Wind Mills Camp Allegheny 2

The continuation of the "Wind Mills Camp Allegheny" thread.

Martin

The list of things that you oppose is infinite, please post something that you support that will help the Co.

Let's get some facts straight: 1. Going onto the McBride property by the West Virginia Boundary Commission was to my understanding an official act. This was not a private matter even if it had not been ordered or directed by writ of a court or state agency. 2. The Boundary Commission was repopulated and then directed by the Governor of West Virginia to determine the State line at the request of the County Commission. 3. All three County Commissioners were invited by the Boundary Commission to attend this firsthand look. 4. Although on private property, this project is subject to much oversight and regulation by the State of Virginia and Highland County and, if the boundary of our State has been crossed, by the State of West Virginia. 5. The press was there as well hoping to further inform the public about the controversies surrounding the project.
The State of West Virginia has a duty to determine the reach and power of its jurisdiction.
Refusal to allow the press and County Commission onto the property for this boundary matter does not seem to me to invite further dialogue.

Watchful Eye, Please see letters from the Governor of West Virginia posted in this forum under heading "Governor Manchin Appoints Boundary Commission" as to the question of whether or not this was an official act.
The question of private property is always complex. I am a property owner too. But no one lives as an island and I believe that constructive dialogue to find common ground is important for a successful community. I must respectfully disagree with your representation that I oppose "progress or development". There are many forms or progress and development which have nothing to do with wind turbines or factories: educational opportunities, creating healthy communities where quality of life is fostered, internet high speed infrastructure, developing a strong common vision are areas of progress which to me are the bedrock of success. Achievement of these basic objectives will create greater opportunities for jobs and a strong economy that will uncoordinated actions. I was at the High School last week talking with the Civics Class. One of the issues, of course, was keeping our young people here and growing our community.

Marty SAffer is doing what he was elected to do! I am proud of him. This little matter would have been covered up if it had not been for him and David. Reta was sitting on her laurels when she should have been taking action.

No difference than the sewer issue. Still having politicians decide what to do with private land. Mr. Saffer is not representing mine or a vast majority of voters' interests.

As of July 2009, Pocahontas County unemployment rate was 11.3%. 300 people putting money into the stores did not help to alleviate the plight of the unemployed. In fact the unemployment rate from last summer, July 2008 to July 2009 increased by 5.6 %(http://www.bls.gov/ro3/wvlaus.htm). Now what impact did those 300 folks have on our economy? I have no qualms with the preservation of historical sites, but it must be done so with regard to the future. Furthermore, there has been very little movement on the part of the CC to engage the educational community in conversation about what is needed to promote an increase in the graduation rate (high school and post secondary) and to return those graduates to the workforce within the county. The educational community has been promoting GED programs,career and educational counseling services for both students and adults, yet in all my years of working in education there has consistently been less than a cooperative spirit between the two organizations.

I have the right to complain about my officials because I voted and have voted for the 25+ years I have lived in this community. My "agenda" is about quality of life and providing for those that have made this county as wonderful as it is. Tourism is not the answer, it is part of the solution, but more needs to done to alleviate the despair that many within this community are experiencing.

The "runinazation" (sp) of a tourist's experience is not an issue. The sustanibility of our communities and lifting citizens from the repression of poverty most certainly is.

Ruth Bland
aka Watchful Eye

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. We have a lot of hard work to do to in all areas if Pocahontas County is to live up to its potential. Ad we need more folks to lend a hand. People who don't vote and don't lift a finger to improve things should simply keep their mouths shut.
There is not a single, simple answer to our economic problems. However, you've got to admit two things: First, tourism brings money we need into the county. Second, trashing one of the county's tourist attractions for no local gain whatsoever can't possibly help. The 300 folks who visited here last summer may have only spent a few thousand dollars in our local stores. But that is real money. And it justifies our representatives' efforts to protect Camp Allegheny.
This county is blessed with some very talented people who are working hard to improve our economy and preserve our natural and cultural heritage. Even if we doen't agree with everything they are doing, they are trying to help.
We might be better off if more folks heeded poet Dylan's phrase "get out of the road if you can't lend a hand."
Being negative about folks who are trying to do things for the people is positively not the answer.
Rich Laska

