losing your home and forests and wildlife to major fires exacerbated by our changing climate.
Some dismiss wind turbines as a poor source of alternative power compared to solar. The facts just don’t bear this out, and these technologies (all of them) are improving all the time. In the 30 year life span of the Terra-Gen turbines replacements could be invented that make the next phase even better. *3
People are going to use electricity. They are going to take the land and use the energy and materials and fuel to build plants to generate it and some of them will make greenhouse gases and spew out pollution using non-renewable fuels every minute of every day thereafter. Others won’t. I prefer those that don’t.
As I have always felt, this is not a perfect project… but there ARE NO perfect projects. But it is a good one and one we, in Humboldt, could and should support for the future of our community and for the world. There isn’t time to waste waiting for a ‘perfect’ solution and there will never be a solution that pleases everyone.
Dottie Simmons, Dinsmore
These references are only a small sampling of those available from reliable sources.
*1 https://www.ucsusa.org/
resources/environmental- impacts-wind-power *2 https://toolkit.climate.
gov/regions/alaska-and-arctic/ arctic-peoples-and-ecosystems. ( one thing from this article to note – 31 Arctic villages in need to relocate due to climate change impact) https://intercontinentalcry.
org/maasai-culture-threatened- extinction-climate-change/ https://www.smithsonianmag.
com/smart-news/five-landmarks- threatened-climate-change- 180959248/ *3 https://greenfuture.io/
solar/wind-vs-solar-energy
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
Someone wise once told me, “perfection is a trap”.
I truly hope the board of supes approve this project.
Deflect & deny is all Terra Gen knows how to do!!!!
I for one at least hope so as well!!! This project is NOT what it says it is at all!!! It will not provide more elctricity to the region it all goes straight to the Grid” then if we’re lucky we may get some of it back!!!
Dan F – we get our power from the “Grid” – where is it supposed to go?
According to Terra Gen it’s supposed to stay right here in this County!!!
If my solar panels produce more power than what my house is currently consuming at that given moment, then that excess energy goes into the grid. The very next house on the power lines receives that energy (if they have a demand for it), and so on and so forth. That is how electricity works. It doesn’t leave the area.
The real argument here is not about whether or not windmills make electricity, kill birds, cause a pain in the ass with their construction, noise and denial of useful land space to animals and people. We know they do those things.
The real argument in my mind is why out of all the people on here who think they are so smart can’t see the benefits of putting them OFFSHORE. They would be out of sight and mind, not killing our rapidly disappearing wildlife to nearly the extent that onshore shows do. You could put as many as you wanted to out there, and our port would boom with the support operations needed for construction and maintenance.
That means jobs, way more jobs than the shitshow that is proposed. Probably enough jobs to supply the displaced fishermen with a pretty good living. Their days are numbered anyway.
There are problems with your idea. Like, getting the power to shore. Hi voltage copper electric lines laying in the ocean. Do you think anyone would have a problem with that? Nah probably not.
The only problem with that is – who is going to pay for it and who wants to deal with the fools of Humboldt after these shenanigans?
Just go off-grid, cut your electrical consumption by 90% and never look back. Grid intertie is a waste of money, an excuse to use more electricity and is of no use when the grid goes down. Instead of “thinking globally & acting locally” it may be better to “think locally and act locally”. If we all do this, then the globe will take care of itself.
None of these projects would be necessary if we all lived “off-grid”. I don’t mean off-grid and continuing to consume the amount of power that is done presently, but cutting consumption by 90%. I’ve been living this way for the past 18 years. One way to cut consumption is to use the power when the sun shines or the wind is blowing, not when it isn’t. Like doing laundry in late morning, not late at night. Less storage capacity is needed that way. Humans as well as every other species evolved to function within nature’s cycles, not modify nature to suit an artificial civilization.
I respect your opinion , but lets not spread false information about Grid-Tied systems.
The fact is a grid-tie system is a safer investment that the stock market – its a 100% guarantee return investment for as long as you live in your home.
And depending on your Grid-Tie inverter, you can use some of the electricity you produce during a grid shut-down, look @ the SMA inverter line with their secure power supply.
Look at the project, look at where they want to build it, look at the Supervisor who endorsed it, and look at the way the Terra Gen people are trying to ram it down everyone’s throats… The sales job alone is enough to make anyone suspicious, and the whole project is unpalatable.
Terra Gen is lying to you, they want to make some money, but you are not hearing a true story. The environmental sins are enough in themselves, but the whole project is too big, too much, and in the wrong place. Too many people are getting their pockets full, and the promises being made are too outrageous.
