New York town enjoys wind power boom - July 29 07

Wind power generation is growing at a rate of 25 per cent a year in the US, along with the demand for renewable energy. While not every community is happy to see giant wind turbines popping up on their skyline -- one city in New York State considers them a boon. Kristen Saloomey has the details from Lackawanna, once a booming industrial city

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[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[BanjoNaps]

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

[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]

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.