Ruth Bland, Thanks for putting your name with your remarks. Your statement "Fine with me that Joe appointed or reactivated a WV Boundary Commission. But their job needed to be done without you present. Step back and let them do their job and quit using "political muscle" to advance your agenda." is not accurate. I was invited by the Boundary Commission to attend their initial survey, as were my other two County Commissioners. As the Governor appointed these people, I felt it would be my duty to accept their invitation. It was not advancing any agenda but rather doing my job as County Commission President to accept their invitation. As an educator you certainly must be sympathetic to my call that education is a corner stone of success. There are no short term fixes to the problems that you describe nor easy answers. If we work as a community we can improve the long term outcome.

If they build 19 wind turbines 400 feet from what is now a pristine mountaintop site, don't you think that will ruin the view? And if industrial wind turbines overshadow battlefield which currently looks like it did 150 years ago (exception that the 300 soldiers' bodies are not scattered about), don't you think that cheapens our history?
As for industrial wind turbines, the only reason they are being built at all is that we taxpayers are subsidizing them to such an extent that investors will to get around 50% per year on their investment. Most of that directly from us. Out of our pockets in the form of tax hikes and rate hikes.
There is nothing 'green' about wind power. It will be as bad as DDT was for the raptors.
The wind industry has waged an awesome PR campaign to get Americans to think 'wind is green.' For example, GE, one of the world's largest wind turbine makers, owns NBC, Telemundo and 27 US television stations. That's one reason the publicity about wind power has been so one-sided.
Folks who point out flaws in wind industry claims are hounded to silence by paid industry 'spokesmen'. If you don't believe that, look back in the conversations on this site. You'll find strangers weighing in on the topic. They are clearly not paid to tell the truth.
If you want to learn about wind power, look up Brightsideacres.com. It was put together by someone who lives part time on The Old Pike. It is amazing what she has uncovered...
I personally believe that small wind systems can be very useful. I own two of them and they provide much of my electricity. And I think industrial wind turbines (almost a thousand times bigger than my windmills) may make sense offshore where they can catch sea breezes and supply nearby demand.
However, industrial wind facilities are being built in West Virginia for the same reason that our forests have been clear cut and our mountains are being leveled for coal: Because we don't have the power to control our own future. West Virginians have little or no say over our own resources. We can't even influence the folks who exploit our public resources for private gain because the money they get follows the power... It all goes out of state. Except that which stays here to elect industry-friendly politicians.
If you want a short answer as to why West Virginia doesn't have the resources it needs for first-class schools and effective employment programs, just look at how tiny a percentage of the revenue from coal exploitation stays in state. When's the last time you heard a West Virginia politician call for us to keep a bigger slice of the profits made by the coal companies?
Yes, I know. Never.

Thank you Jim. There are more folks out there that share my same views. I'm tired of a very vocal minority determining the fate of our county. Jim, if you can encourage those that are interested in the same views as I, tell them to let their commissioners know. Do it through this forum, or pick up the phone and call, write a letter, or go see them personally. I'm not the lone voice on this issue.

Mr. Laska - I respect your views and opinions. The idea that the turbines will cheapen our history is not an issue in my opinion. Many, many state and national parks have commercial and industrial businesses surrounding them. Been to Gettysburg, Manassas, the Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone? I do agree that we have absolutely beautiful spots in Pocahontas County and most certainly those spots must be preserved, but again, a balance of the old and new must be struck.

My research is different than yours when it comes to wind turbines. And, although I agree with you on the coal issue, I'm stumped as to why you would want that to continue by not looking for alternative sources of energy and to stop the monopoly that Allegheny Power has on the citizens here. By the way, your bills are sent to Allegheny Power in Greensburg, PA - the old West Penn power, the same company that provided the power in my hometown outside of Pittsburgh. Kind of scary to think that they own the power grid within a 500 mile radius of their headquarters. Yeah, they're part of that coal thing! By the way, the antiquated tax system is another reason that schools aren't funded and programs aren't available to our citizens - it is time for that system to have a huge overhaul.

