East of San Francisco there are a couple of wind farms, the biggest is Altamont Pass, which we traveled through on I-580 on our way to Yosemite. On our way back to the back to the Bay Area I snapped this picture of the Shiloh Wind Power Plant near Rio Vista, in Solano County.
California used to be a leader in development of wind power, now it lags. Environmentalists have filed law suits, including one against the utility that operates the Altamont Pass facility, beause the enviros believe that wind turbines kill lots of birds and bats. They're asking the firm to replace the turbines with more bird-friendly ones. Litigation such as this makes building wind farms more expensive, which why the tarnished-state is falling behind.
Ironic, isn't it? Greenies suing a green endeavor.
As for those "green jobs" being promised by President Obama, they're out there--lawyers and bureaucrats.
Anyway, wind power has many problems, it will never be more than a supplement to our energy needs.
Next: Wine Country
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3 comments:
Hah! I too have passed through the Altamont Pass from Yosemite to the Bay area, was impressed by the vastness of it, but asked of my liberal relatives, why aren't they turning? The reasons they cited were; the dead birds, wear and tear that makes them regularly break down (and are pricy to fix) noise violations etc. Really?
Wouldn't it be kismet if the power in the uber liberal bay area was dependant on these finicky, murderous and costly wind farms?
Windfarms kill wildlife who suffer horrible deaths in their natural habitats and spoil the landscape.
I believe that wind farm was built right in a major bird migration route, so it was like a big killing field for birds during spring and fall.
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