WIND POWER promises a clean and free source of electricity. It will reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels and reduce the output of greenhouse gases and other pollution. Many governments are therefore promoting the construction of vast wind "farms," encouraging private companies with generous subsidies and regulatory support, requiring utilities to buy from them, and setting up markets for the trade of "green credits" in addition to actual energy. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) aims to see 5% of our electricity produced by wind turbine in 2010. Energy companies are eagerly investing in wind power, finding the arrangement quite profitable.
A little research, however, reveals that wind power does not in fact live up to the claims made by its advocates, that its impact on the environment and people's lives is far from benign, and that with such a poor record and prospect the money spent on it could be much more effectively directed. . . .
. . . Click here to continue reading "A Problem With Wind Power," by Eric Rosenbloom
(featured in At Issue: What Energy Sources Should Be Pursued, Greenhaven Press, 2005,
and Opposing Viewpoints: Global Resources, Gale, 2007)
[ Links from "A Problem With Wind Power" ]
[ including many pages on this web site not listed below ]
D O N A T E
Learn the F A C T S about wind power
(click here)
O T H E R P A P E R S O N T H I S S I T E
"The low benefit of industrial wind," by Eric Rosenbloom
a brief summary of documents
(summary in html also available)
cited by the Blue Ribbon Panel on Development of Wind Turbine
Facilities in Coastal Waters, N.J., final report, April 2006)
featured in Opposing Viewpoints: Energy Alternatives, Greenhaven Press, 2006
"Not so fast with wind power," by Eric Rosenbloom
editorial: low benefit, high adverse impact
"Exploitation and destruction:
some things to know about industrial wind power,"
by Eric Rosenbloom
a social activist view
"Windmill farms are industrial development,"
by Martha Frey
a preservationist view
"Questioning the faith of wind power," by David Roberson
an environmentalist view
"Industrial wind, corporate vandalism," by Joanna Lake
a progressive view
"Big money discovers the tax breaks," by Glenn Schleede
a fiscal conservative view
"9 days and 7 wind farms," by Sue Sliwinski
a report of the human toll
"Free lunch or Damocles' sword?" by John Etherington
an analysis of big wind's minuscule benefit
"He is not an environmentalist," by Eric Rosenbloom
a critique of Charles Komanoff on wind
"Bluff and bluster," by Eric Rosenbloom
a response to critics
Bottom line: Industrial wind turbines do not reduce the use of other sources.
R E F E R E N C E P A G E S O N T H I S S I T E
Large wind projects in Vermont and vicinity
Technical specifications of common large wind turbines
Energy and other wind turbine units
Useful fact: Wind turbines produce at or above their average rate only 1/3 of the time.
O T H E R R E S O U R C E S
U.S. coalition of opposition groups
Country Guardian
the original British opposition group
"The Wayward Wind," by Jon Boone
incisive critique
Articles by Mark Duchamp
special attention to birds
Report by John Mollica
setback, icing, structural failure, noise
"The aesthetic dissonance of industrial wind machines," by Jon Boone
incisive critique of wind power's "aesthetic chic"
Articles by Nina Pierpont
vibroacoustic disease caused by industrial wind turbines
"An Ill Wind," by Nigel Barnes
extensive compilation of arguments
Useful fact: Wind power requires 200 acres per megawatt of output.
A F E W O P P O S I T I O N G R O U P S
Vermonters with Vision
affiliation of opposition groups
Ridge Protectors
Sheffield and Sutton, Vermont
Save Vermont Ridgelines
Searsburg, Readsboro, and Wilmington, Vermont
Kingdom Commons Group
northeastern Vermont
Glebe Mountain Group
Londonderry, Vermont
Green Berkshires
western Massachusetts, featuring articles by Eleanor Tillinghast
Counter Cape Wind
Massachusetts
War Against Wind
Osterville, Massachusetts
Eastham Wind Truth
Massachusetts
Wind Wise Fairhaven
Massachusetts
Living in New York
statewide portal and resources
Alliance for Bovina
New York
Springwater Preservation Committee
New York
Western Catskill Preservation Alliance
New York
WOW -- We Oppose Windfarms
New York
Save Western New York
Wethersfield
Wind Power Ethics Group
Cape Vincent, New York
Wind Power Toolkit (John Droz)
Adirondacks, New York
Save Jones Beach (SJB) Ad Hoc Committee
Long Island, New York
Save Western Ohio
Citizens for Responsible Windpower
Backbone ridge, West Virginia
Friends of Beautiful Pendleton County
West Virginia
Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy
West Virginia
Protect Pendleton
West Virginia
John R. Sweet
Virginia
Save Crystal Lake
Pennsylvania
Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie Heritage Foundation
Kansas
Protect the Flint Hills
Kansas
North Texas Wind Resistance
WINDCOWS -- Wisconsin Independent Citizens Opposing Windturbine Sites
Summit Ridge
Wisconsin
Coalición Pro Bosque Seco Ventanas Verraco
Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition
Ontario
CORT -- Coalition of Residents -- Tiny
Ontario
Healing the Earth
Ontario
Windfarm Action Group
Ontario
Coalición Pro Bosque Seco Ventanas Verraco
Puerto Rico
Cefn Croes
Wales, featuring horrifying photographs of the destruction
Betws Mountain Preservation Guide
Wales
Cynon Valley Protection Group
Wales
STILE -- Stop Turbines in Lunesdale Environment
England
FORCE -- Friends of Rural Cumbria's Environment
England
STINC -- Stop Turbines in North Cornwall
England
Habitat 21
England
Views of Scotland
Save Spurlens Rig
Fairwind
Ardnamurchan, Morvern, and Mull, Scotland
Molonglo Landscape Guardians
New South Wales, Australia
Vent du Bocage
France, featuring documentation of accidents
[for accidents, also see Caithness (Scotland) Windfarm Information Forum]
Groupe d'information sur les éoliennes (La Roche-en-Ardenne)
Belgium
Rassemblement Jura Crêtes
Switzerland
Useful fact: Wind turbine output is low, variable, and rarely coincides with demand.
T H E I N D U S T R Y
American Wind Energy Association
facilities in the U.S.
British Wind Energy Association
facilities in the U.K.
Danish Wind Industry Association
introductory technical guide, in English
U.S. Department of Energy
U.K. Department of Trade & Industry
Useful fact: Western Denmark used only 16% of its wind plant production in 2003.
N E W S & B L O G S
National Wind Watch (U.S. & international, with global and local feeds)
Warmwell (U.K.)
Out of Kirby Mountain (Vermont & beyond)
Blowing Our Tax Dollars on Wind Farms (Kincardine, Ontario)
