Sometimes, only a photo will do. The wind turbine shown here is 500 feet tall installed on a farm in Wisconsin and just like the ones proposed for North East township. Most of us are familiar with the size of a farm silo so this photo may begin to give you a sense of what these giants look like. This is only one turbine, the number planned for North East is anywhere from 50 to 75. Think about that.
The North East township planning board is currently discussing setback requirements for turbines just like this one. If you would like to learn more about these turbines or offer your input before a decision is made, please attend the next supervisor meeting on Monday, April 15th at 9AM.
Your input is needed to make sure these regulations are best for the entire community.
Photo credit: Better Plan Wisconsin
Gary Jacobs says
500 feet is too tall for a community like North East. The smaller 300 to 350 foot turbines should be at most what is acceptable. Setbacks should also be much larger, such as 3,000 feet. Most people may not realize it but North East used to have an 80 MW power generation station on Ackerman road. That station, if it we still in operation, would provide more power on a consistant basis than all the turbines proposed. Let’s propose someone re-develop a resource we already have.
Craig King says
I see no problem with this. We allow cell phone towers to dot the landscape because they are useful. Farms have traditionally had windmills and it’s good to see them updating that tradition. This is no different and it’s clean energy as well. Pretty hard to see a down side. That must be the reason there is only one slightly resistant comment here despite the post being 14 months old.
Paul Crowe says
Craig, cell phone towers in our area that seem pretty tall, are 184 feet high, the proposed wind turbines are 500 feet tall, that’s quite a difference. Cell phone towers are stationary, wind turbines move, that also makes an enormous visual and aural difference. Also, the number of cell towers pales in proportion when compared to how many wind turbines are proposed in the average wind farm project. There simply is no comparison.
Traditional farm windmills are very short compared to one of these turbines, with multiple short blades not sweeping through an arc of several hundred feet. They are no problem at all. Several properties in our area have even built smaller wind turbines on their own, but those are far shorter than what is being proposed and they, too, cause no problem. The issue is 500 foot industrial wind turbines built near the properties of landowners who want nothing to do with them. There is no way to avoid living with the visual intrusiveness. You can’t ignore them. If you haven’t seen what these are like in real life, I suggest you find a community where they have been installed and see them for yourself.
Whether you call the energy these turbines produce, clean, green or renewable, makes little difference. It sounds all warm and fuzzy and people who want to believe in wind energy do just that, they “believe” in it. You can’t debate faith. On the other hand, if you truly want to understand why wind energy doesn’t work, you need at least a rudimentary understanding of physics and math and a desire to understand whether wind can possibly work as its promoters promise. The short answer is, it can’t. The long answer is, well, … long.
If you wish to form your opinions based on how many people comment one way or another on a site like this, you’re free to so so, although you’re going to find yourself often led astray. Physics and math don’t rely on votes and popularity to determine whether or not something is true.
The grand claims of wind supporters are the same tired claims made for many years, they sound good to people who have little background in the topic and no matter how many times they are proven false and unworkable, supporters simply pack up their tent and move on to another town to re-tell their story to someone new and the new listeners hear the story and want to believe. You have to decide whether you want to put your faith in these hucksters out for a quick government buck, or whether you want to really ask questions and understand. If it sounds too hard to figure out on your own, then there’s little I, or anyone else, can say.
Thanks for stopping by, Craig. If you have questions, just ask.