Crooked politicians aside, the Terra Gen people are smarmy, and untruthful, and I have seen liars and con men scour small communities before!
Don’t believe them, what they propose is not good for the county or good for the community. Join me and the mayor of Rio Dell in protesting this project, and notify your supervisor that you oppose it.
“All electricity generated on large scale (and home solar intertie systems) in Humboldt goes on the grid. That’s how the system is set up.” Yes, that it is. One question to ask is should that be the way it is.
“The Climate won’t wait.” And it won’t be saved by this project either. Certainly not by taking the time to decide if it is the best solution for the future. These massive machines have such a short life span- 20 to 25 years. Then they must be replaced. Not repaired- replaced with the blades having already needed replacement.
The short sighted idea is to sacrifice the land to short term goals to allow people to keep buying automated window blinds, remote access door cameras, robotic assembly lines, electronic toys, seat warmers in cars, endless selfies, tropical vacation flights and my favorite insanity, drivingbtheir cars to a gym to use an electric powered treadmill instead of simply running or climbing the stairs. If the public were serious about this issue rather than simply wanting someone else to make them feel better, they wouldn’t be so eager for all the things made in the most polluting country in the world- China- shipped here using highly polluting massive container ships.
Today’s solar panels too will be obsolete in 20-25 years and will need to be replaced, does that mean we should not go solar because they will not last forever?
I see the blades easily becoming a new industry in the world of billet parts for things like motorcycles, cars, etc. They are able to be re-used, re-purposed, recycled.
With Humboldt energy needs increasing each year, you prefer to import more energy into the area instead of harnessing our own?
Obsolete? Probably not. The industry standard is 80% output over 25 years. The first panel built by Bell Labs in the 50’s is still producing.
The big problem with PV is the resource extraction needed for panel production.
https://kymkemp.com/2019/12/14/get-some-free-compost-for-your-garden-from-the-city-of-fortuna-next-week/
thoughts?
About treated human waste as compost? Wheat production in areas nearly doubled when they started using municipal waste as cheap fertilizer.
sounds like a gluten intolerance boondoggle
20 years ago the biggest solar panel you could buy was a 100W, today you can buy 400W modules.
I think the systems being installed today, will be replaced with better systems before turning 30 years old.
Just an opinion and not forcing anyone to agree with it.
Seriously, how many older back to the land systems do you see anymore, not enough!!
A household that can run off of a couple old Arco panels and a pair of batteries, now that is something I fond. But most of those have been replaced.
Panel wattage is simply a matter of surface area. Panels put out about 15watts per square foot and that is only a moderate improvement over the last 25 years. They are about 27% efficient compared to 22-25%.
The 2 big improvements with PV is low light production and MPPT with charge controllers.
A solar panel may cost under $200, can be installed by almost anyone as a replacement. They certainly will not be replaced all at one time being that they are scattered all over and at different stages in their life.
These wind turbines cost millions, can not be replaced without new footing, all will reach the end of their life time in one fell swoop (unless their owners play fast and loose with safety as has most utilities in the US already .) The sheer scale of the machines means massive disposal problems. The cost of this will likely be unprofitable without the government subsidies that create the profit now. That means that replacementvwill be questionable.
It’s not all good and leaving the issues to be resolved later is not a good idea.
I liked the headlines yesterday: Hippies March Against Alternative Energy!
dear Dottie, take a drive out the Wildcat, up from Ferndale and out towards Petrolia. The ridges are raptors paradise, many hawks, falcon, owls, eagles and all attending birds. Birds fly from coastal Oregon towards the furthest point west in the continental U.S., Cape Mendocino. It is still a fine wild spot, thanks to good land stewards. Our family cherished each and every sighting on our journeys towards town and we always saw at least one . The impacts of these killing machines would be there long after the 30 or 40 years of use. etc. etc. etc.
Wind farms and nuclear power stations are responsible each for between 0.3 and 0.4 fatalities per gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity while fossil-fuelled power stations are responsible for about 5.2 fatalities per GWh
In other words, for every one bird killed by a wind turbine, nuclear and fossil fuel powered plants killed 2,118 birds.
The bullshit opinion article you took that quote from fails to explain how natural gas or nuclear plants kill any birds at all. If it it by way of carbon emissions, then the major flaw with that opinion is that they are only considering the birds killed directly by wind turbine collisions, and not those killed by the carbon emissions required to manufacture, construct, and decommission a wind turbine project, and since many wind turbine projects never become carbon neutral in their service life, wind turbines.
