There is lots going on outside of Washington, D.C. when it comes to the environment, and perhaps no issue is bigger than the grassroot revolt against industrial wind parks. Such is not a ploy or plot by Big Oil or Big Coal or big anything. It is a natural reaction by those under a lifestyle assault by a mega-instrusive energy source that is about government dependence, political capitalism, and false environmental dogma–not the common good and environmental progress.
Future historians will no doubt wonder how Big Environmentalism got so far off track to support industrial windpower. A machine in every pristine–is this what environmental elitism at its worst?
“Let’s take back our environment from Big Environmentalism” could be the rallying cry of this new environmental movement. Are such groups as the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and (you fill in the blank) listening?
National Wind Watch
The co-founder and head of National Wind Watch (NWW) is Eric Rosenbloom, who was one of several dozen activists from ten states attending a conference in 2005 from which National Wind Watch was formed. A Vermont resident, Rosenbloom has been NWW’s president since 2006.
New Media Deflates ‘Wind Farm’ Image
Here is a sampling of what the anti-wind grassroots is producing. This list is then followed by a description of National Wind Watch.
http://www.wind-watch.org/video-wisconsin.php
Videos from National Wind Watch
This video is available here via You Tube. It was made by Larry Wunsch of Byron, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, and converted by Rock County Tax-Payers for a Better Renewable Energy Plan.Wind Turbine Noise and Shadow Flicker (Fond du Lac County, Wis.; 8 min.)
More videos are available in the Resource Library:
Welcome to Mars Hill (Maine; 22 min.)
Voices of Tug Hill (Lewis County, N.Y.; 21 min.)
Life Under a Windplant (Meyersdale, Pa.; 26 min.)
Wind Turbine Strobe Lights and Eerie Noises
(Fenner and Wethersfield, N.Y.; 7 min.)
Industrial Wind Energy Information
(compilation from above videos and the “Truth About Industrial Wind Energy” presentations; 39 min.)Wind Turbine Construction (6 min.)
Europe’s Ill Wind (25 min.)
A Taste of What’s Planned (Whitelee, Scotland; 3 min.)
Wind Turbines at Tug Hill (8 min.)
Interviews with Wisconsin Wind Farm Residents
(5 interviews)
Wisconsin Wind (Fond du Lac County and Lincoln Township; 1 hr. 49 min.)
Throwing Caution to the Wind (Port Rowan, Ont.; 7.5 min.)
Helen Fraser Interview (Shelburne, Ont.; 21 min.)
Amaranth Wind Turbines, Noise and Health: Barbara Ashbee Interview (Amaranth, Ont.; 17 min.)
Wind Farms: Is There a Hidden Health Hazard? (Oregon: Wind Turbine Syndrome; 4.5 min.)
Wind Turbine Noise and Shadow Flicker (Dekalb County, Ill.; 10 videos)
What Wind Turbines Sound Like (Fond du Lac County, Wis.; 2.5 min.)
The Wind Isn’t Free (Fond du Lac County, Wis.; 7.5 min.)
Wind Turbine Noise and Shadow Flicker (Fond du Lac County, Wis.; 9 min.)
Industrial Wind Turbine Shadow Flicker in Wisconsin 2008 (Fond du Lac County, Wis.; 2.5 min.)
Shadow Flicker and Noise (Freedom, Maine; 3 videos)
Foliennes — Éoliennes à tout prix? (Québec; 7 videos)
The Wind Farm at Little Bay: How Close Is Too Close? (Hull, Mass.; 11 min.)
The Truth About Industrial Wind Energy (Kansas; 12 presentations)
Protecting Texas (Abilene; 3 min.)
Noise of Turbine in Aberdeenshire (Scotland; 2 min.)
Sound Recording (Wales)
Wind Turbine Breaks Up in Storm (Denmark; 3 videos)
Wind Turbine Collapses (Weatherford, Okla.; 2 min.)
Burning Wind Turbine (Portugal; 4.5 min.)
Wind Turbine Fire (Germany)
Washing Wind Turbine from Helicopter (Spain; 3 min.)
National Protest in France (Paris)
The Battle for Cefn Croes (Wales)
The Destruction of Cefn Croes (photo collection)
Wind Madness (U.K.)
Wind Turbines Are Coming (U.K.)
Living Next Door to a Wind Farm (Australia)
Shadow Flicker (The Netherlands; 3 min.)
Abandoned Wind Farm on the Road to South Point (Hawaii; 14 sec.)
Vulture Fatally Collides With Wind Turbine Blade (Crete; 30 sec./6 min.)
