[Editor note: This is the third except of a January 15 letter to the Senate Finance Committee concerning the Baucus tax-reform proposal of December 18, 2013. Part I reprinted the executive summary and conclusions; Part II the high cost/low value of windpower; and Part IV will review the negative environmental effects of continued subsidization of windpower, including the “cleanliness” standard of the Baucus proposal.]

For more than a decade, the wind industry and its advocates have created a false impression among many in the public, media, and government that electricity from wind is “clean” and can be provided without adverse environmental and ecological impacts.

As demonstrated earlier, the production of electricity from wind actually results in emission of air pollutants because electric grid managers are forced by the availability of electricity from wind to keep other, generally fossil-fueled, generating units immediately available to compensate for the unreliability, intermittence, and volatility of the output from wind turbines.…

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy & environmental policies. Our basic position is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science. It’s all spelled out at WiseEnergy.org, which is a wealth of energy and environmental resources.

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every 3 weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and environmental matters. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

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Wind Energy: Production Tax Credit (PTC)

Chicago Tribune Editorial: Let the wind subsidy blow away

Alexander: Ending Wind Subsidy a Good Way to Celebrate New Year, ++

Overhaul the energy tax-credit system

Wind Subsidy Death was the Right Decision…

Baucus Senate Finance Energy Tax Proposal Comments

Energy Tax Reform: Scrap the Baucus Proposal

“The world of wind energy lobbyists, developers, and their ‘environmental group’ advocates is one in which up is down, black is white, loud is quiet, double talk is the lingua franca, and the U.S. Constitution does not apply.”

Testimony of Kevon Martis Concerning Sub. SB 58 & HN 302, Ohio Senate and House Public Utilities Committees, November 13, 2013.

I would like to thank the committee for this opportunity to testify today. I have a BA in History from the University of Michigan. I have also served as the vice-chairman of the Riga Township planning commission as well as the vice-chairman of the Lenawee County Rural Land Use Committee. I lecture widely across the Michigan on wind-energy zoning matters. I have testified before the Michigan House Energy and Tech committee on energy policy and am a resource for legislators from both sides of the aisle.…

“When I returned to work this past summer, I felt completely different. The noise at the refinery wasn’t just oil traveling through the pipes, it was the blood of civilization pumping triumphantly. Every day, humans continue to choose fossil fuel energy because it is one of the best forms of energy, and I work at a refinery, helping people to use that energy.”

Here’s the scene.

You’re at a party. You’ve just been introduced to someone and you’re making small talk and exchanging information. Where are you from? What brings you here? Work? What do you do for a living?

Easy questions, right? Not if you work in the oil industry—because you have every reason to expect a negative response when you answer them. You hesitate and shift your weight, preparing for the coming judgment.…