But why are we being offered a false choice between the lessor of two evils? It would seem that barring any sudden advancements in thorium or other reactor technology, reducing consumption of energy is the only viable solution to carbon pollution.
you can read the article and the studies it was based from here:
https://phys.org/news/2017-06-farms-bird-slayers-theyre-behere.html
Yes that is the article. I admit I skimmed it. Can you show me where they explain how natural gas, coal or nuclear plants kill birds?
Not in the abstract of the study cited either.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1943815X.2012.746993
Oil spills. Pipeline leaks, tanker incidents, well blowouts (remember deepwater horizon? A million birds killed during the immediate incident alone…), etc.
Destruction of habitat. Coal, in particular, is often mined in ways that utterly destroy the surface of the planet. Oil fields aren’t exactly friendly to birds either.
Pollution. Lots of pollution.
Toxic waste and byproducts.
Warming of bodies of water, although that mostly kills fish.
Roads, transmission lines, and all the other things common between all power sources.
The quote above (“The study estimates that wind farms and nuclear power stations are responsible each for between 0.3 and 0.4 fatalities per gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity while fossil fueled power stations are responsible for about 5.2 fatalities per GWh.”) can be found at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960148112000857
The BLM estimates that about a million birds a year are killed just by landing in waste pits on oil fields:
https://abcbirds.org/article/actions-by-feds-cut-annual-bird-deaths-in-oil-and-gas-fields-by-half-saving-over-one-million-birds-from-grisly-death/
The article Sunny linked found that, on the whole, wind energy _saves_ birds, because it is less harmful than the energy sources it’s displacing. This agrees with the numbers found by many other studies.
But, no, this project is evil because it’s OUR birds in OUR backyard that might get killed, rather than someone else’s birds somewhere else in some other backyard which is perfectly OK.
I’ve pointed this out on several threads now, but the same people keep saying the same wrong things…
A billion birds are killed each year by WINDOWS. It’s a wonder that there are any birds left at all. And soon there won’t be.
The warming climate from fossil fuels will kill far more of your birds.
Birds may die from climate change, of which this single project alone will fail to address because power generation on the north coast is already fairly carbon neutral because 60% of power on the north coast is generated by the geysers. (Steam). There for this project will make more bird deaths, especially if you include mining the raw materials for the turbines, and loss of habitat for the project. Right idea, wrong location. Find a location more suitable and less ecologically and cultuaraly senstive..
It is so easy to accuse those who disagree with the TerraGen wind project of being shortsighted, even when so many of them have been on the front lines of environmental activism for decades. It is also easy to expect others who will be negatively impacted on a daily basis to suck it up for the greater good, when no one is asking for your personal sacrifice.
The Native Americans have sacrificed more than enough for the follies of White men, and they oppose this project. You have no right to ask those who will lose their dark skies to lights flashing all night long and will hear the constant noise of enormous blades turning in the wind for their sacrifice
of peace and quiet and starry nights.
What is shortsighted is to destroy these beautiful ridges, forests and prairies for something that only lasts 20 to 25 years until they must be replaced and has no guarantee of significantly reducing CO2 levels in the atmosphere. In the meantime they pose a very real increase of the threat of wildfire to our area. Look up wind generator caused fires to see what this looks like and just imagine how far and wide a 600 ft. tall wind generator will throw burning debris into the forest when it bursts into flame.
I speak as someone who is a 40 year resident of Humboldt Co., and who has, along with my husband, solarized 4 houses, 2 off-grid and 2 grid-tied. Our current grid-tied system with the recent addition of a super energy efficient heat pump heating/cooling system, will not only provide enough energy to run our home and power our electric car, but puts what we don’t use back into the grid to increase the amount of green energy available to our neighbors. When we had off grid solar and hydro that frequently produced way more than we could use, the extra was just wasted.
I have studied this project and I vote NO, not this project and not on our fragile ridges!
Yea, c’mon Wiyots, you just need to make another small sacrifice for our industrialized society.
Yea, c’mon veterans and others who rely on dark skies for your mental health, you need to make one more sacrifice for the sick society who put you in harm’s way for nothing.
Yea, c’mon marbled murrelet you’re down to your last numbers but you can sacrifice a few more to the devastation you’ve already had to endure for humanity’s greed.
All this to power the air conditioners being installed throughout Humboldt county because of rising temperatures and to assuage the guilt for those who continue to drive their gas powered cars.