I'm afraid I'm not a fan of big industry. I lived for three years in northern New Jersey. It was never dark, never quiet -- and it stank. If that's what you want for Pocahontas County, that's what you will get. For those who think industry means jobs, the unemployment rate in New Jersey is about 10 percent.
As for wind energy, it has already raised electric bills and taxes. And wind will not reduce our use of coal. Electric bills will go up. To adapt to the unpredictability of wind energy, the entire electric grid needs to be upgraded. That will cost billions. For the Highland turbines alone, rate payers around here will be shelling out $1.2 million for a new dedicated substation.
Plus there is a 2.1 cent per kilowatt hour tax on every kilowatt hour produced by the turbines. That shows up in your Federal tax bill, not on your electric bill.
Plus, with all the Federal subsidies (in the first year the developer gets back 30% of his investment, tax free), industrial wind facilities will cost the taxpayers far more than they produce in tax revenue. By a factor of ten or more.
We have higher priorities than subsidizing rich industrial facilities that don't produce long-term jobs, don't you think?
And wind power generated around here will have little or no impact on our need for coal. Even little children know that wind is unpredictable. It can be blowing hard one minute and calm the next. Unless you go six miles up to the stratosphere...
In order to maintain a constant supply of electricity, coal-fired power plants must keep their boilers hot and pressurized, and keep their turbines spinning at 3,600 rpm. That means burning a lot of coal without producing one watt of useful power.
They must keep their boilers hot because, when the wind quits, they'll have only a few minutes to make up the power or we'll have a major blackout. If coal power plants try to reduce coal demand by letting the plant cool down, it would take several days to start it up. Days, not minutes.
Oh, I almost forgot: The greatest demand for electricity within 500 miles of here is for air conditioning. In the summer. When there is very little wind. So we will keep burning coal until we either reduce demand or build new nuclear plants.
The only thing green about industrial wind turbines is the color of the tax money they will be 'harvesting.'
We have far more urgent needs for that money than to subsidize a bunch of super-wealthy investors who want to avoid paying any taxes whatsoever. Lest we forget, by far the highest effective tax rates (including sales taxes and Social Security) are paid by those earning less than $250,000 per year. The rich in America are subsidized by what's left of the middle class. And every time they cut taxes, it's the tax rates for the wealthy that are cut. Not the rates for folks around here.
Rich

Jim,
I wrote an eight page reply which ended up boring even me. Please bear with me while I try to explain my views in a more lucid manner. I'm not opposing the question. some of my earliest memories were filling the coal-fired furnace in our basement, We burned shiny, hard coal which cost $2.75 per ton, delivered.
Back in the early 1950's our house used more than 60% of the heat value out of coal. That made sense.
Today's power plants get about 30% percent of the heat value out. The rest is waste heat and greenhouse gasses.
The fact that it has taken us half a century to become half as efficient in our use of coal strikes me as being too stupid to discuss. At least at this late hour.
I need a good night's sleep.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Mr. Laska,

I grew up in the shadow of the great steel mills of Pittsburgh, the massive Westinghouse Electric Plants at both East Pittsburgh and Cheswick, and the glass industry in Jeanette, Pennsylvania - Westmoreland Glass, Jeannette Glass, also known as the "Glass House." All of those staples of industry from the pre WWII to the early eighties are now gone from the Pittsburgh area. My father worked for 41 years for Westinghouse at both Cheswick and EP, in the nuclear division (made the pumps for the Nautilus) and in the Large Rotating Apparatus Division. I understand large industrial plants and the towns that were built around those plants. I also understand the despair and the desperation for jobs that my neighbors experienced when the steel industry came crashing down.

Importing foreign steel and petroleum was a huge issue and to this day, the US imports close to $46 billion worth of foreign petroleum and petroleum products per year. Steel and petroleum are closely related. Those figures come from the US Dept of Energy.

Nationwide, the power grid is outdated. Over $206 billion per year is passed onto to the consumers to keep the grid working.

The environment has felt the brunt of a 50% increase in the carbon content of air since the beginning of the 1900's.

I think we need to explore and experiment with earth energies and we need to stop looking at single solutions that ignore the problems in other arenas. The import of foreign steel effected all the different industries and hence the widespread loss of work and income to the good people of the Pittsburgh area. It is a snowball effect and it is time we look at the whole picture, not bits and pieces.

