“Back in 1977 when the US Department of Energy (DOE) was established, a major part of its mission was to help protect American from the OPEC cartel. While the mission has changed in recent years towards mitigating ‘anthropogenic’ climate change, a trace of consumer focus still exists and should be reemphasized.”
“With a renewed focus on energy consumers and less on environmental cronyism, DOE can gain newfound respect from the American public and help drive a resurgent economy.”
On February 24, a Presidential Executive Order, Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda, was signed by President Trump which, according to Bloomberg News, “will impose additional oversight on government regulations, designating officials within government agencies who will monitor rule-making and identify needed policy changes.”
Earlier on Wednesday, January 25, 2017, E&E Daily published an article titled “Barton, Perry to team up on plan to ‘revamp’ agency.”…
Continue Reading“Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt” – Mark Twain
… Continue Reading“Consider a narrow river valley below a high dam, such that if the dam burst, the resulting flood of water would drown people for a considerable distance downstream. When attitude pollsters ask people downstream of the dam how concerned they are about the dam’s bursting, it’s not surprising that fear of a dam burst is lowest far downstream, and increases among residents increasingly close to the dam.
Surprisingly, though … the concern falls off to zero as you approach closer to the dam! That is, the people living immediately under the dam, the ones most certain to be drowned in a dam burst, profess unconcern. That’s because of psychological denial: the only way to preserve one’s sanity while looking up everyday at the dam is to deny the possibility that it could burst.”
“Wind turbines and associated MET towers are encroaching on aviation air space, and safety concerns are growing worldwide.”
Editor’s note: This is the fifth (of six) in a series examining opportunities of the Trump Administration to correct harmful wind energy-related policies.
Last month, a single engine plane collided with a wind turbine in Germany killing the pilot and shattering the aircraft. The appalling tragedy was reported as a rare occurrence, but few realize that in the U.S. alone at least ten people have lost their lives in fatal aviation accidents involving collisions with U.S. sited wind turbines and meteorological (MET) towers.
The table below lists these accidents, six in all.
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U.S. Fatal Aviation Accidents |
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| Date | Location | Fatality | Activity | Information | |||||
| Dec 15, 2003 | Vansycle, OR | Yes, 2 | Transport (MET) | NTSB Accident ID SEA04LA027 | |||||
| May 19, 2005 | Ralls, TX | Yes, 1 | Ag Spray (MET) |
NTSB Accident ID DFW05LA126 | |||||
| Jan 10, 2011 | Oakley, CA | Yes, 1 | Ag Spray (MET) | NTSB Accident ID WPR11LA094 | |||||
| Aug 5, 2013 | Balko, OK | Yes, 1 | Ag Spray (MET) | NTSB Accident ID CEN13FA465 | |||||
| Apr 27, 2014 | Highmore, SD | Yes, 4 | Transport (Turbine) | NTSB Accident ID CEN14FA224 | |||||
| Aug 19, 2016 | Ruthton, MN | Yes, 1 | Ag Spray (MET) | NTSB Accident ID CEN16LA326 | |||||
Wind and Collisions
The most well-known incident occurred the night of April 27, 2014, just ten miles south of the airport in Highmore, South Dakota.…
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