At first blush, this story from the Washington Post is pretty funny: a “green energy” firm’s wind farm project in West Virginia is being challenged under the Endangered Species Act by some local tree bat huggers.
Tiny bat pits green against green
It is the first court challenge to wind power under the Endangered Species Act, lawyers on both sides say. … At the heart of the Beech Ridge case is the Indiana bat, a brownish-gray creature that weighs about as much as three pennies and, wings outstretched, measures about eight inches. A 2005 estimate concluded that there were 457,000 of them, half the number in 1967, when they were first listed as endangered.
Go ahead. Enjoy a moment of schadenfreude.
OK. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s ponder the policy implications.
First: This conflict was utterly foreseeable. Everybody likes the idea of wind energy, it’s the wind farm in their back yard they have a problem with. But every wind farm is in somebody’s back yard (or yacht harbor).
Second: The Endangered Species Act is absolute. If it can be shown that there is a deleterious impact on a species categorized as endangered or threatened, the species wins and human interests lose. There is no cost-benefit analysis or other means of assigning a relative worth to the species, no matter how obscure or ill-adapted for survival it may be.
Third: There are Endangered and Threatened Species everywhere. Check your state out. And for every lovable and huggable Florida manatee, ivory-billed woodpecker or Ridley’s sea turtle, there’s an inflated heelsplitter, earth-fruit or Louisiana quillwort, just to name three from my home state.
Fourth: The United States currently uses 100 quadrillion BTUs of energy every year. That’s a staggering amount of energy. It’s one thing to prove that an alternative energy source works; it’s quite another to demonstrate that it is feasible, scalable and efficient. Even with government help in the form of tax credits, wind energy is a very expensive way to generate an unreliable BTU, when compared with conventional sources of energy. This latest episode is an example of the difficulty developers will have with scalability. They are not going to be able to roll out new wind projects without public and interest group opposition.
Fifth: Back to point one. This permitting obstacle was totally foreseeable. Has the Administration naively made unkeepable promises, or has this been a cynical political manipulation? The grownups involved, if there are any, must realize that their promised future of Rainbows and Unicorns and Magic Windmills has a long, long way to go.
Currently, wind energy supplies about 1% of electrical generating capacity, with a stated Administration goal of doubling renewables by 2012. With that goal in mind, one wonders what the Administration’s stance will be when decisions need to be made between the conflicting environmental priorities of Saving the Indiana Bat vs. Saving the Planet.
There is a God!
makemyday Sunday, October 25th at 3:36PM EDT (link)To quote others “Grab the popcorn”
When all else fails…….. Shoot!
“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” –American author Mark Twain (1835-1910)
“We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times.” –George Washington, letter to Philip Schuyler, 1777
Offically we can now call the greenies "Watermelons".
bobojake Sunday, October 25th at 3:56PM EDT (link)On the radio it was confirmed they are green on the outside but red like marxist-communists on the inside.
Reconsidering the options we face
fisk2521 Sunday, October 25th at 5:02PM EDT (link)To complicate matters, apparently wind turbines have been determined to be the cause of human health problems as well. According to a website called savewesternny.org, a Dr. Pierpoint (a woman with impressive medical credentials_ testified before the New York State Legislature Energy Committee awhile ago about what she termed “Wind Turbine Syndrome. She states:
These are large, industrial installations.(not ‘farms’) They make large-scale, industrial noise. “Jet engines” is the most common description I hear in surveying people—a jet engine that doesn’t go away and which you can’t get used to
. Symptoms
1) Sleep problems: noise or physical sensations of pulsation or pressure make it hard to go to sleep and cause frequent awakening.
2) Headaches or migraines which are increased in frequency or severity.
3) Dizziness, unsteadiness, and nausea.
4) Exhaustion, anxiety, anger, irritability, and depression.
5) Problems with concentration and learning.
6) Tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
On first glance I thought this was more nonsense of the environmental activism crowed, …but if you read it it kind of makes sense http://www.savewesternny.org/docs/pierpont_testimony.html
In my area, western NY, the enviromentals are screaming about the ‘treated leachate’ from landfills…. and how the trash companies are polluting the lakes…. So far I have not seen any evidence of that, but never mind…. Do away with the landfills…. No incinerators, and incredibly the group leading the charge calls themselves “Zero Waste”.
One can only speculate about just exactly what “Zero Waste” means.. They don’t have any answers as to what to do with the trash, and so far no one’s explained how we will live without generating trash…. I can only assume they want to do away with the sewage treatment plants as well, and I cannot conceive of what their solution to that might be.
Just more knee jerk reactions by activists with no ‘real’ solutions, just more rhetoric more government and more control of everyone lives.
LDavis
Is that Zero Waste, meaning no waste, or
6eorge Jetson Sunday, October 25th at 5:45PM EDT (link)Zero™ Waste, the kind caused by foolish agendas like those of our President. Hmmmnn…
I’ve always wondered why Wind Turbines are always pictured with aesthetically pleasing, single pole white supports, while other electrical
infrastructure is pictured as supported by unsightly, gray metallic towers.
Another hmmnn…
Hold off on that Mammogram for 10 years
Like most every...
DerKrieger Sunday, October 25th at 5:16PM EDT (link)detrimental policy pushed by the Left, extremist eco-policies won’t get significant push back from the general public until it hits them where it hurts. This may mean high utility bills, brownouts, blackouts, and increasing unemployment. Most people live their lives in their own bubbles and it takes a significant prick to penetrate that bubble.
“In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” - Thomas Jefferson
“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence (OBAMACARE – mine), the money of their constituents.” – James Madison
Believe me, Lefties can be significant pricks <nt>
6eorge Jetson Sunday, October 25th at 5:48PM EDT (link)nt
Hold off on that Mammogram for 10 years
The list continues
ss396 Sunday, October 25th at 6:54PM EDT (link)None of the energy calculations for the efficiency of wind-generated electricity extend to cover all the costs of raw materials extraction, smelting, refining, manufacturing, delivery, and erection of all the turbines and transmission delivery systems that do not now exist and must be fabricated / constructed.
The one that I am waiting for is the group of activists who finally start protesting how these wind farms are having a detrimental effect on the weather due to the interference of natural patterns, the impediment of wind patterns, and the leaching of energy from wide area and energetic weather fronts.
If you pay people to sit on their duffs, you cannot be surprised when they do.
dont give them any ideas
kyle8 Sunday, October 25th at 7:07PM EDT (link)I can see it now, “Global Stalling”! OMG We are all gonna die!
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
ss396, you might want to add national security to your list.
Xasteius Sunday, October 25th at 7:10PM EDT (link)The Brits discovered turbines create radar blind spots that hide aircraft.
Don’t leave the party, hijack it back!
Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.
When I grow up, I don’t want to be Reagan. I want to be Art Chance.
~Aaron Gardner
Yet another...
1stRichard Sunday, October 25th at 10:10PM EDT (link)Yet another, can anyone explain how using twice the fuel is more efficient? Over in Europe they have cars running on turbo diesels for some time, over 80 plus miles per gallon. However, where I live we have the California clean-air regulations, those turbo diesels do not pass emissions yet, and prevent us from getting better miles per gallon, to about half. So how is using twice the fuel is more efficient?
Furthermore more is the crap and tax bill will force your state to use the California clean-air regulations if not already.
I'm just enjoying the popcorn
Cargosquid Sunday, October 25th at 11:41PM EDT (link)watching the fight……..
We have to put up with these watermelons here in Virginia.
It's not like this wasn't common knowledge.
NightTwister Sunday, October 25th at 11:53PM EDT (link)I’ve driven over Alamont Pass many times observing all the windmills sitting still.
Get Connected in Colorado.