GroovyGreen Visits The Maple Ridge Wind Farm

GroovyGreen Magazine had the opportunity to visit the Maple Ridge Wind Farm (largest East of the Mississippi) and see if this alternative energy is truly worth investing in. Check it!

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• wind
• energy
• green
• power
• solar
• renewable
• sustainable
• turbine

[erod1944]

OH! I'm a friggin' radio technician. I work under communications towers (for 25 years now) and have never actually seen a dead bird under them except for the pigeons which ate the "poison grain". What exactly would kill birds at communications towers? Fear of Antennas? Dead due to galvanized steel? An inter-dimensional but yet invisible bird assassin? Hmmm... What dead birds?

[mdestries]

Report: http://www.abcbirds.org/policy­/towerkillweb.PDF

[erod1944]

Wonderful. I read the report. Billions of birds dying everywhere. Tragic. Yet I live in an area wrapped by power wires, work at dozens of sites with communications towers and see no dead birds and haven't for 25 years. I obviously have a rare disease that prevents me from seeing thousands of dead birds. "Giganta No Seea Billion Birdy-itis" God! I must get help. I bow to your report. Uooo-balla Uooo-Balla. Great Birdy Massacre Report. We Worship You.

[mdestries]

Erod1944, I love your point of view and I thank you for your perspective. There are many organizations and sites that have data and studies contradicting your experience--most have nothing to do with renewable energy. However, as you've so eloquently stated <grin>, you have experience with these communication towers, and have seen little evidence of such mortality. Who to believe? Well, you're both right.

[mdestries]

The reports I've read detail communication tower kills in areas of high migratory traffic--especially involving towers over 500ft. tall. It stands to reason that certain segments of tower installations do no harm whatsoever.

[mdestries]

The same can be said of wind turbines. Once again, it deals with placement and proper site evaluation. Defenders of birds will counter that while wind developers take every necessary precaution to protect birds against kills, the FCC does nothing of the sort with communication towers. In fact, whatever regulations do exist are simply voluntary. Tragic.

[imachias]

This is a really good video. I have relatives that live along NY Route 177 and every time I drive along that route I am impressed by the turbines and the contribution they are making to the electric grid, effortlessly and in virtual silence. The cows grazing around the turbines seem happy enough and the farmers certainly aren't complaining about the lease payments they're getting. Thank you for sharing this.

[dozerman09]

LOL..anticapitalist socialist

[Down3OTUnder]

that vid startled me cause I live in a small town called maple ridge, and we get wind about...2ce a year.

not to mention that it would be fucking impossible to miss a wind farm hear...

[lucibyrd2]

that would put me to sleep. The 4500 per year lease agreement would make me happy. Much better than living next to a railroad crossing with some moron blowing the horn at 3 AM. Sometime change requires a little effort.

[verrywellhung]

I like turtles.

[GiorgosSX]

The green bull...t about windturbines is all the time the same "we will save the planet" etc. As a matter of fact the wind turbines have nill efect on reducing greenhouse gases emissions. The other usual crap is "They give poewr to 60.000 houses". I suppose 60.000 houses will not have power if there is no wind... :-P They give power to zero houses! Not even one house can have power if it's cut off the grid!

[Luvanicebum]

AND you can still farm the land around them.

How is this not a clean viable energy plan?

There's enough land between mills, you could still utilize it for whatever.

[BigPoppaBamboo]

ManBearPig!!

[STORM6490MT]

Tell me then why well off conservatives own these devices and make a good profit for them? The liberal agenda is more towards corn ethanol and clean coal along with low sulfur diesel. Get your ducks in a row man!