Posts Tagged ‘Megawatt Hour’

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