Read the entire post from Gizmodo here
Initially, they applauded the erection of three wind turbines. Now, the inhabitants of Penobscot Bay island, Maine, rue the day the $15m wind facility was built a mile from their homes, due to the sheer noise the 123-foot blades make.
The NY Times has looked into the concerns of people from locations such as Penobscot Bay and DeKalb County in Illinois, where wind turbines have resulted in unbearable noise pollution—as well as lost value in properties.
For the Lindgren family of Penobscot Bay, they supported the idea at first, but soon realized after the turbines arrived that their peace and solitude—the reason for moving out of the city—had disappeared.
I am always skeptical of hugely expensive green energy solutions and the money they do or don’t save folks. It’s easy to automatically agree with whatever the environmentalists say because who wouldn’t agree with doing what is best for mother earth, right? The problem with this line of thinking is that generalizations are made and automatically taken for truths without any real in-depth analysis. Politicians are reluctant to piss off their tree-hugging constituents and you get shitty legislation and tax breaks for things that don’t make financial sense.
Before I go any further I should say that I am not against green technology and am not against doing good for our environment, the point that I’m trying to make is that I just wish there was more analysis, especially financial analysis of the paybacks for these projects.
It’s much like the foodies who all grab onto the sustainable seafood lists which black-list species such as cod and hake without ever really understanding that some of the fish they have on these lists are thriving, like codfish. But one of these bananaheads says it and they all fall in line behind them repeating the green doctrine from the first person on down. It gets repeated and sure enough if they say it enough it becomes taken as a truth.
Drives me nuts.
There is something to paying extra for a green energy solution that could take an individual with a modest lifestyle off the grid and not dependent on oil or gas, but does anyone believe that for all of modern living energy needs that some solar panels and windmills will power industrial societies? My gut tells me that it is a fantasy but I’ll be honest in telling you that I just don’t know enough.
I will take the word of folks that were in favor of windmills in their back yards before and now that they personally are living with them can’t stand them. Something tells me that they are a more credible source of information than the guy from the solar panel company that is trying to sell me on a $75,000 solar panel system that he is going to profit from.
Just saying.
Good Morning Gloucester 
Well, wind turbines can be many things and new technology is new and there’s a learning curve. Not perfect by any means but at least people are trying something different in the hopes of something better.
I’m skeptical of all the ways we subsidize fossil fuels to put green stuff in the pockets of a few crappy coats. In fact, I’m mad as hell.
Greenness can be greenwashing or it can be innovative new technologies. “Green” to me = “non-dumb design” but it’s a fashionable term.
Have you seen the windspire: http://windspireenergy.com/windspire/about-the-windspire
or the windbelt? http://www.humdingerwind.com/#/wi_overview/
or what about the awesome barely-any-water and no dryer required clothes washers they are working on:
http://www.xerosltd.com/nylon-polymer-technology.htm
It sucks (especially for the neighbors) that the original turbines made crappy examples, but maybe it allows for the next generation of improved models that will make a better future for our wee ones. I think we’re all environmentalists and have great hopes for a more diversified energy future than slimy black sludge all over the gulf.
LikeLike
makes you wonder about genetically modified salmon who’s creators swear there is a 95% chance they can’t reproduce. I’d like to put a C-note on the under.
LikeLike
put them here in my part of Wakefield. Can’t be any noisier than the dulcet tone of 128. My bad I reckon.
It is a all a big tradeoff. NIMBY will be an issue forever.
LikeLike
or what blackswanbeth said!!
LikeLike
Dear Joey,
Thank you so much for posting the Monarch butterfly update. I also wanted to thank you for sharing the article from the NYTimes from which this posting was inspired. I read the article from the NYTimes, which lends a completely different view from what Gizmodo’s caption suggests: “Life Isn’t Always So Rosy for Green Towns.”
The title of the article in the NY Times is: “For Those Near, the Miserable Hum of Clean Energy.” Quoted from the same NYTimes article: “Vinalhaven’s wind farm enjoys support among most residents, from ardent supporters of all clean energy to those who simply say the turbines have reduced their power bills. Deckhands running the ferry sport turbine pins on their hats, and bumper stickers seen on the island declare “Spin, Baby, Spin.”
It is unfair that residents were not accurately informed about the noise ahead of time and my heart goes out to the folks who live within a one or two mile radius of the turbines; however, there are very few people in the northeast who have seen or even given thought to the extreme health risks and irreparable damage to the environment caused by strip mining for coal in the Appalachian Mountains, and for many, the oil spill in the Gulf is a distant memory. We in the northeast have a responsibility to shoulder the impact of our own vast energy needs. Developing affordable clean energy is our best solution
The NYTimes article also quotes Richard R. James, an acoustic expert hired by residents of Vinalhaven to help them quantify the noise problem. He states the logical solution: do not put the turbines so close to where people live. “It would seem to be time for the wind utility developers to rethink their plans for duplicating these errors and to focus on locating wind turbines in areas where there is a large buffer zone of about a mile and one-quarter between the turbines and people’s homes,” said Mr. James, the principal consultant with E-Coustic Solutions, based in Michigan.
LikeLike
Great Points Kim,Beth and Chuck. Looking forward to the day when solar panels are efficient and cheap enough to justify their costs. I often dream of having one of those small footprint living spaces that have solar panels, wood stoves and collect the rainwater.
Like these-
http://www.tinyhousedesign.com/2010/07/27/how-to-move-yourself-off-the-grid/
LikeLike
I know wouldn’t it be awesome!? 🙂 I’m wondering where all the creative people are who are deigning ways to make my 1930 leaking-sieve house perform like one of those awesome passive energy homes in germany with a tight envelope and no need for heating energy. If we spent half our time trying to improve designs instead of conniving ways to market and lobby bad design…
LikeLike