NIMBY Wind?

Having just returned from a windswept drive around the spectacular Gaspé Peninsula and through northern Maine,  I must report ongoing confusion with the wind power controversy. Some folks think wind turbines are ugly. A pox on the land. Interruptive of nature's majesty. A dangerous environmental concession.

Correct me if I'm wrong,  but these things are beautiful, right?  Stunningly simple, manificent, really. And even more beautiful when one considers the clean energy they conjure .  Juice produced without holes in the ground, pipelines, ocean spills, carbon dioxide or global terrorism.  What could be more logical?

Of course there are trade offs. Birds, a little whir, sometihing man made on the horizon. But let's face it,  a fondness for too much ice cream yields bigger butts, and power generation isn't totally without consequences either.  Seems to me, the aesthetic and environmental trade offs present in wind power are minimal when one considers the upsides, not the least of which is the intrinsic aesthetic of the turbines themselves. Maine's former Governor, Angus King who worked in the demand side management side of the energy business before his political career has founded a new initiative called  Independence WInd and believe you me, if Angus think's it's a good idea, it probably is.   

For heaven's sake! Some countries are so proud of their wind technology they put it on postcards!  It's all a matter of perspective, I suppose.      

 

Comments

['Segun]

It certainly put things in perspective when one looks at the two posted photos side by side. The windmill was never described as an eyesore in it's time; ferocious giants, maybe.. [by Don Quixote].

[Alicia]

This fall, while driving south from Bruce Pennisula to Toronto, we saw a HUGE wind farm. Hundreds of wind mills over miles of land and, oh, how beautiful. A little other worldish but mesmerizing. My only complaint - it was hard to keep my eyes on the road!