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Tilting at windmills; other news (Saturday, Feb. 19, 2005 -- CropChoice news) -- 1. Tilting at windmills 1. Tilting at Windmills By Bill
McKibben, February 16, 2005 FINALLY, American environmentalists have a chance to get it
right about wind power. News broke this week of plans for the first big wind
energy installation in the Adirondack Park. Ten towering turbines
would sprout on the site of an old garnet mine in this tiny
town.
They'd be visible from the ski slopes at nearby Gore
Mountain,
and they'd be visible too from the deep wild of the Siamese
Ponds
Wilderness, one of the loneliest and most beautiful parts of
New
York's "forever wild" Adirondack Forest Preserve, the model for
a
century of American conservation. In fact, it would be hard
to
imagine a place better suited to illustrate the controversy
that
wind power is causing in this
country. I know the area well; I've lived most of my adult life in
this
part of the world, and I've skied and backpacked through the
old
mine and the woods around it, searched for (and found)
lost
hunters, encountered its bears and coyotes and fisher, sat on
its
anonymous peaks and knolls and watched the hawks circle
beneath.
In fact, this very wilderness - these yellow birches, the
bear
that left that berry-filled pile of scat, those particular
loons
laughing on that particular lake - led me to fall in love
with
the world
outdoors. Which is precisely why I hope those wind turbines rise on
the
skyline, and as soon as
possible. The planet faces many environmental challenges, but none of
them
come close to global warming. In the past month new studies
have
shown that the trigger point for severe climate change may
be
closer than previously thought, and the possible
consequences
even more severe. Just to slow the pace of this rapid
warming
will require every possible response, from more efficient cars
to
fewer sprawling suburbs to more trains to - well, the list
is
pretty well
endless. But wind power is one key component. Around the world it's
the
fastest growing source of electric generation, mostly because
the
technology, unlike solar power, has evolved to the point
where
it's cost-competitive with fossil fuels. The Danes
already
generate nearly a quarter of their power from the breeze;
the
Germans and the Spaniards and the British are rapidly heading
in
the same
direction. In America, however, the growth of wind power has been
slower.
Partly that's because the Bush administration's stance on
climate
change has meant scant government support for renewable
energy.
But partly, too, it's because environmentalists, particularly
in
the crowded East, haven't come to terms with this technology.
In
fights in Cape Cod, the mountains of Vermont, and the
ridgelines
of Maryland, they've divided into bitter factions over
almost
every turbine proposal. On one side, national
environmental
groups like Greenpeace have backed many installations,
arguing
that the dangers of global warming far outweigh any
local
effects. On the other side, neighbors of proposed wind farms
have
joined with local chapters of big conservation groups to
fight
the Statue-of-Liberty-size windmills on environmental
grounds,
chiefly arguing that they'll destroy the scenic beauty of
their
areas. That may be provincial, but it's not entirely inaccurate.
These
newer, more efficient turbines are enormous; part of me
doesn't
want to gaze out from the summit of Peaked Mountain or the
marsh
at Thirteenth Lake and see an industrial project in the
distance.
In the best of all possible worlds, we'd do without
them. But it's not the best of all possible worlds. Right now,
the
choice is between burning fossil fuels and making the
transition,
as quickly as possible, to renewable power. There are more
than
100 coal-fired power plants on the drawing board in this
country
right now; if they are built we will spew ever more carbon
into
the atmosphere. And that will endanger not only the residents
of
low-lying tropical nations that will be swamped by rising
oceans,
but also the residents of the Siamese Pond Wilderness. The
birch
and beech and maple that turn this place glorious in the
fall
won't survive a rapid warming; the computer modeling for
this
part of the country, conducted at the University of
New
Hampshire, shows that if we continue with business as usual
there
won't even be winter as we've known it here by century's
end,
just one long chilly mud
season. That is not to say that every Adirondack ridgeline should
be
turned into a wind farm. Most are unsuitable - they're
on
constitutionally protected state forest preserve, they have
no
roads or power lines nearby, it would be criminal to wreck
them
in the name of clean energy. But this site is precisely the
sort
of place environmentalists should applaud, and insist on:
it's
privately owned, and there's already a road and a high-
voltage
line. Because of the mine, much of the land was even
zoned
industrial, a rarity in the
park. So here environmentalists should step back and say, especially
in
this cradle of American wilderness, that the price is
worth
paying. To see that blade turning in the blue Adirondack sky -
to
see the breeze made visible - should be a sign of real hope
for
the
future. Bill McKibben, a visiting scholar at Middlebury College, is
the
author of the forthcoming "Wandering Home: A Long Walk
Through
America's Most Hopeful Region, Vermont's Champlain Valley and
New
York's
Adirondacks."
2. Deere & Co. Business Manager Praises Wind Energy At ACGA Convention For Immediate Release Karl-Heinz Mertins Promotes Community-Based Wind Energy On Panel CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS?Feb. 11, 2005---Deere & Company Business Development Manager, Dr. Karl-Heinz Mertins, a Wealth From The Wind panel member, told corn farmers attending the American Corn Growers Association national convention today that community-based wind energy offers a tremendous economic development opportunity for farmers and rural communities. "Deere & Company views community-based wind energy as an excellent new cash crop for farmers and landowners. It is a great business and economic development opportunity for rural America," said Dr. Mertins. "Deere & Company is all about wanting to see farmers and rural communities prosper. We see locally-owned wind farms as one of the best new opportunities to achieve that goal in the twenty-first Century. We look forward to working with the Wealth From The Wind program as we capture the benefits of wind. This strategy enhances the economic future for farmers, rural citizens and John Deere." Vic Tomka, an ACGA board member and wind energy proponent from Carroll, Iowa praised Deere & Company for their vision of the future for rural America. "It is encouraging to see a worldwide manufacturer with the stature of Deere & Company take such a leadership role in advocating community-based, farmer-owned wind energy. This is the kind of partnership farmers need," said Tomka. Panel moderator Dan McGuire, CEO of the American Corn Growers Foundation (ACGF) noted that the 2005 ACGA convention wind energy panel was one of the best in years. "This Wealth From The Wind panel included top-of-the-line experts in the industry and covered a range of critical and urgent issues," said McGuire. In addition to Dr. Mertins the panel included: Larry Flowers, U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Team Leader and Wind Powering America Technical Director who spoke on "The Dollars and Sense of Wind Energy"; Jay Haley, EAPC Architect Engineers, developer of the Bureau Valley District School (Manlius, Ill.) wind turbine project; Fred Lane, Attorney and Adviser to Illinois school districts; Doug Coats, Renewable Energy Systems, Jim Burg, Past Commissioner, S.D. Public Utilities Commission and Leif Andersen, Sales Director, Vestas Americas who made a presentation on "U.S. Wind Energy Development in2005---The Big Picture." | |
