That same specious argument is used to justify ANWR drilling, with the claim that the total “footprint” is “only 2,000 acres.” It ignores the spiderweb effect of all the land in between, plus all the access roads. It’s like saying you can build a scattered subdivision over a huge area and still call it wilderness. It just doesn’t work that way.

Horse Hollow covers 47,000 acres, which is 73 square miles, or a rectangle 7.3 miles by 10 miles. Show me another type of plant that remotely comes close to using that amount of land. Again, it’s total coverage per megawatt, not just specific spots where the towers reside. A lot of “green” hypocrites would scream if an oil well farm covered that much area. And oil rigs are destined for removal when the wells go dry. Wind turbines just sit there in permablight status.

Mindlessly chasing wind because of greenhouse gas reductions is a poor quality-of-life trade off. Nuclear and solar (ideally on existing rooftops) makes a lot more economic and aesthetic sense.

I pity America’s remaining open space that isn’t protected and exists in high-rated wind zones. Wind power has the potential to ruin the old frontier, or the semblance of one that still inspires imaginations. People have to clutter every possible acre with themselves, homes, roads, cattle and chattel. When will it stop?

Those who argue against turbines strictly on economic terms need to get souls. This is the most visually-destructive form of energy per megawatt ever invented. Huge solar arrays aren’t so great either, but they have a much lower profile. We should put all this wind fervor into making nuclear safer, since it has much greater energy density.

Of course, we must never ask people (worldwide) to use more birth control to stabilize population size and energy demand, thus reducing the need for these “green” scars in the first place. Yeah, let’s avoid common sense and just build, build, build. It “creates jobs” after all; slaves to the mindless mantra of growth. You can often spot bad environmental policy by the increase in construction jobs it creates.

Your counterpoints: the windmill looks so ugly! Guess what? A coal plant looks f’ing ugly, too. And it belches death into the air. And a coal mine looks even uglier. And it destroys the environment far more than a windmill.

Another counterpoint: what about all those workers at the coal mine who lose their jobs! Other forms of energy (solar, wind, hydro, etc.) all require people to work, also. And these other forms also require a higher level of education. So the incentive is for people to go back to school and learn more. And, on top of that, all those coal workers who are subjected to piss poor working conditions, the burdens of unionized labor, and horrible wages now can live a healthier lifestyle, go back to school, and find better jobs.

I guess until they start putting those things all over the city scapes, then the ‘green’ folks with want them. Never mind all the human ‘footprints’ now all over those beautiful mesas and the wildlife affected.

I wondered how much energy they actually put out. I looked into getting one for my home (smaller scale) but found out the cost far outweighed any savings in the next 10 years.

The government is involved thus they are telling the power companies what source of power to buy and what % to buy. This is from a government that does not recognize hydro power as a renewable power source. Also remember that our taxes are subsidizing each wind turbine or these units would not be expanding as rapidly as they are. Another concern is the repair bills in the future.

As I drive through our large wind farms in the surrounding areas of the Columbia Gorge and near Walla Walla, Wa there have been times when none of the units were moving, no wind. When the wind does not cooperate there is no power created.

Are these units a good thing? They create good jobs in every aspects of their creation and operation so my comment is “The future will be the telling process”. One last item, you will see an increase in your power bill when the taxpayer subsidies dries up. This is reality of government and big business. Have a blessed day.