Free Republic

Large-scale solar farms, wind turbines, and associated infrastructure are touted as solutions to the climate crisis, but their development comes at the cost of native forests and critical habitats.” “Until conservation charities disentangle themselves from government funding and corporate influence, they risk becoming complicit in the very destruction they were created to prevent.” ... One of the great ironies of our age is the double standard of Big Environmentalism toward wind and solar, which commit numerous eco-sins that would not be tolerated otherwise. Dilute, intermittent, and thus inefficient? Yes. Energy sprawl requiring service roads and transmission lines in the wild?...

The pursuit of net zero carbon emissions has been a resounding failure. Solar and wind power have grown to a mere 3.5% of primary energy production. Germany and the United Kingdom, which get a relatively large share of their electricity from renewables, also suffer from the world’s highest electricity costs.

Donald Trump has all sorts of odd grievances. He’s complained about low water pressure and toilets, magnetic elevators, a lack of Christmas cheer in advertisements, tiny windows, tiny fish, Abraham Lincoln’s negotiation skills, “the world” generally, and more. But perhaps his favorite thing to hate? Wind turbines. In more than 100 social media posts over the last 12 years, he’s claimed that wind turbines are “ugly” and “disgusting looking,” “inefficient,” “unreliable,” “noisy,” “neighborhood-destroying,” “bird-killing” “monstrosities” that “cause tremendous damage to their local ecosystems.” (It’s true wind turbines kill birds—but not nearly as many as cars, buildings, and cats.) It’s a...

One of the strangest if not most hypocritical elements of the battle against industrial wind projects is the silence of the normally loud environmental lobby. Massive wind turbines are not only destroying enormous vistas of beauty but studies show they are wiping out bats, insects, and large migratory birds while drying out soil and impacting water tables. But where are the environmentalists with their placards? Where are the road blockades? Where are the millennials gluing themselves to our legislative floors? Nowhere. They are dead silent. https://www.windconcerns.com/the-environmentalists-have-disappeared/ https://www.windconcerns.com/the-environmentalists-have-disappeared/ https://www.windconcerns.com/the-environmentalists-have-disappeared/ https://www.windconcerns.com/the-environmentalists-have-disappeared/ But surely the impacts on livestock and human health, well-documented around...

Denmark received no bids in its largest-ever wind power tender, aimed to more than triple its offshore capacity by the end of the decade. The Danish Energy Agency hadn’t received a single bid in a tender for three offshore wind farms in the North Sea by Thursday’s deadline, it said in a statement. It now will initiate a dialog with the market to find out why. Denmark’s Climate and Energy Minister Lars Aagaard called the results “very disappointing” and said they were “not at all what was expected” when a broad majority in parliament entered into the political agreement to...

At 5 p.m. last Wednesday, Germany’s 1602 offshore wind turbines in the North and Baltic Seas stood still…solar output was also near zero. Germany had to scramble to keep supply going. The enemy of green energy: the high pressure system.. In the words of Professor Claudia Kemfert: It is a myth to believe that solar and wind do not provide enough electricity. The myth that there will be enough wind and sunshine somewhere in Europe was shattered at the beginning of November 2024. Daniel Wetzel describes the situation in the online Die Welt (pay article) At 5 p.m. on Wednesday,...

Marine biologists are taking a closer look after the remains of a young minke whale washed ashore in New Jersey Friday — less than 24 hours after another dead whale was found floating off Staten Island. On Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted a 16- to 18-foot-long whale “floating in the Lower Bay/Raritan Bay area.” A tracking tag was planted on the carcass, which federal investigators with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration anticipate will land near Sandy Hook, NJ, within days. Once ashore, the deceased animal will be examined.

President Joe Biden's administration announced Tuesday their approval of another large offshore wind project off of the coast of Martha's Vineyard, despite ongoing legal battles to block similar projects. The Interior Department approved the New England Wind Project, a planned commercial off-shore project roughly 20 nautical miles south of Martha's Vineyard and 24 nautical miles southwest of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The planned wind farm would include up to 129 wind turbines off of the coast of the island, the location of some of the wealthiest homes in the United States. 'The New England Wind project will help lower consumer costs, combat...

Residents of Virginia Beach, one of the few areas in Virginia to choose Joe Biden for president in 2020, are upset over the construction of wind turbines. Complaints range from noise and vibrations caused by the 24/7 construction project to the destruction of ocean views and possible negative effects on marine life. On Wednesday, Virginia Beach residents met with Dominion Energy, the company installing 178 wind turbines 900 feet high across 15 miles of ocean. The local news outlet News 3 reported that after the meeting, residents still “have concerns regarding the construction noise, environmental damage, and ocean views.” The...

