WIND POWER promises a clean and free source of electricity. It will reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels and reduce the output of greenhouse gases and other pollution. Many governments are therefore promoting the construction of vast wind "farms," encouraging private companies with generous subsidies and regulatory support, requiring utilities to buy from them, and setting up markets for the trade of "green credits" in addition to actual energy. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) aims to see 5% of our electricity produced by wind turbine in 2010. Energy companies are eagerly investing in wind power, finding the arrangement quite profitable.

A little research, however, reveals that wind power does not in fact live up to the claims made by its advocates, that its impact on the environment and people's lives is far from benign, and that with such a poor record and prospect the money spent on it could be much more effectively directed. . . .

. . . Click here to continue reading "A Problem With Wind Power," by Eric Rosenbloom 

(featured in At Issue: What Energy Sources Should Be Pursued, Greenhaven, 2005,
and Opposing Viewpoints: Global Resources, Greenhaven, 2007)

Links from "A Problem With Wind Power"
[ including many pages on this web site not listed below ]

D O N A T E

»»  Call for 2-km (1.25-mi) minimum setback between homes and large wind turbines  ««
Worldwide petition



Learn the  F A C T S  about wind power
 
(click here) 



[ top   papers   reference   resources   groups   industry   news ]

O T H E R   P A P E R S   O N   T H I S   S I T E

"Against the Wind," by James B. Meigs
a practical overview

"Health Effects of Noise from Large Wind Turbines," by Eric Rosenbloom
a concise overview of research

"Why Not Wind," by Eric Rosenbloom
an open letter

"The low benefit of industrial wind," by Eric Rosenbloom
a brief summary of documents
(summary in html also available)

"Ridden by the Wind," by Eric Rosenbloom
a social activist view

"Not so fast with wind power," by Eric Rosenbloom
editorial: low benefit, high adverse impact

"Exploitation and destruction: some things to know about industrial wind power,"
by Eric Rosenbloom

another social activist view

"Industrial wind, corporate vandalism," by Joanna Lake
a progressive view

"How to fight the big wind onslaught," by Calvin Luther Martin
a matter of conscience

"Wind Turbine Noise - a themed sequence of sonnets," by Gail Atkinson-Mair
a poet's view

"Windmill farms are industrial development," by Martha Frey
a preservationist view

"Questioning the faith of wind power," by David Roberson
an environmentalist view

"Big money discovers the tax breaks," by Glenn Schleede
a fiscal conservative view

"9 days and 7 wind farms," by Sue Sliwinski
a report of the human toll

"Free lunch or Damocles' sword?" by John Etherington
an analysis of big wind's minuscule benefit

"He is not an environmentalist," by Eric Rosenbloom
a critique of Charles Komanoff on wind

"Bluff and bluster," by Eric Rosenbloom
a response to critics


Bottom line:  Industrial wind turbines do not reduce the use of other fuels.
[ top   papers   reference   resources   groups   industry   news ]

R E F E R E N C E   P A G E S   O N   T H I S   S I T E

Industrial-scale wind projects in Vermont

Technical specifications of common large wind turbines

Units used for energy and other measures of wind turbines

Published studies of physiological effects of infrasound

Wind power primer


Useful fact:  Wind turbines produce at or above their average rate only 40% of the time.
[ top   papers   reference   resources   groups   industry   news ]

O T H E R   R E S O U R C E S


U.S. coalition of opposition groups

Country Guardian
the original British opposition group

"The Wayward Wind," by Jon Boone
incisive critique

Articles by Mark Duchamp
special attention to birds

Report by John Mollica
setback, icing, structural failure, noise

"The aesthetic dissonance of industrial wind machines," by Jon Boone
incisive critique of wind power's "aesthetic chic"

Wind Turbine Syndrome, by Nina Pierpont
adverse health effects

"An Ill Wind," by Nigel Barnes
extensive compilation of arguments


Useful fact:  Wind power requires 200 acres per megawatt of output.
[ top   papers   reference   resources   groups   industry   news ]

A   F E W   O P P O S I T I O N   G R O U P S

Vermonters with Vision
affiliation of opposition groups

Ira Wind
Ira, Vermont

Citizens for the Preservation of Georgia Mountain
Milton, Georgia, and Fairfax, Vermont