This is the wrong project in the wrong place.
Just say no to Terra-Gen.
🕯🌳Hmmmmmm Finally a debate. 👍🏽👁👁🎅☃️
Not much of a debate yet, just time spent disqualifing untruths.
Where?
“Some are concerned about the impact on local wildlife, particularly birds, but even down to worms. These are not as dire as imagined and nothing compared to the extinctions and changes already happening and likely to increase annually as a result of the changing cimate(sic) and pollution and loss of habitat on an even larger scale.”
Ok but that’s neither here nor there because this project will not be a net saving of carbon emissions, if you consider all the manufacturing and transportation of the components, carbon emissions from construction, and loss of carbon sink due to deforestation. And the EIR does not consider the deforestation to be “permanent” because in theory, the land will regenerate. Problem is that Terra-gen is not responsible for the removal of the massive concrete pads or remediation of the cleared land.
When asked when the project will become carbon neutral, Terra-gen responded with a general statement about return on energy input from wind turbine projects, this is not an answer. When pressed the spokesperson said she would have to get back to us. We’re still waiting.
“Ok but that’s neither here nor there because this project will not be a net saving of carbon emissions.”
– Can you show us an energy source that does have a net savings of carbon? humans are not carbon neutral. pulling up concrete pads isnt either.
You would rather import natural gas and burn it, instead of a renewable source being proposed, all the while Humboldt energy demands grow more and more each year?
Umm.. 60% of the North Coasts electricity is generated by geothermal from the Geyser power plants. Steam generation is carbon neutral. Also, Bill gates and other oil companies are working on a project to remove carbon from the air, and turn it into fuel additive.
“The Geysers meets the typical power needs of Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties, as well a portion of the power needs of Marin and Napa counties. In fact, The Geysers satisfies nearly 60 percent of the average electricity demand in the North Coast region from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border. The Geysers is one of the most reliable energy sources in California, delivering extremely high availability and on-line performance, and accounts for one-fifth of the green power produced in California.”
http://geysers.com/
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/21/carbon-engineering-co2-capture-backed-by-bill-gates-oil-companies.html
5.9% of california’s power is from geothermal, according to california. Amusingly, some of it is owned by… Terra-gen.
The output from geothermal plants will not be reduced because the wind farm is built. Its output will go to reducing output from fossil fuel plants.
You’ve made the same false claim about non-carbon-neutrality many times. I think at least a half dozen times now, often copied-and-pasted. You’ve been told you’re wrong even more times, by many people. You keep making it. I’ll be nice and assume it’s due to ignorance rather than malice…
Most studies of carbon payback found that, rather than not being carbon-neutral, wind is so beneficial that it’ll probably be carbon-neutral before the last turbine is even up and running, with payback times of 6 months to a year.
I like to use a simple argument for this that doesn’t require actual studies: Nothing costs less than the energy that was used to produce it or that is potentially available within it. In the first case, doing so would obviously be losing money, in the second case, if it contained more energy than its cost, it would be being used as a fuel source for profit. And, the carbon produced is directly tied to the energy used or liberated during production. Producing carbon is virtually always a result of energy. Since wind turbines produce quite a bit more electricity than could be bought with the same amount of money (i.e. they’re profitable to install), they must have produced less carbon during their construction than they will prevent being emitted by their operation.
Or you could google for actual studies.
The “massive” concrete pads are entirely inconsequential in terms of how much carbon-sequestering land they cover, especially since they’d be on grassland, not heavy forest. And most of the forest the transmission line will go through is third-growth at best. Also, and I’ve pointed this out to you before, every other power source also requires clearing lands and constructing transmission lines – these are not things unique to wind, and wind actually requires a lot less cleared land than other sources.
Electricity usage is going to keep going up, especially with the push towards electric cars and electric home heating. Installing natural gas heat is actually now illegal in some areas. Many of our current power plants are ready for retiring. We will be building new plants, with building new roads, clearings, and transmission lines. Let’s make sure they’re built for renewable sources instead of more fossil fuel.
47 turbines, 155 mw max @ 30% expected wind = approx 400,000 mw /year. That is what the MGM Grand in Vegas uses in a year, or the Symphony of the Seas (worlds biggest cruise ship) or 1/2 of a Boeing 747. Does it still sound like it will be saving the planet?
– Guarantee that all power generated will serve our area first and foremost.
– Guarantee that the project will allow Humboldt to avoid PSPS’s.
– Take responsibility for decommission and remediation of the site.
