v.0000786 (work in progress!)
Topic: Wind Energy
- Wind-Works:An on-line archive of articles and commentary primarily--but not solely--on wind energy and Advanced Renewable Tariffs.
Article Title: Debate centers on environment
Excerpt: Wind energy's supporters see it as preferable to power generated by burning coal or other fossil fuels. Wind power, they say, can cut pollution that sickens people and contributes to global warming. Opponents see windmills as a threat to migratory birds, bats and other wildlife. The mammoth structures will scar a pristine landscape and hurt tourism, they say.
Excerpt: The area is remote and has some of the best winds in Virginia, Flora said. "If the project is not approved, it's hard to believe Virginia will ever have a wind farm," he said.
Excerpt: Highland County's Allegheny ridges are in the path of one of the biggest nocturnal migrations of birds and bats in the Eastern United States, Mitchell said. Studies of West Virginia and Pennsylvania wind farms have revealed unacceptable fatality rates for birds and bats, and the risks that windmills pose should be lowered, he said.
Article Title: Strapped Mo. Farmers Turn to Wind Farms
Excerpt: The decline of the family farm is part of Northwest Missouri's economic problems, which range from the shuttering of a nearby manufacturing plant to a steadily dwindling population. But some farmers in the region who once relied on hogs or soybeans to make ends meet will soon be harvesting wind energy.
Excerpt: By next year, more than 100 towering turbines are expected to reach into the sky in Atchison, Gentry and Nodaway counties, generating enough electricity to power 45,000 homes as part of Missouri's first set of commercial wind farms.
Excerpt: Property owners who allow the company to build on their land will earn $3,000 to $5,000 per turbine over the next 25 years, depending on the amount of electricity generated. They can continue to farm the surrounding land or let herds graze right up to the base of the turbines, which are 15 feet wide and weigh 200 tons each.
