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Scary windmills coming to Contra Costa 

Credit:  By Matt baume, NBC Bay Area, www.nbcbayarea.com 4 April 2011 ~~

Contra Costa County is looking at building an army of brand new wind turbines to generate clean, sustainable energy. But potential risks associated with the structures could turn them from simple windmills into menacing giants.

It’s clear that the county’s aging fleet of turbines needs an upgrade. They’re decades old, small, and are too close to bird habitats. That means that endangered species are regularly killed when they fly into the spinning blades.

But the new turbines have Count Supervisors worried. One official worried that her constituents would be incapable of driving safely if the windmills were too close to the road, saying that they could pose too great a distraction. Her stance on roadside billboards, storefront signage, and lemonade stands is unknown.

There are no accounts of wind turbines causing an increase in distracted driving.

Nevertheless, the proximity to roads is a major point of contention. Because the structures would be very tall, current law would require that they be positioned over a thousand feet away from roads, according to the CC Times.

That limitation could defeat one of the main purposes of upgrading the system, since it would put the equipment dangerously close to bird habitats.

The Board of Supervisors will consider changes to that ordinance at a meeting on Tuesday, but only if their safety concerns have been calmed.
Copyright NBC Local Media

Source:  By Matt baume, NBC Bay Area, www.nbcbayarea.com 4 April 2011

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.

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