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

Wind power faces patchwork rules 

Long darlings among many environmentalists, the enormous windmills cropping up across the country are themselves subject to very little environmental oversight, according to a national report released Thursday.

“The nation, states, and local areas are uneven in their ways of evaluating the environmental impacts of these projects,” said Paul Risser, an author of the National Academy of Sciences study.

Wind turbines produce none of the pollution that contributes to climate change, a top priority among many environmentalists. But wind turbine projects in Texas have run into opposition from birding groups, who say the giant windmills kill birds, and from some ranchers, who worry that they could hamper hunting and tourism activities.

Although the report found “no evidence of significant impacts on bird populations,” it suggests that policymakers consider aesthetic, cultural, human health and environmental impacts before approving wind power projects.

Only 2.1 percent of Texas’ energy came from wind power last year, according to Dottie Roark, a spokeswoman for the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, the operator of the power grid. But the state’s wind power capacity grew by 38 percent during 2006, largely because of new turbines in West Texas, and Texas leads the nation in wind-powered megawattage.

On the Gulf Coast, where wind developers are leasing land to build hundreds of turbines in the path of migratory bird routes, birders have raised hackles about the projects.

“We have no pre-construction monitoring, no post-construction monitoring” of wind projects by the state, said Winnie Burkett, director of the Houston Audubon Society.

Birders have been in on-and-off talks with wind energy companies for about a year to come up with guidelines for the siting of turbines, Burkett said.

The state environmental commission does not issue permits for turbines, and state law says only that turbines should be built in “suitable land areas.” It does not define suitable.

“There’s only a little oversight,” said Terry Hadley, a spokesman for the state Public Utility Commission.

Rep. Robert Puente, D-San Antonio, has sponsored a bill that would require the state environmental commission to review the environmental impacts of wind turbines and determine whether they spoil views or create noise that interferes with the property rights of nearby landowners. The bill, supported by the giant King Ranch, which is upset about turbine proposals on a nearby property, has languished in a House subcommittee.

About 1 percent of energy nationally comes from wind, according to the federally funded National Academy of Sciences report. If that figure increases to 7 percent over the next 15 years, the nation can cut about 4.5 percent of its carbon dioxide production.

Fewer bird fatalities are caused by wind turbines, .003 percent, than cats, said Laurie Jodziewicz, a policy analyst on siting and wildlife issues for the American Wind Energy Association, a lobbying organization for wind developers.

By Asher Price
American-Statesman Staff

statesman.com

4 May 2007

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