Big Wind from Texas

FastCompany ^ | 7/14/08 | Kermit Pattison

[twntaipan]

Quick! What state symbolizes the old petroleum economy? Texas, of course. Now, what state leads the way towards a future of clean, renewable wind energy? Texas again! By early 2008, Texas had installed more than 5,300 megawatts of wind production -- more than twice second place state California -- and had another 2,000 megawatts under production. Why in the name of Sam Houston is the state of Spindletop messing with wind?

[twntaipan]

Excellent interview with Jerry Patterson, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office. Manages to poke Teddy Kennedy and the tree-huggers right in the eye!

[El Laton Caliente]

Why in the name of Sam Houston is the state of Spindletop messing with wind?
__________________________________________________________

We’ve harnessed the power of politics... ;^)

[DuncanWaring]

From the article:

Q: Do the bird people appreciate your sense of humor?

A: I talked the Audubon Society and told them, "Don't worry about this, after several generations we'll have smarter birds." They did not think that was funny. The other thing I told them was wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico would be the first line of defense against avian flu. These people have no sense of humor. You can't break the ice with them.

[rellimpank]

-—interesting shot of him with what Washington, D.C. Mayor would probably call an “automatic assault revolving pistol”—pinged banglist—

[CindyDawg]

Yeah and I think we put all of them on I10, east of El Paso.

[TheDon]

"The early technology turbine blades that turned faster, at Altamont Pass, killed a lot of birds. And we have a different attitude here. People here are concerned about bird kills because they want to shoot the birds, not have them have them killed in a turbine."

[twntaipan]

They are a site to see out there (not much else to see actually). My nephew said he saw one north of San Antonio the other day—off of 281.

[twntaipan]

Patterson’s irreverence toward political correctness was refreshing.

[CindyDawg]

Funny guy. He has to be a freeper. Can yall imagine the energy these things could produce from a hurricane ...as a Friend pointed out though...as long as they don't come flying in’)

[CindyDawg]

My imagination can kick into hyper drive and I can visualize Indians on the mesas and wagons along the canyons. These wing mills are spooky. They look like from a distance something waving it’s arms’)

[aquila48]

Here’s another great line from him...

“People here are concerned about bird kills because they want to shoot the birds, not have them killed in a turbine.”

Anyway to get him to run for president?

[brushcop]

not much else to see actually...

Not hardly, you have to go farther west towards El Paso where you'll see mesa tops covered in the damned turbines. PC power is not the answer, DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW is the only way to boost supplies and send our enemy a message of self-reliance and a threat to vaporize them if need be.

What is funny, as the post points out, is the birds whacked by the rotors and don't kid yourself, there are lots of them. There are some good reliable studies done on numbers, they tried hiding that at first but truth always surfaces.

Nevertheless, I couldn't care less, seems the enviros pick and choose their standards with the shifting winds (pun intended), they'll gleefully send someone to jail for killing some protected bird but their precious wind generators can whack them by the thousands (cumulatively speaking) and nary a word. Amazing.

No oil field of any size has killed more wildlife than these monsters. I used to patrol those oil patches for that very thing from the 70s through the 80s in S. Texas. The Drillers were some darn decent, hard working folks, I'm for giving them more work! Whiners move aside!

[rabidralph]

Here's some more info on wind turbines.

[CindyDawg]

Maybe if we decorated them...red, white and blue with a lone star on the biggest...blue bells...armadillos...jalapenos....on the others. We could charge tourists to drive through our petrified forest :’)

[Jacquerie]

We rarely hear of the downsides to so-called "clean" energy. If you or I shot a bald eagle we would serve hard time in state prison. When a 100' windmill kills one . . .

[CindyDawg]

well can’t we do both? The thing about the birds...I hear you...it isn’t right. We should have someone out there picking them up and putting them on ice. It’s shameful to waste food.

[CindyDawg]

Seriously...we figured out how to reduce them from being electrocuted. There should be a way to get them to fly around or higher. The same people that gripe about the birds would probably gripe about the view but if we colored them so birds could see them, maybe that would help.

[devane617]

One big problems looms with wind-energy here in Texas: No way to get the power from the turbines to the grid. If I understand correctly, it will cost 8 billion to build infrastructure to handle wind energy to grid. Taxpayers will foot the bill.

[smokingfrog]

Must read!

From the article:
You were the author of the Texas concealed handgun legislation. Is it true you carry a gun in your cowboy boot?
Yes.
Does that help break the ice with the Audubon people?
I guess as long as I don't have it loaded with birdshot they're ok with it.

[businessprofessor]

One big problems looms with wind-energy here in Texas: No way to get the power from the turbines to the grid. If I understand correctly, it will cost 8 billion to build infrastructure to handle wind energy to grid. Taxpayers will foot the bill.

I have seen estimates of 3 to 9 billion. The proponents bury the details of transmission capacity and reliability. Wind power has major problems for power generation on hot summer afternoons in Texas, precisely when the power is needed. Without subsidies and mandates, I doubt that this amount of wind power would be built. There will be a need for large amounts of gas turbines as backups. With the high price of natural gas, electric rates in Texas will substantially increase.