AAEA Supports Wind Power
Wiind power is emission free and is a great source of additional electrical power for the grid. We should interconnect as much wind power as possible in the U.S. to serve as supplemental power. The limitation of wind power is that no electricity is produced when the wind is not blowing. Thus, it cannot be used as a dependable source of base load power. Utilities and merchant generators will not invest huge sums of money into a technology that does not work when the wind is not blowing. Americans want the lights on when they flip the switch, no questions asked. Wind power will probably increase its market share when we develop a 'smart grid' that can handle multiple distributed generation input sources of electrical power.
The 1992 Wind Energy Production Tax Credit, initially 1.5 cent/kWh, adjusted to 1.8 cent/kWh, expired on December 31, 2003 and is included in the failed energy bill that will not be considered again until 2005. A one megawatt (1 MW) wind turbine can cost $2 million, about twice the cost of a coal or gas-fired power plant. Total wind capacity in the U.S. is currently 6,000 megawatts.
Environmentalists Oppose Wind Power (In the Real World)
Environmental groups generally support wind farms in theory because they are a clean source of power. But when plans are submitted to actually build them, environmentalists are first in line to delay and oppose construction. Unnecessary delays can kill private sector development projects. AAEA supports wind power as a supplemental source of electrical power and supports the projects described below. Traditional environmentalists will also oppose significant photovoltaic panel construction and installation because of open space concerns. We want our readers to know that AAEA loves solar and wind as supplemental sources of emission free electricity, but baseload electricity for America's grid will be provided by either coal or nuclear power because Americans still demand electricity on windless nights.
Three energy firms US Wind Force (Pittsburgh), Clipper Windpower Inc.(California), Winergy LLC (Shirley, N.Y) are seeking state and federal approvals to erect huge wind farms 3.5 miles off Ocean City, along a 10-mile stretch of mountains in Garrett County, Maryland and along a three-mile stretch of Big Savage Mountain in Allegany County. Winergy LLC has submitted plans to the Army Corps of Engineers to mount up to 350 towers on concrete platforms and anchor them in 60 feet of water across a 71-square-mile area of the Atlantic, roughly 3.5 miles off Ocean City. The wind turbines stand 300 feet high and have blades that reach more than 100 feet into the air as they spin. To meet federal aviation requirements, there are flashing lights on some of those towers. The projects will mean clean power, help cut back on foreign oil imports and bring jobs and taxes to Maryland.
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Winergy has announced plans for wind farms at 17 sites along the East Coast. One of its proposals, to erect 400 towers in the waters off Massachusetts near Nantucket Island, is being opposed by environmentalists, (self-interested, retired, comfortable, self-titled, neo-environmentalists--but aligned with "real" environmentalists) who say the project amounts to placing an industrial facility in a setting known for its natural beauty.
US Wind Force wants to build 25 wind turbines on some former strip mines southwest of Cumberland in Allegany County. The towers will range in height from 213 feet to 328 feet and each turbine generates enough power for 500 homes. Industry experts say that to succeed, a wind farm needs access to utility lines and average wind speeds in excess of 16 mph, which is more than enough to turn the 2-ton, 120-foot blades that power the turbines and produce the electricity. Wind power still needs baseload back up, which comes from nuclear or coal, on the grid for those times when the wind isn't blowing.
Environmental opponents say the towers - which will be visible from the Ocean City coastline and the shoreline of Deep Creek Lake - will pose a danger to birds and create an eyesore in some of Maryland's most scenic areas. Other environmental opponents, including Friends of Backbone Mountain, believe the Clipper Windpower Inc.'s 67 towers along Backbone Mountain will ruin the views for million-dollar homeowners along Deep Creek Lake. Bird enthusiasts believe the windmills will sacrifice the scenic beauty of Big Savage Mountain and will threaten golden eagles, and habitats for red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons.
The Maryland Public Service Commission and Maryland Energy Administration examined the proposals and addressed environmental concerns raised by opponents. After a series of public hearings, a 13-member panel appointed by the Somerset County commissioners determined that there was no need for more regulations because the facilities posed no major problems. They concluded that the wind facilities would be a tourist attraction. The Maryland Public Service Commission approved a permit for Clipper Windpower to build 67 turbines on Backbone Mountain. Synergics Wind Energy is waiting for approval to build 24 turbines on the same mountain.