Disent is as American as apple pie.

Rich

Maybe I misunderstood your comments and I apreciate that insults were not the intent. I agree with most of the "wise use" statements. If we want this nation to survive we have to endure somethings we don't particularly like. But as a nation we need inexpensive energy. We must move back to a producing nation istead of a consuming nation and service oreinted economy.

As for your dislike of large corporations, I have no problem with them as long as a they keep production in the states. Profit is not a dirty word and I have never been employed by a poor person. I think the big picture right now is the survival of the nation in the world economy.

Your responses reveal your opposition to the wind farm, it is simply the turbines proximity to your property. The McBrides own their property I respect those property rights just as you expect people to respect your property rights.

North Carolina Senate Rejects Mountaintop Wind Farms
Environment & Climate News > November 2009
Environment > Energy
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Written By: Bonner R. Cohen
Published In: Environment & Climate News > November 2009
Publication date: 11/01/2009
Publisher: The Heartland Institute

The North Carolina Senate has voted overwhelmingly to ban commercial wind farms from the state’s picturesque western mountain ranges.

With its 42 to 1 vote, the Senate appears to have dealt a near-fatal blow to prospects for commercial generation of wind energy in the Tar Heel State.

The Senate vote came on August 6, at the end of the legislative session, leaving no time for the House to take up the bill.

Proponents of wind farms are expected to seek to revive support for mountaintop wind complexes, but the near-unanimous Senate vote illustrates strong statewide opposition.

Few Viable Sites

As is true of most southern states, most of North Carolina lacks sufficient wind for giant turbines to produce enough energy to make wind farms commercially viable, even with generous federal subsidies.

Only in the highest peaks of North Carolina’s segment of the Appalachian Mountains, some of which soar well above 6,000 feet, is there a relatively constant flow of wind. But these areas, with their spectacular waterfalls and riveting rock formations, have a natural beauty lawmakers do not want blighted by gigantic wind turbines.

In 1983, North Carolina enacted the Mountain Range Protection Act, known as the Ridge Law, which generally prohibits construction along the state’s ridgelines of buildings and other structures higher than 40 feet. The Ridge Law, however, makes an exception for traditional windmills on rural residential property. Proponents of wind power had hoped to expand the definition to include commercial wind turbines.

Residential Turbines Allowed

The wind energy industry supported in this year’s legislative session a bill to establish a permitting process for wind farms in other counties in the state. Fearing that could open the door to construction of wind farms in the mountains, legislators from western counties amended the bill to remove any ambiguity surrounding the Ridge Law’s restrictions on construction on ridgelines.

Under the Senate bill, traditional windmills up to approximately 100 feet in height will be allowed to generate electricity for residences in the mountains. But giant commercial wind turbines, which can be as much as 500 feet tall, are prohibited.

Renewable Mandates Loom

Legislators who thought the Senate vote would once and for all keep the state’s mountains from being blighted by wind farms may be in for a nasty surprise, however.

In 2007 the General Assembly passed a law requiring utilities to generate 7.5 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2021. Wind power, for all its flaws, is perhaps the most viable way to meet that mandate in the state.

“The legislature created this problem of having wind turbines in the mountains when it passed a law mandating utilities to buy renewable energy,” said Daren Bakst, a legal and regulatory analyst with the Raleigh-based John Locke Foundation. “Without this mandate, nobody would ever develop wind farms, because of their high costs. So long as there is a mandate to buy renewable energy, there will be intense pressure to build massive commercial wind turbines in the mountains.

“If the legislators were really concerned about this issue, they’d get rid of the mandates,” Bakst said.

Bonner R. Cohen, Ph.D. (bonnercohen@comcast.net) is a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research in Washington, DC.

WV Boundary Commission says Wind Developer survey ok

http://www.pocahontastimes.com/index.php?id=1060

www.pocahontastimes.com/index.php?id=1060

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/?p=32893

I can't imagine any real benefit to a unique rural community like Pocahontas County that relies on tourism, timber, farming and a beautiful environment as the foundation for its economic life. I say again that our best road to the future is to travel the longer and more challenging route encouraging education and developing a strong healthy community which produces an enviable quality of life rather than looking for seemingly quick solutions giving over to industries that take our land and leave behind scars and towering monuments to our inability to do better for ourselves.