– Improve mitigations to environmental impact offered in the EIR.
– GIVE US A DETAILED REPORT EXPLAINING WHEN WE CAN EXPECT THE PROJECT BECOME CARBON NEUTRAL.
“Take responsibility for decommission and remediation of the site” beyond the selling off of the facilities.
How does one smuggle power to a different area code?
Please let us know how “they”will smuggle power out of the county.
These conspiracies are better than what you can get on Fox news.
In order to have a debate, you must present facts – not conspiracies.
Sunny says: “I respect your opinion , but lets not spread false information about Grid-Tied systems.
The fact is a grid-tie system is a safer investment that the stock market – its a 100% guarantee return investment for as long as you live in your home.
And depending on your Grid-Tie inverter, you can use some of the electricity you produce during a grid shut-down, look @ the SMA inverter line with their secure power supply.”
I said grid-tie is useless when the grid is down, you say that’s false because theoretically folks can have storage with their grid-tie systems, right? So, what percentage of grid-tie systems have significant battery back-up storage? By significant I mean equal to normal consumption by those folks? With a significant battery back-up to grid-intertie, your investment argument is diminished, as batteries need to be replaced within the life span of a system.
Can you verify that a grid-intertie property is a better investment than property in general? I suppose you mean investment over & above the cost to own property. How many of us reading here, myself included, even think about where to invest that “extra cash” over & above what it costs just to live? You must be one of the wind power project investors, it seems.
Solar panels are usually warranteed for 20-25 years–that’s not their expected life-span, as that’s still unknown because there is not a statistically significant number of worn-out panels yet, after more than 50 years.
Re-read my last sentence and then research please:
SMA inverter with their secure power supply
Just saying you CAN get power from a grid-tied system without batteries when the grid goes down.
Very limited. 2kVA if your panels are producing enough.
That is enough to keep a few freezers or refrigerators running aint it?
Maybe, maybe not. Without batteries, you’re limited to at most what the panels are currently capable of producing, which may well be less than needed for the startup surge of a compressor. And, of course, other then PSPSs, there’s a pretty high correlation between power failures and weather where your panels aren’t producing squat. It’s a clever feature, but I don’t think it’s as useful as some people think.
Former Student said: “Grid intertie is a waste of money”
Sunny says: Its a safer investment than the stock market – its a 100% guarantee return investment for as
long as you live in your home.
What I didnt say was I was rich or assumed you had extra cash to invest.
I agree it’s possible, but I contend most folks with grid-tie don’t have significant back-up because it’s not encouraged and it’s a lot more expensive to include.
If one is serious about the global issues, then grid-tie is just virtue signaling.
I have some old arco panels (obviously an evil plot – remember, it’s impossible for a large energy company to ever do anything good – at least according to some of the posts on here) that are pretty well worn-out… they act like they have a significant resistance in series with the output. The open-circuit voltage is normal, and the short-circuit current is pretty close to normal, but rather than the nice constant-current knee curve of a working panel, it’s more like the straight line of a resistor, with Vmpp being way lower than it should be, and a correspondingly low output. I also have some other old arco panels from a different batch that work fine. Both are heavily yellowed, so that’s not the difference between them. Over 35 years old now. I think it’s moisture corroding where the collectors connect to the silicon itself, or something.
Check the diodes.
The bypass diodes in a solar module are anti-parallel with the output, and no failure mode of them can explain the measurements of these panels. The usual failure of a bypass diode is a dead short, which causes the module open-circuit voltage to be zero or low.
A diode can fail closed. Your Voc will read normal but drop off as current is applied due to resistance in the circuit.
The diodes are not in series with the panel output. They can’t add resistance between the cells and the output. A partial short will pull down the Voc, a complete short will either short the entire panel (0V Voc) or short a series string within the panel (on larger panels) lowering the Voc by a whole integer fraction (usually 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4). A partial short will usually turn into a complete short fairly quickly due to heating the diode. An open diode will do nothing under normal test conditions, then show up as an abnormally high voltage drop and possible cell hotspotting in partial shading of multiple series panels.
In the past 50 years living in Humboldt I’ve only been hooked to the grid for 6 or 7 of them. I am familiar with kerosene, bow saws, generators, wringer washers, wood cookstoves, and every form of non-refrigerated food preservation. I am extremely familiar with conservation and elbow grease.
