New York town enjoys wind power boom - July 29 07

[falldownhard]

Wind power is inconsistent but it has to be one of a multi-pronged plan for energy. People that say windmills are an eyesore - well that's a matter of opinion. Imagine no power for any of your appliances, air conditioning, heat, computers, etc - eventually fossil fuels WILL run out. Buffalo, with its Niagara Hydropower and wind power may very well be positioned at the top of the country in the future because of this foresight.

[SaturnEternity]

I lived in Lackawanna much of my life. Love Lackawanna. When ever I go back I get a strong sense of pride and nostalgia. It's nice to see the windmills if you ask me.

[mustange550]

The one guy that was complaining about a saving a few cents when turning on a light. Why do does't he go live next to a coal plant then he will see the benefits of green

[caribousteaks]

How much subsidy was required to build the project? Would they exist without subsidies? Have local electric rates gone down or up? Wind can't and doesn't replace base load they only can augment it. Why? Because wind is inconsistent. What happens when it doesn't blow? You would need triple capacity of wind to cover normal capacity of base load. That would mean 100,000 towers plus not just 10-15! See what the people say then!

[hardyoak]

from the Buffalo News, Oct. 26, 2008:

In certain parts of New York, you wont be able to take a drive without seeing one of these facilities up close or off on the horizon, or around the next bend, said Daniel MacKay, director of public policy for the Preservation League of New York State.

At the very least, added MacKay, that is a fundamental transformation of the upstate New York landscape, what is beloved about that landscape, what people seek refuge in that landscape for.

[mevneutron]

A few small farms are interesting and even attractive, like a Calder mobile. But I can't help but think that implementing at GigaWatt capacities (~1000 turbines considering the low capacity factor of wind) would create a tremendous eyesore and a tremendous stability burden to the existing grid.

[hahajohnnyb]

Only benefit is for the conartists putting these things up. People of New York get higher electric rates and a less stable grid more prone to black outs.

Enjoy that politician electricity, you think that you want it until you get it.

[bellaggio1770]

I bet your midwest redneck village has a coal power plant next to it, great stable power, great black smoke, cancer in your brain.

[hahajohnnyb]

We have a coal power plant somewhere, never seen it, never notice it. Trouble is, I don't live in the mid-west, I live in Texas #1 producer of Wind Power.

Never had any trouble with our electricity, and we had some of the cheapest power in the country until these wind plants started moving in, now we have a couple of blackouts every year.

These things are hard on raptors, without raptors our snake population increases, presenting a real danger to people, pets and live stock.

[BanjoNaps]

They do not kill birds at a rate high than barns and you damn well know it.

[lojolo7]

In response to codered1969, mabey what is truly odd is how Lackawanna was probably promised money for their schools when the wind factories came to town and they are still the worst in New York!?!

[CodeRed1969]

I live in Lackawanna, at first they looked odd but I've gotten used to it myself... That's one problem fixed, now what are they going to do about Lackawanna schools being the worst in New York lol...

[cromagnon35]

Nice peice. There's actually a drive going on in the rural communities for landowners to allow placement of windmills on our property (of sufficient size and wind volume) all over NY. It's going to start being a common sight here too (I hope)

[vhbeazel]

Living in the valley of Tehachapi, CA/US, with one of the largest windpower farm developments in the nation, the 20 year old wind generators are being replaced with new ones...one three megawatt generator will replace 30 of the 100 kilowatt class! That make windpower better than it was even five years back.

[suhailshafi]

I live in Buffalo, NY which is right next to Lackawanna. I see the wind turbines on my way to work each day. Thank you al Jazeera for this great piece !

[pat637]

Thank you al Jazeera for this great piece !

[kwijibo950]

Actually NYC isn't that bad of a polluter when you figure how many people live there. The density helps reduce transportation, and buildings are slowly becoming greener. CA is the greenest state, however (thanks to our great weather). The worst offenders per capita are those rural states that have a lot of agriculture, and foolish legislators. NY and CA still has a long way to go, but we are ahead of the curve in green-ness.

[electrorocket]

I think they look kind of cool. Better than smokestacks, for sure!

[tommikovala]

Maintaining the off-shore mills is a lot more expensive, and it's not like too many people live next to those eight that are now installed...

[mo1elftausend]

However here in Germany we experienced, that windmills can be annoying in some places. Also adding the higher power of off-shore windmills I think those off-shore parks are the way to go when there price declines.