Attractions? Is a mountain with its top removed an attraction? Are power line corridors attractions? We don't need attractions, we need to concentrate on our existing assets rather than surrendering them and our initiatives to others to take advantage of our inertia. Do you really think that skiers and folks coming to Watoga are going to want to come here to see wind turbines? "I lift mine eyes unto the hills" to see?

Case 8:09-cv-01519-RWT Document 63 Filed 12/08/09 Page 1 of 2

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

ANIMAL WELFARE *
INSTITUTE, et al., *

Plaintiffs *

v.

• Case No.: RWT 09cv1519

BEECH RIDGE ENERGY LLC, et al., *

Defendants.

• *

ORDER

Upon consideration of Plaintiff Animal Welfare Institute, Mountain Communities
for Responsible Energy, and David G. Cowan’s Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive
Relief [Paper No. 1], the memoranda of the parties and the testimony and evidence
presented at trial on October 21-23, and 29, 2009, it is, for the reasons stated in the
accompanying Memorandum Opinion, this 8th day of December, 2009, by the United
States District Court for the District of Maryland,

ADJUDGED AND DECLARED, that construction and operation of wind
turbines (except as hereinafter provided) by Defendants Beech Ridge Energy LLC and
Invenergy Wind LLC at the Beech Ridge Project site, located in Greenbrier County, West
Virginia, will violate § 9 of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1538(a)(1)(B),
unless and until Defendants obtain an Incidental Take Permit pursuant to 16 U.S.C.
§ 1539(a)(1)(B); it is further

ORDERED, that Defendants Beech Ridge Energy LLC and Invenergy Wind
LLC are ENJOINED, directly or indirectly, and whether alone or in concert with others,

Case 8:09-cv-01519-RWT Document 63 Filed 12/08/09 Page 2 of 2

from the date of this Order and unless and until they obtain an Incidental Take Permit
pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1539(a)(1)(B), from:

(1)
constructing any additional turbines at the Beech Ridge Project site
beyond the forty turbines that they have already begun to construct; and
(2)
operating any turbines at the Beech Ridge Project site between April 1 and
November 15 in any calendar year; and it is further
ORDERED, that Plaintiffs are advised that should they wish to recover costs of
this litigation pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1540(g)(4), they must file a motion articulating
why such relief is warranted, accompanied by a fee application in conformity with
Appendix B of the Local Rules of this Court, no later than February 1, 2010; and it is
further

ORDERED, that the Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to administratively close this
case.

/s/
ROGER W. TITUS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

The key sentence in the court's decision is this:
"The development of wind energy can and should be encouraged, but wind turbines must be good neighbors."
Good neighbors tell the truth, abide by the law, refrain from personal attacks, respect what belongs to their neighbors and pay their fair share of taxes.
That is what good neighbors do.
To date, the record in West Virginia proves that industrial wind companies are not good neighbors. In fact, they are the opposite of good neighbors.
Perhaps it is because the companies don't think of themselves as neighbors at all. They are merely "investors" who have neither the motivation, nor the desire, to be good citizens.
In truth, industrial wind developers are strangers to neighborly ways. They are strangers who want to steal for themselves what belongs to all of us. They want to steal our history. They want to steal our God-given natural beauty. And they want to hijack our Constitutional rights.
Industrial wind companies want it all. They intend to leave us with nothing. Without jobs. Without tax revenue. Without silence. And without the nurturing calm of wild places.
They will steal that which makes Pocahontas County special. Unique.
Industrial wind companies want all of that. And they will take it. Unless we we care enough to protect what is ours.
This is a test.
RML

