Proposed Legislation Re: Wind Power

[SCOUT]

There is a bill (2337) that has been proposed by Nick Rahall regarding wind energy. Section D basically requires all new and existing wind generation units to be certified by the Fish and Wildlife service. We constantly hear about the need for renewable energy sources but there seems to be an equal pressure to make it as difficult as possible.

Here are some of the highlights:
- Subtitle D of the bill would direct the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to review every existing and planned wind project, a mandate far beyond the agency's resources and capabilities, and criminalize operation of wind energy facilities not formally certified by USFWS.

-- Under the legislation, landowners and farmers with wind turbines on their property would be subject to invasive inspection requirements.

-- Landowners and farmers could face jail time or a $50,000 penalty for putting a wind turbine, regardless of whether it is for personal use or of a commercial scale, on their property without certification by the USFWS director.

And here is a link to the article I was reading:
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=48596

[Petro-Sooner]

I've said it before and I"ll say it til I'm blue.

Fossil fuels are your friend. Use them. :texan:

[mdklatt]

Ironically, wind power gets the most guff from tree huggers. Most developers already do extensive wildlife impact studies.

[SoonerInKCMO]

Rahall is from West Virginia. I'm shocked. :rolleyes:

Bastards.

[Okla-homey]

Just what we need, the "Windmill Regulatory Division" of the Fish and Wildlife Service within the Department of the Interior. Hopefully, sanity will prevail.

[soonerinabilene]

I know from living in west texas that their is actually a problem with deer getting killed by the turbines. I dont know how deer come into contact with them. All I know is that several times, a deer has gotten sliced up and thrown around them.

[Petro-Sooner]

Just what we need, the "Windmill Regulatory Division" of the Fish and Wildlife Service within the Department of the Interior. Hopefully, sanity will prevail.

But....but..bigger government will solve all our problems.

[mdklatt]

I know from living in west texas that their is actually a problem with deer getting killed by the turbines. I dont know how deer come into contact with them. All I know is that several times, a deer has gotten sliced up and thrown around them.

How the **** does a deer get itself 200 feet into the air?

[Petro-Sooner]

How the **** does a deer get itself 200 feet into the air?

Thats what I was thinking. I know they can jump pretty high but good golly.

[Frozen Sooner]

Yet again proving my thesis that deer are prey for everything. I'm just waiting for some nature show to have an episode where a deer gets eaten by a field of wheat.

[mdklatt]

The weather radar doods in my building aren't too happy with wind power either. Wind farms can mess with a radar signal in certain situations.

[soonerinabilene]

How the **** does a deer get itself 200 feet into the air?

Same question I have. There is a huge wind farm about 20 miles from here, and it happens all the time. They are on top of a plateau. The blades themselves come down much closer than 200 feet. Each unit is surrounded by a thick chain link fence. The theory is that the deer somehow jump onto the top of the fence, and then jump inside the unit. The area used to be a game ranch, so the deer are used to looking for salt licks and feeders. Anyways, sometimes when they jump off the fence, they jump at the same a blade is coming down. Its just a theory, but it pretty interesting.

[GrapevineSooner]

NIMBY

[mdklatt]

Same question I have. There is a huge wind farm about 20 miles from here, and it happens all the time. They are on top of a plateau. The blades themselves come down much closer than 200 feet.

The typical hub height for a commerical turbine is 80 m (or more), and the blades are about 38 m long. That leaves more than 100 feet of ground clearance.

[Petro-Sooner]

trampoline.

[Partial Qualifier]

nike shox.

[Petro-Sooner]

nike shox.

See now your just being ridiculous.

[IronSooner]

Same question I have. There is a huge wind farm about 20 miles from here, and it happens all the time. They are on top of a plateau. The blades themselves come down much closer than 200 feet. Each unit is surrounded by a thick chain link fence. The theory is that the deer somehow jump onto the top of the fence, and then jump inside the unit. The area used to be a game ranch, so the deer are used to looking for salt licks and feeders. Anyways, sometimes when they jump off the fence, they jump at the same a blade is coming down. Its just a theory, but it pretty interesting.

Two words:

Natural.
Selection.

[Stoop Dawg]

Deer are far, far, far from being an endangered species. They are practically begging people to shoot them in WI.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Put :dean: scarecrow thingies inside those fences.

[King Crimson]

it's a great reason to dismiss alternative energy sources, because it yanks up TV weather radars.

enjoy the fact you've been taught to love (and have nostalgia for) 2.50 a gallon gas. and we are spending our childrens children money so the US military can secure the South Caspian oil and build some ridiculous pipeline that is not going to work, ever. never. Clinton blew it because he had a chance to build it through Turkey. now, we are stuck with the Saudi royals, Iran and Iraq. (again).

c'mon people. THINK!

[soonerboomer93]

actually, wind farms supposedly kill atleast 10k birds a year because more then a few have been setup in migratory bird paths...

[King Crimson]

actually, wind farms supposedly kill atleast 10k birds a year because more then a few have been setup in migratory bird paths...

and the oil fires that have been burning in Kuwait and Irag for 15 years....those are a friend of the environment.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Where ATC radar is an issue, use carbon composit blades, stealth wind farms! Also a little advanced MTI technology would lick the problem.

[soonerscuba]

Or we could use nuclear power and have a sea change in the way consume petroleum problems, and simply wait for a market change. The first person who creates an engine that provides power cheaply with super low emissions and is affordable to the masses (i.e. > $30,000) is going to be a multi-billionaire.

[soonerboomer93]

and the oil fires that have been burning in Kuwait and Irag for 15 years....those are a friend of the environment.


**** the environment, that's income for me burning...

[SCOUT]

Or we could use nuclear power and have a sea change in the way consume petroleum problems, and simply wait for a market change. The first person who creates an engine that provides power cheaply with super low emissions and is affordable to the masses (i.e. > $30,000) is going to be a multi-billionaire.

My concern is that there will be some special interest that will have a problem with it. In the wind farm case it is migratory birds (and apparently very athletic deer). If someone came up with an engine that ran on sea water I am confident there woud be a group called Plankton Protectors of America or some such nonsense.

Everyone wants a cheap efficient alternative. The problem is that we don't have the stones to stand up to the special interest groups. I would love to see someone step up and solve our real problems rather than pandering to the vocal minority.

[Vaevictis]

The weather radar doods in my building aren't too happy with wind power either. Wind farms can mess with a radar signal in certain situations.

Meh, they ought to be able to filter that noise out, the noise generated from that shouldn't be too random to build a statistical filter for it.