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Great Wines
Years of Excellence
Scott Garner: June 2007 weekend ~Enlarge
Today's Christian Science Monitor reports on steadily mounting opposition to Great Lakes offshore wind projects, with a proposed wind farm of Michigan's west coast the poster child. The resistance is legitimate both because that farm's wind turbines would be too close to the shore and because the industry is out front of the readiness of government and communities to deal with the proposals.
It's probably time to declare a moratorium on Great Lakes offshore wind -- in favor of onshore, including coastal projects -- until there's more time to study the impacts, zone the siting areas and the non-siting areas in law, build public understanding, and set some reasonable limits on the number of allowable turbines basin-wide. A runaway industry is in danger of spawning runaway and fierce public resistance.
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Comments
Offshore windpower
Thankyou Dave!!! I have felt the same way for quite some time now. I am all for windpower but we must develop as much onshore as possible before we go offshore in the Great Lakes. Just the cost (double) per KWH of offshore over onshore should be a significant factor in decision making. Sure, offshore wind is generally better but I can't buy into the idea that electric rates must be artificially inflated in many areas to justify offshore development. Add to that the myriad of environmental and aesthetic issues and you have to wonder why there is such a push to plant these turbines everywhere in our lakes. When I posed this question to a very high ranking state resources manager a few months ago the reply was, "If we don't do it now, Ontario will beat us to it". My speechless reply was, "WHAAAAAT!!!" Some states/provinces, (MI not included from what I have seen), and local governments, and at least one quasi-governmental GL regional commission are being heavily manipulated by this runaway industry. Yes, there is no reason why the Great Lakes region should not be the leader in windpower R&D and turbine component manufacturing. But instead of trying to figure out how to fast track the offshore permitting process without properly vetting the issues we should be putting all our energy into figuring out how to properly utilize GL offshore wind. Once you have done that you will probably have the formula for proper offshore development world wide. I will add that I personally think that nearshore development is not an option in the Great Lakes. For those that think this is a race then I suggest that they start thinking like the tortoise.
Wind in the Water
Thanks, Don and Dave...yes, Ontario is in a mad rush to be first, of all the lunatic ideas. I share your frustration.
Toronto Hydro is in such a rush to place 60-100 near shore turbines right in the path of migration! Two to four km off/near shore, staring into people's homes, smack dab in the line for the 203 endangered species of Ontario to travel through. There are more ideas for 700!! turbines for Erie and Huron. Toronto is surrounded by and integrated with wetlands, and green belts. We are committing billions of dollars to upgrade the shorelines of Toronto, and at the same time contemplating industrialization of the fresh water. Drinking water, that we have repeatedly been warned not to tamper with. The downside is so huge!
We need to put our cooperative heads together to halt these politically driven vanity projects; truly, I have serious reservations about all turbines now, as the research continues to flow internationally about health problems, environmental degradation (375,000 birds killed per year in the US alone, and those are the birds we know of, many many endangered), and economic boondoggle. Not a single coal fired plant has closed internationally since the inception of wind power.
I'm just waiting for a Syncrude or Exxon kind of lawsuit re endangered species! Its time is nigh!
And think of the debris in the Lakes after 12-14 years (the industry says 20-25 years, but this is not borne out). This will create an ache in our gut as we watch disconnected turbine propellers, the ones that are still spinning from time to time, still killing birds and bats, and producing zero anything but a total sense of failure. No one seems to plan for decommissioning at all. This is a rotten idea start to finish.
If Ontario gets to be first, or Michigan...we will be the most shamed. We must not let this happen.
Thanks to Dave for putting this issue on the front and fore!