salemwindfacts

Chris Senie, the attorney supporting those opposing the proposed Winter Island wind turbine, has been hired by WindWise Duxbury to create fear and confusion about the impact of a community-scale wind turbine. From the Boston Globe:

In a recent Salem News letter, William Story suggests we err on the side of caution when it comes to global climate change. We need to make a commitment to the future of the planet, and begin taking steps, large and small, away from our reliance on fossil fuels.

I feel strongly that the proposed wind turbine on Winter Island, even though it will generate far less energy than the power plant on Fort Avenue, will have a relatively significant and positive impact on the citizens of Salem. Perhaps equally significant is that it will be another incremental and symbolic step to a worldwide commitment that eventually must be made. Read more.

In a two to one vote, the Ipswich town meeting voted to allow town selectman to lease land and begin the process for eventually installing a second wind turbine on Town Farm Road. If you haven’t taken a trip up to Ipswich to see the turbine erected this past spring, it’s well worth the time. Find out for yourself what it feels like to stand next to this beautiful wind machine.

Yesterday I saw Windfall, a film about the controversy over wind turbines in the upstate New York community of Meredith. Overall, it’s a pretty good film, showing how the big corporations pitted neighbors against neighbors by trying to get land leases for turbines on farmers’ lands. I’m suspicious, too, about big commercial power companies and their investors who want to make money. These folks, whether promoting wind or fracking or nuclear power could care less about the impact of their projects on local communities. The Meredith citizens conclude that, though they don’t want to make their community available to commercial wind companies, they might want a community-scale wind project that they would own and benefit from. That’s what we’re looking at in Salem. A community-owned turbine benefits us, the taxpayers, not a commercial wind company.

What I didn’t like about the film is that it left misinformation unchallenged. For example:

• Wind turbines spin at 150 miles per hour. Really, the blades turn a 6 miles per hour.
• Wind turbine accidents are something to fear. The turbine could collapse or catch on fire. These are extremely rare events. A plane can fall out of the sky, too, but that doesn’t mean that we are going to end the aviation industry or that millions of people are going to stop flying.
• Wind turbines are decimating bat populations. A couple of recent studies suggests that bats and wind turbines don’t mix well. However, scientists looking at this issue believe that there are strategies for mitigating the problem, just as strategies have been found to reduce bird fatalities.