Further thoughts on moar wind farms bloviating

To follow up on a piece I wrote about the Dallas Observer doing something that looked like a hit job on a proposed wind farm in North Texas, there are a few additional observations to make, versus it, some of the nutters who commented, and the reporter who ain't in Oz or Portlandia any more.

No, this wind turbine has not caused two-headed calves to be born,
abortion mills or pot shops to spring up, nor a lot of other alleged
problems with wind farms.

First, are there tax abatements for wind? Yes, some federal ones

Are there tax abatements for solar? Yes, federal.

Are there tax abatements for oil and gas? Yes, a HUGE one called the depletion allowance. And a second, quasi-abatement called US soldiers and sailors in the Persian Gulf. Not to mention wars and wars by proxy.

Have you stopped driving your car in response? No, you "support our troops American exceptionalist right to cheap oil."

(Also, as I said before, how many of you have natural gas leases and so don't want wind turbines ANY where because it will cut into your royalties?)

Related to that?

Related to that? Two pieces of information Meghan Lawrence didn't supply, one easily already available when she wrote her original article and one just updated.

The already available? In three years, according to Wiki, wind electricity will be cheaper than every form of natural gas electricity except an advanced version of combined cycle power plants. It's already cheaper than all non-combined cycle gas power plants.

Second? And reflecting what I said about gas prices being in the terlet otherwise? Oct. 2, Comptroller Glenn Hegar reported natural gas production taxes for September were down 34. 5 percent from a year ago. Oops.

OK, that nonsense is out of the way.

Do wind turbines too close to homes cause some noise and/or light pollution? Yes. Is the would-be developer of the proposed wind farm in question doing as much to address these concerns as it could? I don't know.

As far as noise in general?

Is a wind turbine any more noisy than a High Plains wind? Having relatives and friends with wheat fields in western Kansas, and having stood in them when, per the old joke about Amarillo, "there's only one barbed wire between here and Canada and it's down," the wind itself can be noisy. Now, so far, most wind farms aren't that far west because that puts them further from big cities and they don't need that much wind. But, the wind itself can be noisy.

Is the light from the tower any more light polluting than a pole light on a barn plus a second on a shop? Probably not.

And, if we're talking pollution and we're in places near oil and gas wells? Wind farms don't stink and they don't run the risk of leaking anything into the soil.

As for property issues? If you're not the property owners who could actually get windmills, and especially if you're #MAGA hat wearers, you're pretty hypocritical on property rights. Hypocritical in your selectiveness. Organizations like Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation might say the same. (That said, it was formed earlier this year and is clearly a front group.)

But, do wind turbines cause cancer, two-headed calves or other such things?

Tosh and tommyrot.

And, no, they don't kill a zillion birds, either. But, coal or gas fired power kills 10 times more.

And, if I heard one person right, besides this Trumpian stuff, don't cite from Watt's Up. You just further undermined your credibility.

Are turbines objects you can't avoid 300 feet in the air, or 600 feet if this farm is built and that's the tallest size?

Yes.

You know what else is?

Cropdusters. And ag drones, growing in popularity in the country. Low-flying helicopters, too.

Is EDP renewables, if not yet taken over by Three Gorges, the focus of its acquisition? Yes. Does Three Gorges already hold a minority stake? Yes.

But, for the nationalists saying "China" as you wave your gimme flag? Check what country makes that. Check what country makes your MAGA hat, too.

The energy expended in building, delivering and erecting turbine parts? Real, but less than an oil or gas well, I'll venture.

None of this is blanket support for wind farms in general nor is it support for the particular wind farm in question.

Finally, to wrap this back to Meghan Lawrence? These are the nutters you're dealing with.