Archive for the ‘Environmental Issues’ Category

In my last post I wrote about the controversy surround wind turbines. Here are a couple of links to news stories about them.

The first story is about the negative effects wind turbines can have, especially when they are placed extremely close to people’s homes.

http://www.globaltv.com/globaltv/ontario/video/index.html?releaseID=1100636061

The second story has to do with Toronto Hydro’s plans to build a wind farm off of the shores of the Scarborough Bluffs in Lake Ontario.

http://www.globaltv.com/globaltv/ontario/video/index.html?releaseID=1101943611

Both are very interesting and I encourage you to watch them.

As I have mentioned before, we need to move towards green energy, but that move can not override all other aspects of life. We need to make sure that we are considering noise levels, wild life, and other environmental impacts. It’s only if we do this that we will truly be able to consider the energy green.

There is a lot of controversy as to the effectiveness and the sustainability of alternative energy sources such as wind turbines. Unfortunately, the sources of information on the subject are usually biased. Finding an honest discussion can be difficult.

Here’s an an excerpt from an interesting article on the subject of wind turbines.

Stevens has the right attitude. If we can discuss the pros and the cons of wind turbines (along with other environmental solutions) we can move towards more effective solutions that cause less problems.

You can find the rest of the article at For and against wind power.

What are we to do when environmentalists are the ones fighting green energy programs? The question is of course, what is green energy?

As I’ve pointed out in previous posts, is it okay to destroy acres of sensitive habitat to generate electricity from the sun or the wind? Sacrificing one part of the environment in order to save another may not be as environmentally friendly as we would like.

President Obama is discovering this. There is opposition from environmental groups with regards to green energy projects - projects that are in direct support of President Obama’s mandate to generate 25% of electricity from green sources by 2025.

The problem may be environmental damage and it may be people not wanting wind turbines in their back yard. The question is, what will be the least amount of damage.

I would have to disagree. It seems to me that generating power with wind turbines is not “taking everything” from them. In addition, he needs to research bird deaths. Although wind turbines do kill birds, so do coal fired plants. In fact, the air pollution from coal fired plants kill more birds than wind turbines per generated megawatt hour.

Still there are environmental problems with the big energy projects. Although birds seem to benefit from wind turbines of coal plants, bats do not. Their respiratory systems are unable to cope with the sudden changes of air pressure near the turbines.

There is also the issue of the damage to the ecosystems that is taking place.

You can read about the struggles that President Obama’s initiatives are facing at Parts of Obama’s Green Energy Plan Fuel Discontent Among Environmentalists