Compared to the vistas of this:
The environmentalists have changed the below landscape to the two upper vistas. It might be noted that none of the windmill projects are economically viable for construction, not even considering maintenance and replacement costs after a 20 year life span, just simply construction alone, without government subsidies.
One can watch the construction projects for the above windmills begin within 30-45 days after the state of CA annually votes to approve funding for the subsidies, and within 30 days after the funds are depleted, all activity halts in the vicinity other than those already operating. Even maintenance ceases when the funds are depleted annually.
IMHO, wind power is a racket controlled by higher political interests with no check or balance on how they are destroying the environment, all under the guise of helping the environment. Like most other environmental regulations, there will indubitably arise future regulation upon independent honorable contractors after the irresponsible ones have raped the community of its financing, vistas, and leave a mess to clean up.
There are already a number of abandoned windmills, which were from previous designs, but fallen under disrepair, littering and rusting near Edom Hill and sorted amongst some of the other windmill sites. Count on over 50% of the existing windmills to be abandoned in place after a 10-15 year operational cycle and somebody sells the paper to somebody who never visits. The lands they occupy are outside local municipalities so there probably won;t be much interest in holding them accountable either in original design, present maintenance, or future liabilities to others.
It is interesting to note that SoCA politics blocked off shore drilling based upon aesthetic interests, resulting in higher risks of oil pollution from tanker ship transfers mishaps, while ignoring the aesthetics of desert vistas, which IMHO, are one of the very few aesthetics the desert has to offer.
Unlike the oil platforms, the windmills are generally small business startups and limited partnerships, whereas the oil platforms which would have been safer, less risky environmental hazards, would have been funded and maintained by large oil/gas corporations with existing regulations to require proper maintenance and control aesthetic risks.
IMHO, most of the hullaballoo over environmentalism is merely a political cover to influence control of large financial interests and has little to nothing whatever to do with the environment. It's BS.