Birds in the Veg-o' matic
I've been doing quite a bit of digging for info and articles on wind power. Most of what I find from a simple google search is about who's researching the feasability where. What I'm interested in is the environmental impact, ie how many birds are getting killed. Truthfully, very few articles (I browsed at least 30) even mentioned birds. Here's one that reports on some bird-mortality research, but it's pretty optimistic.
Another approach to the subject is from the Renewable Energy Access site. This article gives a bit of basic info on wind power, and claims that "the cost of wind power has dropped dramatically - by almost 90 percent - over the past 20 years. Today, wind power can be competitive with fossil-fuel generators if stable, supportive policies are in place." The article then complains that the wind industry is getting yanked around regarding the tax credits it receives, which hinders the continuous development of the technology. The article is then followed by some amusing bickering in the comments section.
This seems like an area where the gov't is hindering the natural market process by getting in everyone's way. I think people want alternative energy sources, and are willing to support it's development, even at a slightly higher short-run cost. Now, more than ever, the American public has it's eyes open to the reality of our dependence on fossil fuels, and our relationship to the countries that supply our oil. Are we the Baptists or the Bootleggers?
posted by lisa @ 4:32 PM
4 Comments:
I can't speak for everyone but I would have to say that I am more of a bootleggr when it comes to the search for alternative fuel sources. I know its bad but I don't really care all that much about pollution, at least not enough for that to be my reasoning for finding other fuel sources. My reasoning would go along exactly with what you mentioned about being dependent on other countries for fuel. To me that is the main reason why we need to find other sources, not to protect the environment even though that does sound better emotionally. So I would be the bootlegger that rinds the wind of the baptist preaching for cleaner air.
Like in anything else, to succeed your idea must be feasable. Certainly at first, there will be failure, but eventually the cream rises to the crop. I, personally, would love to see more alternative power sources, but have yet to really see a big difference in favor of them. So I am a bootlegger until we see some quality improvement
Personally I strongly believe that every decision, every choice has long and very unpredictible consequences. I weigh each attempting predict as many of the consequences as possible, and look if the ends justfy the means, in some cases they do some dont. On wind power i really find them quite ugly, and they sure take alot of open away in my opinion. By golly I really like birds, so the idea that they may be harmed more by this concerns me. (Now the other types may hurt just as much too). But on this i would probably be a bootlegger.
Each month I receive two power bills from Utah Power. One is for a house my wife and I recently bought and the other is for the house we are currently “sitting”. Each bill has attached to the enclosed envelope a slip you can tear off, fill out, and return with your bill if you are interested. The slip is an offer to buy renewable energy. If I enroll, I agree to pay an extra charge of $1.95 per 100 kwh block I buy on my monthly electricity bill. Should I choose to do this Utah Power will make additional renewable energy sources on my behalf and I can cancel my enrollment at anytime. I have never tried it. It makes me feel good to think I might be doing something honorable if I did but not good enough. There is no direct and exclusive benefit to me for doing so. In fact I dug the slips out of the garbage (I remembered that I had paid those two bills today) to write this comment.
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