Energy & Environmental News - 6/6/11

June 13, 2011 by Walter Schneider.

Some recent energy articles of interest

By John Droz, Jr.

An interesting article appeared in a wind industry trade journal: “Is Wind Energy The New Wedge Issue For Conservatives?”
( http://www.nawindpower.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.7757 ).

Some of the comments are: “The acrimony is being powered by a combination of small-government conservatives who see wind and other renewables as a waste of money and by others who consider wind a technology that will never be as effective as oil, coal or natural gas.” In other words people are objecting to wind energy as it is expensive and ineffective. Imagine that!

And there is this from the comptroller of Texas (a very pro-wind state): “wind is an expensive boondoggle that does not produce jobs”.

Note that the industry does not respond with proof that these positions are wrong, but rather tries to dismiss them as being political…
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A wonderful assessment of wind energy by an energy expert http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2011/05/26/fitting-wind-onto-the-electricity-grid-part-2/ .

A VERY promising development where New Jersey is dropping out of the RGGI program http://www.atinstitute.org/ati-statement-on-gov-chris-christies-plans-to-remove-new-jersey-from-rggi/ . Hopefully this will be a wake-up call to the other member states.

Renewables Laws Changing is a positive development compared to the prior RPS mandates
http://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/11/05/renewables-laws-changing .

Some good comments by the governor of Maine about a more sensible position on renewables
http://waldo.villagesoup.com/column/columnpost/weekly-radio-address/400386 .

A new MIT study has some unique perspectives on the economics of wind energy http://econ-www.mit.edu/files/6317 .

“Oil ‘subsidy’ and ‘tax breaks’ nonsense” gives a superior overview to this contentious issue:
http://familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.9598/pub_detail.asp

“The Politics of Alternative Energy 1: The Myth of Viable Industrial-scale Renewable Energy”:
“‘Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.’ Winston Churchill’s dictum could have been coined for the green advocates of the renewable energy revolution; a revolution that demonstrates a thorough-going disconnect between the political rhetoric and a grasp of the physics and economics vital to energy realism.” http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm/7616/The-Politics-of-Alternative-Energy-1–The-Myth-of-Viable-Industrial-scale-Renewable-Energy

“Inconvenient Truths about Renewable Energy”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703421204576327410322365714.html?KEYWORDS=energy#printMode .

Another Real Estate professional speaks out saying that wind projects can bring down home values 25 to 40 percent — for as much as 2 miles away: http://www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca/news_item.php?NewsID=35521 .

In a fascinating development a Spanish judge orders a wind project to be dismantled
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/05/18/wind-farm-ordered-dismantled/ .

“NY Wind: Much Ado About So Little” http://www.windaction.org/faqs/31912 .

One of the key facts to focus on is that there is no such thing as wind energy by itself. This article makes that very point
http://canadianenergyissues.com/2010/12/11/wind-power-is-gas-power-and-comes-with-pollution/ .

The Australian government is revisiting the wind acoustic issue. The good news is that some of the presenters at their discussion are actually qualified scientists who contend that there are serious human consequences to wind development. See http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/news/2011/june-6-2011-645-pm-ny-city-time/ .

Green Energy costs 1500 jobs http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/247946/EU-push-for-green-energy-costs-another-1-500-jobs .

Why do we need to choose between nuclear and renewables — we don’t:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2011/may/27/why-choose-nuclear-renewable-energy .

“Everything you’ve heard about fossil fuels may be wrong” talks extensively about wind energy
http://www.salon.com/news/env/energy/?story=/politics/war_room/2011/05/31/linbd_fossil_fuels .

A good letter about Yucca mountain and the US economic benefits of nuclear energy http://tinyurl.com/3pcmyrk .

Some recent global warming articles of interest —

“Former ‘alarmist’ scientist says Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) based in false science”
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/05/15/former-alarmist-scientist-says-anthropogenic-global-warming-agw-based-on-false-science/ .

“Germany’s green government advisors admit frankly that decarbonization can only be achieved by the limitation of democracy - both nationally and internationally.” http://www.welt.de/debatte/kommentare/article13396336/Wir-rutschen-Hals-ueber-Kopf-in-die-Oekodiktatur.html .

A fine discussion of Patrick Moore and the religion of environmentalism
http://www.quadrant.org.au/magazine/issue/2011/5/the-personal-costs-of-spurning-green-misanthropy .

“The Global Warming Doctrine is Not a Science” (Vaclav Klaus): http://www.klaus.cz/clanky/2830 .

Thank you for your support.

john droz jr.,
physicist & environmental advocate

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