A Rough Wind: The Impact of Industrial Windmill Facilities on Birds and Other Wildlife (Pennsylvania; 20 min.)
Raptors and Wind Turbines (Norway; 6.5 min.)
See more videos at the National Wind Watch You Tube page
(click here)NWW also recommends:
The Politics of Peat
RTE News footage of the bog slides caused by wind facility construction in Derrybrien and other sites in Co. Galway, Ireland (compiled by the Scottish Wind Assessment Project)
Write to SWAP to obtain a copy.
See photos of the Derrybrien slide at North Atlantic Skyline.
Appendix: About National Wind Watch®
National Wind Watch® (NWW) National Wind Watch is a coalition of groups and individuals working to save rural and wild places from heedless industrial wind energy development. Through this web site, NWW promotes awareness of and documents the negative impacts of industrial-scale wind turbines on the environment, economy, and quality of life.
Energy security and the need to reduce pollutants and other emissions are serious issues. Therefore, people should not be distracted by symbolic or “feel-good” gestures that fail to meaningfully address these issues and in fact do substantial harm. NWW advocates an intellectually honest assessment of the benefits and costs of industrial wind development. The objective is to be a resource of information and assistance for individuals and local groups seeking the facts about industrial wind power.
National Wind Watch provides a means for diverse groups to share information and strengthen each other. All of the work for NWW is by unpaid volunteers with many other demands on their time and resources but who consider this effort an important contribution to protecting our world.
NWW receives no support from any industry or political interests. Funding comes only from concerned individuals, representing a broad range of perspectives.
See the FAQ about NWW for more information.
History
In May 2005, citizens from ten states representing several regions of the U.S. met to share their concerns about the risks and related impacts of industrial wind power. National Wind Watch emerged from that conference with the goal of providing a central resource of information and helping to increase communication among “wind warriors”. It is a 501(c)(3) organization registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Wind Watch” is a registered trademark of National Wind Watch, Inc.
Grass roots efforts also include the letter-to-the-editor venue, e.g.:
http://www.roanoke.com
Wind is no energy panacea; Letters, March 28, 2011
By Charles Battig
Battig, of Charlottesville, is a retired physician with an advanced degree in electrical engineering.
Re: “Declare independence from fossil fuels,” March 21 commentary:
To those living in line-of-sight of rotating (not “oscillating,” as Richard Rusk states) turbine blades, the health issues are real enough.
“Wind-turbine Syndrome” was coined by Dr. Nina Pierpont in describing the medical impacts on captive neighbors. Ringing in the ears (tinnitus), headaches, insomnia and nausea are health complaints she documented. Citizens in Canada, Britain, Denmark and France have registered similar complaints to their authorities about nearby wind-turbine installations.
The low-frequency thump, thump, thump is relentless and inescapable, save by moving away. Imagine the negative tourist attraction of an array of rotating blades as they slice and dice the sunset into a headache-inducing light flicker. Their slice-and-dicing of wild birds has earned them the name “Cuisinarts of the air.”
The Federal Aviation Administration considered the impact of this wind turbine installation. I had hoped it would remember the tragic plane crash and death of my neighbor Peter Sheeran at Roanoke Airport last year. Adding the possibility of radar disruption and light flicker to local strong winds makes for less safe flying.
Peak oil? Over the past 30-plus years, we have consumed three times the reserves known in 1976; known reserves are now double the known starting amount. The U.S. has so much natural gas that it has been crowned the “Saudi Arabia of natural gas.”
“The air we breathe is polluted with carbon dioxide,” said Rusk. Really? We exhale about 4 percent carbon dioxide with each breath; it is a necessary plant food; it puts the green in our green environment.
Wind and solar are the least efficient forms of energy compared to coal and oil. Wind power is not dispatchable; you cannot count on it 24/7. Where is the gas-fired, backup power plant to be located providing power when the wind doesn’t blow? Extensive experience in Spain has shown the loss of two jobs for each new green one.
Taxpayers are forced to subsidize these wind turbine projects, bringing financial gain to out-of-town developers. What they get in return is more expensive, less reliable energy and environmental despoilage — nothing to celebrate any day.
Fantastic list of resources, Tom. Thanks. The anti wind movement it would seem has gone mainstream. A group, Belwood, Ontario, has received an environmental award! Thanks again for all your work.
Thank you, I’ve recently been looking for information about this topic for ages and yours is the
greatest I have discovered so far. But, what in regards to
the bottom line? Are you certain concerning the supply?
When a wind turbine is in operation, is grid voltage controlling the operation of the controls/computers? If the grid voltage goes down, is there battery backup to control the operation of the wind turbine?