The Spectacle Blog
Big Implications for Wind Energy
Some media organizations are doing stories this week about the Cape Wind energy project, which for so long was opposed by Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Some media organizations are doing stories this week about the Cape Wind energy project, which for so long was opposed by Sen. Ted Kennedy. The Washington Times reported yesterday:
After nine years in the government regulatory mill, backers of the Cape Wind project off the shores of Massachusetts’ Cape Cod will learn by April 30 whether [President] Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will let them proceed, with potentially far-reaching consequences for the industry if the project is quashed.
Mark Rodgers, spokesman for Cape Wind developer Energy Management Inc. of Boston, said that the project is being closely watched because it is the first of its kind in the United States, with a number of other projects being eyed along the Atlantic coastline. Given the length of the regulatory approval process, it will likely be the only one built during the Obama administration.
“If it doesn’t get approved, it will have a big impact,” said Mr. Rodgers.
Beyond being a setback for the industry, Mr. Rodgers said a rejection by the administration will be “a real market signal.”
“Stakeholder investors will really be looking to see what’s happening,” he said.
In other words, if you can’t get a turbine farm approved where there is some of the most consistent wind in the nation, then where can you build one? Even so, as the Institute for Energy Research explains in this excellent video (below also), one productive (by wind energy standards) Cape Wind still does not come close to the energy generation of a single offshore natural gas platform (appropriately placed, of course). IER also addresses the NIMBY concerns and pollution potential for both energy sources as well, while also revealing the truth about the president’s recent announcement about offshore oil and gas exploration:
View all comments (15) | Leave a comment
Related Blog Posts
More Blog Posts by Paul Chesser
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/04/20/big-implications-for-wind-ener
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- The Great Train Robbery
- Screwtape Talks Turkey
- Wincing at Cumberbatch
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
H/T to National Review Online
ADVERTISEMENT
BigPicture| 4.20.10 @ 4:19PM
Just FYI the Institute for Energy Research, or IER is funded by the fossil fuel industry to drum up concerns and doubts about climate change and renewable energy. Their videos and "studies" can not be sites as an accurate or unbiased source.
Ken (Old Texican)| 4.20.10 @ 5:02PM
Big picture
You are an idiot.
It is the "energy industry" doofus! They will try to earn a buck off of any energy source, wind included.
It is the Obamites and goreites who want you to stay home, shut up, and freeze or sweat depending upon the weather....while they manufacture windmills in China.
Dumbbunnie.
Bob the Engineer| 4.20.10 @ 5:08PM
If the libs in Mass can block a wind farm there, then why should any other areas accept them. I lived with wind energy in California and it caused a lot of damage and extra costs. When the wind died line voltages dropped and produced "brown-out" conditions. All the Microwaves on our street burned out within six years. My AA at work fried its mother board resulting in the cost to replace it and also for a UPS to prevent it happening again. Wind energy may have some niche applications but it by itself will never supply a large power grid.
Ridgekeeper | 4.20.10 @ 5:28PM
All people who think commercial wind power works should plan on a hospital powered by wind and be on a ventilator. What the heck do you think happens when the wind stops blowing? NO POWER. Or what if you have to wait until a back-up plant ramps up to give back up power?
We need wind power in our renewable mix like we need twinkies in our diet!
Look at Colorado. Their have more carbon emissions with wind because coal plants have to ramp up and down to supply back up power! And that happens a lot!
And to take 1.5 MILLION of my tax dollars and use it on ONE turbine? I don't think so!
Wind power is a huge tax funded scam!
Curtis Rasmussen| 4.20.10 @ 7:34PM
Unreliable energy sources such as wind and solar require a backup conventional power plant. Since conventional plants take 2 to 3 days to ramp up for production, they never go offline, just in case.
Pay for renewable sources AND pay for conventional sources at the same time. Renewables do not eliminate conventional power.
Spoonman| 4.21.10 @ 8:22AM
It was not the liberals in Massachusetts who opposed the wind farm it was John Frances Kerry and Teddy Kennedy (aka, the swimmer) - they did not waat the windfarm to interfere with the views when out sailing or boating.
Tony in Central PA| 4.21.10 @ 9:04AM
There's a fair - sized wind farm near my home and at any given time, half the turbines are idle. I don't know whether this is due to maintenance issues or to prevent power dropoffs from being too significant.
This industry is yet another example of the liberal ideology over common sense battle going on in America. Wind energy might have application, but without any means of storing that energy, its fraught with problems. Its little, mundane realities like this that continually thwart the plans of ignorant ideologues.
Ross Kaminsky | 4.21.10 @ 9:07AM
An excellent but little-known example of the folly of wind power is Denmark.
Here's a little light reading for those of you who are interested:
www.aweo.org/ProblemWithWind.pdf
Melodie Burkett | 4.21.10 @ 6:10PM
Up here in good old Ontario we have been sucker punched by The Green Energy Act! By our Premier of Ontario, the not very honourable, Dalton McGuinty. This ACT removes all input at municipal level! Over 50 Counties are protesting at Queen's Park in Toronto on April 28th.
We are shocked and flabbergasted at this blatant fascism and criminal lack of research by our own elected officials of the European experience!
The politicians on both sides of the border thought they could win favor by appearing GREEN, without doing any homework, just took the word of the carpetbaggers with their fancy brochures full of lies. Talk about the boondoogle of North America! I will push to secede from Ontario rather than allow our health, homes and wildlife to suffer this madness! North America STAND UP AND BE HEARD...........Enough of this nonsense!
Ruffie | 4.21.10 @ 8:50PM
Wind turbines are for the naive and gullible forced upon rural Canada and U.S. by incompetent politicians showing a total disregard for due diligence. The cost of this futile excuse for power generation will go a long way to bankrupting both countries .
Heather Hunter | 4.22.10 @ 12:47PM
The windfarm slated for lake Ontario is just another way to make Hydro executives richer and politicians popular under the 'green banner'. Conservation, the best way to keep our environment clean, doesn't provide good photo ops or profit for politicians and corporations interested in profiteering from the is big new industry. Politicians don't do their homework; they just hop on any new bandwagon that they perceive to be popular or a way to get re-elected to their positions of priviledge and power. They are not representing the people who are truly concerned, who have to live near these monstrosities, who can't afford to live where the politicians and executives live, far from turbines. It is time to expose this fraud for what it is. Speak up and stop these greedy madmen from ruining the beauty and safety of the natural environment. Citizens must stop being so naive and complacent. Let's stand up and be heard and vote these guys out of office and protect our environment for generations to come.
Heather Hunter
Toronto, ON
Dofus kamas | 4.28.10 @ 3:04AM
whether Dofus kamas you know it dofus kamas or not