Ridge Protectors
Sheffield and Sutton, Vermont

Kingdom Commons Group
northeastern Vermont

Glebe Mountain Group
Londonderry, Vermont

Save Tehachapi Mountain
California

Friends of Lāna'i
Hawaii

Protect the Flint Hills
Kansas

Friends of the Highland Mountains
Maine

Friends of Lincoln Lakes
Maine

Friends of Maine's Mountains

Jackson Wind Power Subcomittee
Maine

Partnership for the Preservation of the Downeast Lakes Watershed
Maine

People's Task Force on Wind Power
Maine

Protect Our Lakes
Maine

Real Wind Info For Maine

Citizens For Responsible Wind Energy
Bourne, Massachusetts

Counter Cape Wind
Massachusetts

Firetower Wind
Falmouth, Massachusetts

Friends of Florida and Monroe
Massachusetts

Green Berkshires
western Massachusetts, featuring articles by Eleanor Tillinghast

Save Our Seashore
Wellfleet, Massachusetts

Shelburne Wind
Massachusetts

War Against Wind
Osterville, Massachusetts

Citizens for Responsible Green Energy
Monterey Township, Michigan

Coalition for Sensible Siting
Goodhue County, Minnesota

Cohocton Free!
New York

Great Lakes Wind Truth
New York and Ontario

Madison Matters
New York

Springwater Preservation Committee
New York

Western Catskill Preservation Alliance
New York

WOW -- We Oppose Windfarms
New York

Save Western New York
Wethersfield

Wind Energy Ethics Group
Cape Vincent, New York

Wind Power Toolkit (John Droz)
Adirondacks, New York

Save Jones Beach (SJB) Ad Hoc Committee
Long Island, New York

Save Western Ohio

Lucien Rosenbloom
North Carolina

No Free Wind
Pennsylvania

Coalición Pro Bosque Seco Ventanas Verraco
Puerto Rico

Ill Wind Rhode Island

WE-CARE -- Wind Energy – Concerns About Rural Environment
South Dakota

John R. Sweet
Virginia

Mountain Preservation Association
Virginia

Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy
West Virginia

Protect Pendleton
West Virginia

WINDCOWS -- Wisconsin Independent Citizens Opposing Windturbine Sites

Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition
Ontario

Amherst Island Wind Information
Ontario

CORT -- Coalition of Residents – Tiny
Ontario

Healing the Earth
Ontario

Ontario Wind Performance

Ontario Wind Resistance

Wind Concerns Meaford
Ontario


North American Platform Against Windpower

BOLT -- Birdsedge Opposition to Large Turbines
England

FORCE -- Friends of Rural Cumbria's Environment
England

Habitat 21
England

STILE -- Stop Turbines in Lunesdale Environment
England

STINC -- Stop Turbines in North Cornwall
England

Lochgelly
Scotland

RWF Group: Opposing Little Raith Wind Farm
Scotland

Views of Scotland

Fairwind
Ardnamurchan, Morvern, and Mull, Scotland

Cefn Croes
Wales, featuring horrifying photographs of the destruction

Betws Mountain Preservation Guide
Wales

Stop The Exploitation of Mynydd Mynyllod
Wales

Trannon Residents Against Power Plans
Wales

Laois Wind Energy Awareness Group
Ireland

Molonglo Landscape Guardians
New South Wales, Australia

Groupe d'information sur les éoliennes (La Roche-en-Ardenne)
Belgium

Občanského sdružení „Na Skále“ Radošice
Czech Republic

Vent du Bocage
France, featuring documentation of accidents

[for accidents, also see Caithness (Scotland) Windfarm Information Forum]


Παρατηρητήριο Αιολικής Ενέργειας
Greece Szélerőművek Hárskúton?
Hungary

Nepavėjui
Lithuania

Rassemblement Jura Crêtes
Switzerland

Deep Green Resistance


Useful fact:  Wind turbine output is low, variable, and rarely coincides with demand.
[ top   papers   reference   resources   groups   industry   news ]

T H E   I N D U S T R Y

Wiggerswug
an archive of wind industry trade news

American Wind Energy Association
facilities in the U.S.

British Wind Energy Association
facilities in the U.K.

Danish Wind Industry Association
introductory technical guide, in English

U.S. Department of Energy

U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change


Useful fact:  Western Denmark used only 16% of its wind plant production in 2003.
[ top   papers   reference   resources   groups   industry   news ]

N E W S   &   B L O G S

National Wind Watch (U.S. & international, with global and local feeds)

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