The battle against wind generated power rages on. As I noted in these earlier postings on the topic, President Bush says our nation is "addicted" to foreign oil and that we must pull out all the stops in a quest for alternative energy. What could be better than harnessing the wind? We must all work together in this effort, right? Sure…
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The July 27 Union Leader carried an AP story about attempts to construct a commercially viable windfarm project in Yarmouth, Maine:
-Developers of a proposed windmill project on two western Maine mountains said yesterday that scaling back the project, as suggested by an environmental group, would doom their Redington Wind Farm plan.
What exactly do the environ-mentalists hope to achieve? How are their actions helping the environment? The Redington Wind Farm website tells us that the project as proposed will
- Prevent more than 800,000 pounds of pollution per day from existing power plants — equivalent to taking 26,000 cars off the road.
- Allow Maine customers to be the first to have an opportunity to buy the energy produced.
- Save the equivalent of 50,000 gallons of oil per day.
- Reduce emissions that cause global warming.
- Produce enough power for 40,000 Maine homes.
The environ-mentalists, allied with the Natural Resources Council of Maine, want only 18 of the proposed 30 windmills allowed on only one of the proposed two mountains. They want the other, Redington Pond Range, placed into a permanent form of protection, banning things like wind turbines forever. The above mentioned news article reports
Maine Mountain Power [primary utility purchaser] says the one-mountain plan would deter investment and effectively kill the project.
Who would have ever thought that even generating power through the use of the wind would be a bad thing? And you thought the image of the old windmill was a wonderful, almost romantic sight. Little did you know that you were watching the birth of the evil… BIG WIND!!!
