It seems that the Oswego County Legislature, or let us say the Republican members of, turned a cold shoulder to the possibilities of windmill manufacturing and development here in Oswego County. As the Pall-Times said in an editorial, " Rather than exploring the potential benefits, many local lawmakers decided to look at the glass as half-empty, parading around with claims of doom and gloom instead of stopping to think of the potential such a project could have."These doom and gloom claims hoverer seemed not to be backed up by any real data or facts. Maybe that is why the Republican lead legislature pushed the resolution through in record time.
We were emailed some information that cast a more positive look on windmills, but it was a little late to post. Now that the temperature in the debate has cooled we are going to honor the request of posting this information.
From an email sent to us:
Off shore wind farms will have a negative effect on sport fishing.
“Dan Wilhelmsson studied how offshore wind turbines constitute habitats for fish, crabs, lobsters, fouling animals, and plants. He shows that wind turbines, even without scour protection, function as artificial reefs for bottom dwelling fish. The seabed in the vicinity of wind turbines had higher densities of fish compared to further away from the turbines and in reference areas. This was despite that the natural bottoms were rich in boulders and algae. Blue mussels dominated on the wind turbines that appeared to offer good growth conditions.”
Source: http://www.physorg.com/news183137562.html
Wind energy projects will harm house prices.
The evidence base in the US shows the opposite. House prices close to wind farms in some areas rose at a higher rate than the regional average. In the UK the evidence is not sufficient to come to definite conclusion, however what we can say (and indeed the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors say) is that from the research carried out so far, wind farms do not appear to have any discernable impact on property prices and that other variables have more of an impact.
Source: http://www.windenergyplanning.com/wind-energy-questions-what-is-the-impact-of-wind-turbines-on-house-prices/
"Neither the view of wind energy facilities nor the distance of the home to those facilities was found to have any consistent, measurable, and significant effect on the selling prices of nearby homes," according to report author Ben Hoen, a consultant to Berkeley Lab. "No matter how we looked at the data, the same result kept coming back -- no evidence of widespread impacts."
Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/wind-farms-property-values-47120303#ixzz0hoKt4Cbc
Off shore wind farms will have a negative on our economy.
The State of South Carolina did a study of the potential economic impact of an Off-Shore Wind Farm to the area. The study found, “During the two-year construction phase the equivalent of up to 1,881 fulltime jobs will be created by direct, indirect and induced effects. Annual state economic output is predicted to increase by as much as $287 million, and annual disposable income is expected to increase by up to $93 million in the state. The fiscal effects resulting from the construction of an off-shore wind farm is predicted to be an increase in state income tax revenues of up to $2.8 million and an additional $190,000 in corporate income tax revenues over the two year period.”
Source:http://www.strom.clemson.edu/publications/flynn/Wind_Farm_Impact.pdf
Wind farms will have a negative on birds and Bats.
In certain circumstances, wind turbines can have adverse impacts on wildlife. Birds and bats may fly into the moving blades of a turbine, resulting in moralities, but wind energy turbines are low on the list of threats to birds and bats.
A 2007 National Academy of Sciences report in regards to the effects of wind energy on birds and bats found that existing wind turbines are not a threat to bird populations.
Changes in habitat brought about by climate change, which is mitigated by replacing fossil fuel use with renewable power, are a significant threat to avian and bat populations.
Source: http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=11935
Off shore wind farms will have a negative affect Tourism and our Scenic Vistas.
Nine out of ten tourists visiting some of Scotland's top beauty spots say the presence of wind farms makes no difference to the enjoyment of their holiday, and twice as many people would return to an area because of the presence of a wind farm than would stay away, according to a poll carried out by MORI Scotland… British Wind Energy Association and the Scottish Renewables Forum, found that 91% said the presence of wind farms in the area made no difference to whether they would return, dispelling the myth that wind farms and tourism cannot co-exist. About 1 in 5 had actually seen one of the three wind farms in Argyll and when asked what effect if any they had had on their impression of Argyll, 55% of these people said "generally or completely positive", 32% "ambivalent" and only 8% "negative".
Source: http://www.bwea.com/media/news/tourism.html
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