LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]



Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Negatives of wind turbines ignored 

Credit:  The Berkshire Eagle | 12/07/2012 | www.berkshireeagle.com ~~

The Eagle’s Dec. 5 editorial promoting ridgeline wind farms in the Berkshires is seriously flawed. The Eagle presents wind projects as “beneficial” but it fails to describe the extensive blasting often needed to create the massive pads for the turbines, the largest of which are as tall as 50-story buildings, and the extensive blasting also needed to prepare a deep base for roads as wide, in parts, as Route 7 – roads which traverse steep slopes, destroy hundreds of acres of forest, disrupt hiking trails and drainage routes, and destroy wildlife habitats. Nor does The Eagle mention the wide corridors for transmission lines, which are built without any legal recourse for the landowners whose land is impacted.

The Eagle praises wind projects for reducing our carbon footprint, but it fails to mention that the wind-resource in the Berkshires is very marginal, and that even the draconian approach of erecting many hundreds of turbines on our ridges would not even produce 5 percent of our energy needs. Indeed, the dollars being spent by ratepayers and taxpayers to subsidize wind farms could be used in a much more productive and efficient way to sponsor other green projects, including conservation and efficiency programs, and small and large solar, hydro-electric, and geo-thermal projects.

Contrary to the Eagle’s accusations, promoting wind projects is “environmentally irresponsible” as it promotes wasting valuable human, financial, and natural resources needed to reduce our carbon footprint. The Eagle clearly favors the prospect of a wind farm in Otis, and holds out the carrot of increased revenue. But, imagine the impact on our ridgelines if every Berkshire town and city decided to make either private or public wind farms a permanent tool for increasing their revenue and lowering their tax rates. Imagine if even one-third of our municipalities do. Imagine the many miles of ridgeline and the thousands of acres which would be removed from habitable use. Such environmental damage cannot be justified, when there are viable alternative ways for us to produce energy in a green way.

Hopefully, local officials throughout the Berkshires will shore up their bylaws to prohibit wind farms and will urge state officials to shift their course away from on-shore wind and toward more sensible, renewable projects.

TERRY FLYNN

Stockbridge

Source:  The Berkshire Eagle | 12/07/2012 | www.berkshireeagle.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon