Opposition To Solar and Wind-Power Proposals In USA
It seems strange but in developed countries, there is resistance to solar and wind projects. Why? Because of the way these infrastructure impact the current lifestyle – noise, views etc. WSJ ran this story recently.
Technology changes, but human nature doesn’t. Environmentally friendly energy projects are running into the same cries of “not in my backyard” that stymied a previous generation of alternative-power efforts.
Even as Americans tell pollsters they are eager for alternatives to fossil fuel, some are fighting proposals for solar and wind projects and for the thousands of miles of transmission lines that would be needed to carry the cleaner energy to market. The protests echo grass-roots opposition that has blocked nuclear plants and energy-producing trash incinerators for decades.
The new backlash is fueled by worries that renewable-energy projects would occupy vast amounts of land to produce significant amounts of power. Either renewable projects would have to be centralized and sprawling, covering many square miles apiece, or they would need to be distributed in pieces across millions of rooftops and lawns.
Renewable-energy projects would reduce pollution and combat climate change. The trade-off is that many more people would have to see wind turbines, solar panels and other energy infrastructure near their homes in order to diminish the need for coal mines and other fossil-fuel facilities.
In California, which is considering a goal of producing a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, some residents are fighting proposals to build vast solar-energy plants in the Mojave Desert, one of the most remote and reliably sunny spots in the U.S. Up and down the East Coast, meanwhile, residents are opposing plans for wind farms, fearing they will mar views and lower property values.
It’s important to understand that the “green” “renewable” means of power generation comes at a price. I can look 20 miles across a wide open landscape and see the first industrial wind turbine plant in Arizona. At that distance who could complain? Now another project would place up to 10 turbines within 2 miles of where I live. Having done some research I better understand that energy generation on an industrial scale doesn’t come for free. I will be forced to pay visually, possibly health wise, and in other ways so that this power generated can join the grid and benefit my brothers and sisters in far distant places. I’m off of the grid because there are no power lines where I live. I produce my electricity at a not cheap price and I understand how power production works on a local scale. As soon as it goes industrial it becomes less efficient and the costs are borne by those who don’t necessarily benefit. Alternative energy isn’t the silver bullet that the politicos would like us to believe. As in most cases when all one needs to do is hit the switch or turn the faucet handle it’s easy to do just that and not be aware of the consequences. Conservation is the first step. Not In My Back Yard until you’re willing to have the same in your back yard.