This debate ought to be about the costs and benefits of industrial wind energy. Mentioning individual names and personal family matters is not helpful. I have carefully avoided doing so and will not comment about the people whose names Mr. Davidson uses, often without their permission. Therefore, his description of a “relentless attack” by me on a person and a family is specious. It is obvious to anyone who reads his posting that it is Davidson, not me, who is listing names and making personal attacks.
Mr. Davidson asks how 19 industrial turbines taller than the Statue of Liberty could harm the natural beauty of this county. Is he serious? A bunch of 40-story spinning turbines as long as a football field will obviously ruin the view from any high point in the north county. And it will start a march of hundreds of turbines along all of our high ground until there will be no point in this entire county that won’t be overshadowed by a turbine. Highland’s project already has future plans to build many more turbines. Soon, with the noise in the daytime and the blinking red lights at night, living here will be like living at the end of an airport runway. With one exception. When an airport is built, the people have a voice in its construction.
As for being neighborly, a few weeks ago the developer personally threatened to call the police if our County Commissioners dared to walk with the state boundary commissioners along the state border. If Mr. Davidson thinks that it’s ‘neighborly’ to threaten to call the cops against the peoples’ representatives who are on the peoples’ business, we are lucky that he doesn’t live here.
Mr. Davidson shows his cards when he describes the Highland industrial wind project as a “small family wind farm.” That is a gross distortion. The project will be the largest, most intrusive industrial facility located on or near the ridges of Pocahontas County. To claim, as he does, that it will have “minimal impact” upon anything beyond the site is like saying that the destruction of the World Trade Center had ‘minimal impact’ beyond a few city blocks in lower Manhattan. It is both disrespectful of the truth and an insult to our intelligence.
Regarding the claim that the developers want “nothing more then to create clean renewable energy:” Is that true? They don’t really want the $26-million in tax money they could pocket in their first year of operation? If it is true, the developers will gladly sign a contract to distribute the money to the good people of Pocahontas and Highland Counties. The Highland developers can quickly prove that Mr. Davidson is an honest man writing us a check. We are waiting...
All Americans support the right of landowners to manage their own property without government interference. But a $26-million Federal cash subsidy is government interference of the worst sort. The $26 million should go to education or health care or road repair. Instead, it is going into private pockets. If privately owned and privately operated industrial wind turbines cannot be built on private land without huge public payoffs, they should not be built. Government bailout of wealthy corporations is not capitalism. And it is not the American way.
As for claiming that wind energy is an alternative to mountaintop removal for coal, that argument doesn’t hold water. Folks who believe it need to educate themselves about our electric grid.
As any kite-flying ten-year-old knows, the wind is unpredictable. Hour-to-hour and minute-to-minute wind can change. Because of that fact, and to avoid crippling blackouts, the utilities will continue burning coal so that the power grid can instantly satisfy demand when the wind suddenly stops.
The result? Instead of burning coal to meet demand, with industrial wind turbines on the grid we will be burning almost as much coal just to ANTICIPATE demand. You can’t just flip a switch and start up a coal-fired power plant. It takes three days or longer to bring a closed plant back on line. Therefore, coal-fired power plants must be kept running at all times. With industrial wind turbines added to the grid, the power companies will continue to destroy our mountains to dig coal, plus they will desecrate our ridges to exploit the wind. Add to that the countless eagles and other flying creatures that will be sliced up by turbine blades moving 200 miles per hour and it is clear that industrial wind is a lose-lose situation for the public.
One final comment about the ‘wind is green’ delusion -- demand for electricity in the Virginia area is highest in the summer when there is little or no wind energy. That’s a fact familiar to mountaineers.
On a personal note, unlike most supporters of industrial wind turbines, I live here. My goal is to protect what makes Pocahontas County unique. Fighting against industrial wind development has cost me a lot of time and money. And it’s emotionally exhausting to confront such a powerful, well-financed and secretive industry.
All I seek is the truth. Given the facts, I have faith that the people will make a wise choice.
In this email, I have presented a whole host of facts. Now it is time for the industrial wind folks to respond.
We want to hear the wind industry’s explanation of rising electricity rates that make Pocahontas County residents pay for private industrial wind plants. Why are West Virginians paying more than $1.2 million to benefit the Highland project when, as Mr. Davidson admits, all the power is going to Virginia? Let’s hear the industry’s justification for building turbines which, just like DDT half a century ago, will kill countless eagles, hawks and bug-eating bats. And why, if industrial wind energy is so useful, does the industry feeds off an $80 billion subsidy from the Federal government?
I expect the defenders of industrial wind to come right back with the same false charges they have used before. Because they cannot tolerate a discussion based on objective information. If Mr. Davidson can add anything substantive to this debate, it will be a welcome change of tactics on his part. Otherwise, he should show some respect for both the truth and the people and leave county matters to the county folks who’ll have to live with the consequences.
One final note -- I responded to Mr. Davidson because he addressed me directly and because so many of his statements begged to be corrected. And I have politely added relevant, objective information. If he or his friends choose to view my comments as personal attack, that is their personal problem -- not mine. They need to step back, count to ten, and begin to act in good faith. This is a very important debate about the future of this county. Let us behave accordingly.
Rich Laska