I am also familiar with ARCO, solarex, kyrocera, and several other PV panels as well as whisper wind turbines and micro-hydro. And batteries, car, marine, l-16s, Rolls and HUP. Solar hot water systems and woodstove hot water systems. And spring water pumping. And gardening. And livestock. It can be done. The most important ingredients to success are maintenance, education (to do the maintenance), conservation and elbow grease. And nothing lasts forever. Even the panels that last the longest lose efficiency over time. And battery life is only as good as the maintenance. This work keeps us healthy. Did I mention elbow grease?
However, we are not trying to power the MRI at the hospital or the water purification or pumping station for Eureka, or the phone system. Or the fire department. If we really want to keep our community afloat and healthy we have to think of the big picture.
Well said
and how many little pictures make up that big picture… the rural lifestyle is under attack along with a healthy diet without the endless propaganda of how and why humans are the problem.
we’ve always been the solution, it’s just getting the right foot forward early in every aspect of sustainable development and living.
JP Morgan wanted metered electricity so that he could profit, the manufacturing world changed so people could use electricity to make life easier for them and their families.
now the serf class, who had no part in single use packing, nor the restrictions on fuEl efficient cars, so that big businesses could continue to capitalize on the profits, while kicking the losses to the people.
keep telling the people they are the problem and see what the world looks like in 25 years.
Thank you Dottie,
Beautifully stated.
Some may be unfamiliar with our organization, CAVE, Citizens Against Virtually Everything.
As CAVERS, we strive to consistently oppose everything, and can talk out both sides of our mouths to demonstrate that opposition.
It’s not easy!
We’re against the tide,whether it’s ebbing or flowing.
Think Globally, Act Locally? That bumper sticker mentality assumes we can do both while we can do neither! We’re CAVE! Stop everything! Immediately!
that’s how I vote. if a proposition is murky and not absolutely clear, it’s a big NO.
THE GOVERNMENT IS REAL GOOD AT SAYING NO, OR GIVE YOU UNENDING HOOPS TO JUMP THROUGH TO GET A CHANCE AT MAYBE.
the power of money is so hard to ignore , and the environment and the voiceless get to deal with the fall out
I sure wish C.A.V.E. was around when it was decided that Nuclear Power was safe and the energy of the future. The lost lives and the people still sick with cancer would have appreciated them too!!!
Remember, we have the knowledge and technology to research and decide if this is truly a safe form of energy to move forward with. Just check the past and recent history of this energy source. Then we can make a rational choice. We first need to look at any possible medical conditions that may have been created with the wind turbines.
Weigh the positives against the negatives and don’t let big business base their decision for you on the $$$ they can pocket. Real strange how this decision has to be made before the end of the year. Money Screams!!!
there is a successful lawsuit in Falmouth, MA over one of these things. the noise the blades give off apparently causes cancer. It is being taking down at the installers cost.
it’s the frequency of the blades that are affecting people and animals…people Animals getting sick in the midwest.
It’s been named vibroacoustic disease. High energy acoustic waves below the audible threshold. Similar to seasickness. And eventually causes tissue damage. Attempts have been made to use it for crowd control and weapons. http://en.friends-against-wind.org/health/infrasound-lfn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCJh03-BpG4 http://en.friends-against-wind.org/health/medical-testimony-of-dr-coussons
I am curious, as a sound engineer – What frequency is it that is being harmful to humans and wildlife?
“thunderous and thumping”
those were the winning words when the City of Falmouth MA decided to settled the 9 lawsuits. They are currently in the process of removing the 2 turbines that cost 10 million to install.
1-16-19 “FALMOUTH, MA – The Board of Selectmen voted this week to shut down two wind turbines operating within Falmouth. In the eight years since the first turbine went online, there have been nine lawsuits filed from abutters alleging health impacts due to the turbines.”
If you want to see what industrial wind turbines do to a rural community you can look at Arkwright, NY. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XckEZNECv0k
“I have never encountered a single person who said: “I used to be against wind energy. Now that I have done my homework and learned as much as I can about them, I support wind energy.” Never. Not once. On the contrary, this is a one-way street. Once you learn the facts, you can only be against wind energy — and you can never, ever be won back to the other side.” https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php
🕯🌳But still some interesting read ,great arguments. 👍🏽🖖
If ten local wind projects were proposed, nine with few impacts and one with major impacts, I would support every one. If said projects produced ten times the power locals consume, I would support every project. We are about to lose it all. The experts say we have a decade to make massive change, per the IPCC report. We are about to lose it all.
here is our closed landfill.
here is a closed landfill in MA.
same with the airport. ours.
an airport of similar size for comparison in MA.