State no longer No. 1 in wind power (Texas passes California)

Inside Bay Area ^ | 2 Sep 06 | Janis Mara

[Abathar]

Guess that makes them #1 in avian beheadings too...

[DTogo]

"First of all, Texas has better wind resources," van Dam said. "Secondly, it is easier to do business and get permits for wind turbines in Texas, and there is plentiful land there."

CA Limousine Liberalism and NIMBY-ism on parade!

[saganite]

I don't think there are many birds in Texas where these windmills are going up but in any case I don't think bird beheadings are as big an issue in Texas as they are in California.

[NormsRevenge]

It's 'cause they have bigger blowhards there, I reckun. ;-)

[gaijin]

In calif, they call them, "Condor Cuisinarts".

There's NO PLEASING an environazi...

[saganite]

You got that raght. Everthang's bigger 'n better in Texas!

[Columbine]

It's 'cause they have bigger blowhards there, I reckun. ;-)

Right on! :)

[Abathar]

Probably not. Although around here the Starlings are starting to come together in huge flocks, thousands of them all flying together getting ready to head south. I always wondered what it would be like if they ever flew through one of those wind farms, I have a very sick imagination I guess.

[No Blue States]

I hope they behad the Greckles in Texas...they pull up my tomato plantings and crap on my lawn furniture.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Are the turbines driving the oil wells???

[patton]

On the road from WSMR(NM) to FT Bliss(TX), there are hundreds of telegraph poles standing, though the wires fell down, unused, generations ago.

Birds nest on them.

[Jedidah]

Duh.

Yes, we have birds in Texas. Many, many birds in Texas. Buncha good ol' boys are out there shooting at a bunch of them as I type, this being opening weekend of dove season.

Not flying armadillos. Real feathered birds. And wind. Lots of wind for the birds to swoop and swirl and delight in.

We also have a lot of common sense in Texas, which speaks more to the contast with our west coast neighbor than does the question of avian population.

[NormsRevenge]

to be fair, quite a few moved there from here and elsewhere. :-)

[Abathar]

LOL! Take the shroud off a big room fan and find out how well it works, just be sure to point it at the neighbors house you don't like.....

[saganite]

I expect they'll nest on top of these windmills too. They look like they'll make excellent perches for the red tailed hawks to survey the landscape.

[saganite]

I know you have birds in Texas! I've been through there on occasion and was stationed in West Texas at one time. Low level flying would occasionally result in a birdstrike and recently Laughlin lost a T-38 to the pesky devils.

[No Blue States]

What an eyesore... I would rather us drill the Gulf. There is bound to be another spindletop out there.

[saganite]

I don't consider them an eyesore, certainly more pleasant to the eye than the oil well derricks that used to dot West Texas.

Whether or not they are worthwhile generators of energy is an entirely different question. They're only effective until the wind stops blowing although that may change since leaps in battery storage capacity and efficiency are being made.

[Cvengr]

The latter is an "up and coming" area that has turbine blades the length of a football field, Garfield said. She believes that new technology and slower-turning turbines that pose less danger to birds could help California catch up with Texas.

IMHO, this is design performed by somebody wearing a black beret and reads Architectural Digest. Building a cantilevered beam the length of a football field and installing it on a pole in a rotating machine has to be one of the nuttiest ideas I've ever heard.