The email from Mr. Davidson fails to address any of my clear, specific questions. He merely changes the subject. Again. He demands taht I provide him with a whole library of reference material. As a result, we still don’t have the wind industry’s response on even one substantive issue. For example, why are West Virginians paying the $1,200,000 bill for support facilities exclusively for the benefit of an private industrial wind plant whose electricity, as Mr. Davidson points out, will go entirely to another state?

One might have expected a spokesman for the wind industry to have ready answers for at least some of these questions. If people want to better inform themselves about industrial wind plants, the following are a few of the more useful on-line sources. Some of these sources are more informative, and more objective, than others. But if you are willing to do the reading, I think you’ll come to the same conclusion I came to:

Industrial wind turbines on our ridgelines are a waste. A waste of both our money and our environment.

-- Rich Laska

HYPERLINK “http://phe.rockefeller.edu/docs/HeresiesFinal.pdf” http://phe.rockefeller.edu/docs/HeresiesFinal.pdf

HYPERLINK “http://phe.rockefeller.edu/docs/appeaausubel12april.pdf” http://phe.rockefeller.edu/docs/appeaausubel12april.pdf

HYPERLINK “http://www.sepp.org/publications/NIPCC-Feb%2020.pdf” http://www.sepp.org/publications/NIPCC-Feb%2020.pdf

HYPERLINK “http://www.springerlink.com/content/v15t3r4616742150/” http://www.springerlink.com/content/v15t3r4616742150/
HYPERLINK “http://ideas.repec.org” http://ideas.repec.org

http://www.acousticecology.org/scienceresearch.html

www.aweo.org/

HYPERLINK “http://www.ceas.wmich.edu/WITS/newsite” http://www.ceas.wmich.edu/WITS/newsite

johnrsweet.com/personal/wind/index.html

www.culturechange.org/alt_energy.htm

HYPERLINK “http://www.amkherning.dk/Publikationer/poster.pdf/p/hhs/aareco/2002_002.html” www.amkherning.dk/Publikationer/poster.pdf/p/hhs/aareco/2002_002.html

HYPERLINK “http://www.nielsen.com” www.nielsen.com

www.nrel.gov/learning/re_wind.html

www.directindustry.com/industrial.../wind-turbine-73614.html

HYPERLINK “http://www.middlebury.edu/NR/rdonlyres/...4138.../WindTurbineDataSheet.doc” www.middlebury.edu/NR/rdonlyres/...4138.../WindTurbineDataSheet.doc

infoserve.sandia.gov/sand_doc/1980/802469.pdf

www.thewindpower.net/index_en.php - France

www.eia.doe.gov › Renewables and Alternate Fuels

HYPERLINK “http://www.gepower.com/prod_serv/.../wind_turbines/en/.../tech_data.htm” www.gepower.com/prod_serv/.../wind_turbines/en/.../tech_data.htm

HYPERLINK “http://www.aweo.org/faq.html” http://www.aweo.org/faq.html

HYPERLINK “http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_2030.html” http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_2030.html

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i think there the best thing that come in to West Virginia an thay will be the best thing going up an help all of us out a lot just let them be an pray about an put it in Gods hands an if it to be it will be i been up to them an got a coz that work on them an make 22.50 a hour doing it think about the money that you or some can be making by working on them a thay will not hurt the wild life i seen deer up around them looking them over an checking them out just like we are to so let it be an lit evey one do there JOB'S man no one no how to let any thing go at all that way this world is like it is now every one trying tostop some thing that going to help us out an do good for us im just me an one's not like what i say about it i am sorry an sorry about there luck