A group of fishing associations is sounding the alarm about new plans from the Biden administration to industrialize the Gulf of Maine by leasing two million acres of area for wind farm construction, a move that fishermen say will be detrimental to their business and marine life.One large portion of the WEA is frequented by the endangered North Atlantic right whale, the groups said. Leasing the area to wind farming "is flatly inconsistent with a policy of endangered species protection."

Walkers enjoying a quiet stroll in the Welsh countryside captured a shocking sight on Sunday, after a wind turbine burst into flames before exploding. Nick Blasdale, 61, and his wife Alison, 59, were left stunned when they saw burning parts of a turbine fall more than 100ft to the ground. Firefighters were called to the blaze at Blaen Bowi Wind Farm near Newcastle Emlyn, Pembrokeshire at 11.46am, but could only watch and make sure passersby didn't get too close. Alison said: 'We watched the top section burst into flames then drop off whilst still burning then explode when it hit...

The Osage Nation won a massive ruling in Tulsa federal court on Wednesday that requires Enel to dismantle a 150-megawatt wind project it built in Osage County despite the tribe’s repeated objections. The tribe’s fight against Rome-based Enel began in 2011 and is the longest-running legal battle over wind energy in American history. As reported by Curtis Killman in the Tulsa World on Thursday, the ruling grants the United States, the Osage Nation, and Osage Minerals Council permanent injunctive relief via “ejectment of the wind turbine farm for continuing trespass.” The decision by U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Jennifer...

Lower prices for turbines amid a price war in China have resulted in a 98% plunge in the net profit of the top Chinese wind turbine maker, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co. While investments in renewable energy projects in China are booming, intensified competition has led to a race to the bottom for wind turbine prices—a race that has dented profits at the biggest Chinese manufacturer. Goldwind booked $1.28 million in net income for the third quarter of 2023, down by a massive 98% compared to the same period of 2022 ... Globally, the wind power industry faces additional...

Former President Donald Trump said recently that "windmills are causing whales to die in numbers never seen before."(Illustration by The Epoch Times)His comments, made at a campaign rally in South Carolina, were quickly ground through the fact-checking mills of legacy media outlets such as The Guardian and the BBC."They’re washing up ashore. I saw it this weekend, three of them came up. You wouldn’t see it once a year. Now they’re coming up on a weekly basis," President Trump said.The Guardian called his allegation a "lengthy and largely baseless attack on wind turbines for causing large numbers of whales to...

Officials in Sweetwater say an out-of-state company has made their town a dump for the seldom-seen trash created by renewable energy.

Officials in Sweetwater say an out-of-state company has made their town a dump for the seldom-seen trash created by renewable energy.

Wind turbines, once touted by the few wealthy and less populated countries as a clean solution for electricity, are now becoming an eyesore, a hazard, and a significant environmental threat. After decades of operating around the world for the few wealthy and less populated countries, wind turbines continue to have a live expectancy of about 20 years. To date there has yet to be discovered a financially viable means of recycling those wind turbines. As a result, today’s old wind turbines are being dumped into toxic waste dumps. Because wind turbine blades are very difficult to recycle, the waste stream...

If a bill banning the use of fossil fuels in the creation of green energy projects were to become law, it would be the end of renewable energy. There’s no feasible way to manufacture and transport wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles without fossil fuels. New York state Sen. George Borrello, R-Wyoming County, has introduced a bill to require that all wind turbines, solar collectors and infrastructure for producing green energy be manufactured and constructed without the use of fossil fuels. His bill would also apply to the manufacture and distribution of electric vehicles. If the bill were to...

Siemens Energy announced Thursday that it will be undergoing a technical review after it was found that up to 30% of its wind turbines could have faulty components, according to statements made by the company. Siemens Energy, an international energy company that seeks to “decarbonize global energy systems,” announced that it is withdrawing its profit guidance for the year after subsidiary Siemens Gamesa found that there was a “substantial increase in failure rates of wind turbine components.” The company believes that between 15% and 30% of its installed fleets are suffering from component failures, Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens Gamesa,...

The blight on the landscape of abandoned and decommissioned wind turbines stimulated Colorado's U.S. Reps. Ken Buck, Doug Lamborn and Harriet Hageman, Wyoming, to introduce the Production Tax Credit Reform Act. According to a press release, the bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to require energy companies remove decommissioned wind turbines from leased land as a condition of receiving federal tax credits. Currently energy companies are not obligated to remove wind turbines from leased land once they are decommissioned, putting the onus on landowners — typically farmers and ranchers — to remove the turbines. According to the United States Geological...