Robert Kennedy Opposes Wind Power In His Backyard
A $700 million proposal by James Gordon, president of Cape Wind Associates, to erect 130 windmills in Nantucket Sound by 2005 is opposed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of America's best-known environmentalists. Kennedy, 49, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council is quoted in People magazine (March 24, 2003, p117-118): "You wouldn't put a wind farm in Yosemite," says Kennedy, The impact, he has claimed, would be "as enormous as anything imposed by the coal or nuclear industry." "I plead guilty," says Kennedy, "to trying to protect a place I love." Such comments have put him at odds with the NRDC. More
Wind Turbines Killing Migrating Birds
Just as the Age of Aquarius for the Woodstock nation ended at a Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, so might wind energy due to bird kills near the concert site. It has been estimated that about 45,000 birds (golden eagles, kestrels and red-tailed hawks) have been killed over the past twenty years by the whirling blades of wind turbines. The rows of spinning blades at Altamont Pass, east of San Francisco, turn wind into electricity, but they are killing many predatory birds whose annual migration route includes the pass. Past attempts to reduce bird kills have included painting the tips of turbine blades to try to make them more visible to birds and installing screens around generators. These measures have failed to substantially lower the number of bird deaths.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the area is home to the largest resident population of golden eagles in the lower 48 states. The bird deaths have led some environmental groups that support wind power to oppose permits for the Altamont site. They argue that enough birds are being killed to affect the resident population of golden eagles -- an average of 50 golden eagles are killed each year. In Alameda County, several environmental groups are trying to persuade the county to stop reissuing permits for the windmills without requiring additional environmental studies. The county zoning board approved permanent permits for 1,400 windmills in November, but Californians for Renewable Energy and the Center for Biological Diversity, are now opposing the permits.
Citing studies documenting deaths of golden eagles and other raptors in turbines at the Altamont Pass wind farm, the Center for Biological Diversity environmental organization filed suit in U.S. District Court in January 2004 against two major power companies operating in the pass 20 miles east of Oakland. The lawsuit, which seeks punitive and monetary damages, claims that FPL Group Inc. and NEG Micon — owners of more than half of the 5,400 turbines in Altamont — failed to take action to reduce bird deaths despite numerous reports detailing unusually high bird-kill rates in the pass, which is a major raptor migration route.
According to a 2001 report commissioned by the National Wind Coordinating Committee, an advocacy group funded by the industry, the controversy over bird kills has "delayed and even significantly contributed to blocking the development of some wind plants in the U.S." A debate is raging over a proposed 28-acre offshore wind farm off Cape Cod, with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) opposing the project because of environmental concerns. Robert Kennedy, attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, also opposes the project.
Bat kills are the latest big problem for wind farmers. Researchers restimate that 1,500 to 4,000 bats were killed at the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center in Western Maryland in 2004. This is raising concerns about an expansion of wind turbine use at Backbon Mountain in Maryland, where Clipper Windpower, Inc.of California is planning to build a project 20 miles away from the Mountaineer site. FPL Energy of Juno Beach, FL operates the largest wind farm in the U.S. and there have been significant bat kills there too.
Allegheny Mountain Enviros Oppose Windmills
Friends of the Allegheny Front (FOAF) is opposing current and proposed windmills along the Allegheny Front, one of the major routes for bird migration in Eastern North America. FOAF is opposing the NedPower project and the new Backbone Mountain wind project in Tucker County, owned by Florida Power and Light. It is estimated that 400 bats have been killed with a projection of 100,000 more possible kills per year. This largest bat kill in the world at a wind turbine facility is being used as one reason to oppose wind energy. The endangered Virginia big-eared bat is also known to use a cave that is approximately 2 miles from the proposed Allegheny Front windmills.
FOAF is forming a coalition with groups in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. A citizens group in Meyersdale, PA recently issued a letter announcing a possible lawsuit against a planned wind power project on a 2-mile long parth of ridgetop near Meyersdale. The letter, which ia prerequisite for legal action under the Endangered Species Act, states that the erection of turbines and operation of the facility pose an immediate threat to an endangered species, the Indiana bat.
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