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Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Boomer with Attitude / News Wind power, meet Raleigh's windbags
Posted By John Grooms on Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Yesterday we told you about a Senate bill in Raleigh that would have effectively banned wind turbines in the North Carolina mountains. Considering that energy experts have testified repeatedly that the Appalachians are a perfect locale for generating energy via wind power, the sudden legislative move took many by surprise.
Today there’s good news and bad news.
Enough people contacted the Senate to cause a change in the bill, so as of now, wind turbines are not banned in the N.C. mountains. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we’re not any nearer to actually having wind turbines in the N.C. mountains, either.
In classic political-compromise fashion, the Senate committee responsible for the legislation struck out any mention of mountain wind development, while keeping plans alive for turbines off the coast. With average wind speed in the mountains at 25 mph, experts say enough energy could be harnessed from the wind there to equal the output of a mid-range nuclear plant. What seems like a no-brainer to you or me, however, doesn’t always become policy once it enters the General Assembly’s own version of the Twilight Zone.
Thanks for the leadership, guys.
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