Please, we are subsidizing wind power at twice the rate of any other power source. That is like me having to pay a membership fee to eat crappy food at McDonald's. There are way better options out there than wind power. Sources of power that are cheaper and more constant and reliable with way less footprint and infrastructure needed.. Estimated 12 BILLION dollars a year are coming from tax payers to subsidize the wind power industry. Then they power generated is sold at a higher rate to the power companies because they are forced to buy a certain percentage of "green" power, even if they are fully capable of producing enough energy to supply their customers. That cost increase is transfer'd to rate hikes for the customer. Now, I'm not only paying my tax dollars to support the wind farms, I'm also paying more of my living wage for the energy they produce. Tell me how this is good for the average middle class American?
I didn't pull that number out of my butt. That is the average cost per a quick internet search. That's horse crap. That's like saying the foot print of a cell tower is miles because you can see it. That's not what our wind farms look like. I don't feel that is a accurate representation of most wind farms. Grant I'd rather see a lot more offshore wind farms. I too would be frustrated if they were in my backyard however, the definition of backyard would need to be defined as it appears that term is different for each person.
Notice the lack of homes in those pictures? Well there will be hundreds of homes throughout this wind farm. There's where the problem lies. If they want to waste our tax dollars on wind farms, build that crap where nobody lives. there's millions of acres of BLM land that would be just fine.
Well, clearly you are not quoting accurate information. That probably doesn't take into account any of the costs associated with the farm like construction costs, transmission costs, cost of the turbines, cost of leases, cost of maintenance, and so on. Even the most liberal of sources will say it costs 20X what you quoted. http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/analysis/the-hidden-costs-of-wind-power/
There's room for working this problem out through compromise. Every house is already tied into the grid anyway. If "they" meaning the government and the power companies, would spend the money they are spending on these huge freaking eyesores and just buy and set up solar and wind for every house then every house would provide it's own, some would provide too much and feed back to the grid and some would use more than they produce but would be covered by the excess of the others. This would effectively turn the entire grid into a huge solar and wind driven supplier that simply cannot be reproduced by any other practical means. The biggest problem with that approach is that it's too simple, if government can't complicate the living hell out of it then they don't want anything to do with it.
Why? It's there property they don't have the right to make a little coin off if it? It's called capitalism and it works in rural areas too.
I'd be angry if my neighbor stuck a giant turbine in his backyard. I know it's his right, but I'd still be angry and hate him for it. Same if he painted his house neon pink.
Why all the anger? Deregulation at it's finest, we all state we want government out of our lives, and then someone sticks a turbine on their private property and then we want the industry regulated, because it's in our back yard. I agree with the OP and you Hooker, but we created this monster with greed. It's the oil greed that plays a major role.
Hooker and I almost never agree on things, but this is one time where we do. The question I have is, does your neighbor have a right to do things on his property that negatively impacts the property value of all his neighbors?
Keep in mind that we are all zoned either residential or agricultural. These wind farms are neither, they are 100% Industrial.
The way I see it, the landowner could be liable for damages in loss of property value if it were taken to court and argued correctly in all of those cases.
For the most part I would say yes. As long as what is being done is not illegal or against local ordinances.
They would have to go through the re-zoning process. would what they are putting in make a difference?
You are 100% correct. I find this to be the craziest part of the whole process. Zoning regulations are put in place to regulate use and are often strict, however they somehow get this ground rezoned fairly quick with a total different use. To put it in perspective, most of you are zoned R-1 or Sf-1, etc., go to your county office and tell them you want to save the world and put up a windmill that your neighbors will have to look at. You would be laughed out of the office. The other part that is laughable is how once the windmill farm is put in use and operating and all of the promises have been made, then you will notice it will sell pretty quick. Wonder why that is?
Well, actually my father is the zoning commissioner for our township. He mentioned re-zoning to industrial at one of the open hearings and you would like to have seen the reaction. It was not favorable by either the landowners or the wind farm representative. There are 2 townships that are zoned where these windmills are being proposed. The rest of the area is not zoned. One of the townships has 3 out of 4 members that already have contracts with the wind farm. How do you think that's going to work out for the public, the people the zoning board is supposed to be working for.
