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The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

washingtonpost.com

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Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#191

Post by hueving »

marze wrote: post #68
Normal_gaussian wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I couldn't disagree more. They popped up as I was growing up - littering the coastline and countryside. They can be seen from great distances and serve to make the place seem an awful lot smaller. I for one can't wait until we develop a way to live without them - the only condolence is that they move us away from the coal and gas industries. I do hope that solar leaves them in its wake and we can be done with the mon…

Compared to ripping the tops of mountains in West Virginia and states nearby and filling in the beautiful valleys to strip mine coal, a huge win.

False dichotomy. That's not how a significant amount of coal is mined. Yet every windmill sticks up into the air as a reminder of human presence.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#192

Post by hueving »

popey456963 wrote: post #179
labster wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd normally agree with you, but the top Uranium producers are Canada, Kazakhstan, and Australia. Uranium mining is a first (and second) world problem.

To be fair, you need _significantly_ less[0] uranium compared with the amount of coal you mine. For every million mountains destroyed by coal mining, you'd only have to destroy a couple of mountains. Not to mention I don't think uranium is usually mined from mountains but rather pit-mined, makes it far better than the alternatives. Personally however, still support solar. Especially solar house tiles, they look good,…

You do know that a significant amount of coal is mined without the destruction of mountains, right?

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#193

Post by hueving »

noonespecial wrote: post #72
Normal_gaussian wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I couldn't disagree more. They popped up as I was growing up - littering the coastline and countryside. They can be seen from great distances and serve to make the place seem an awful lot smaller. I for one can't wait until we develop a way to live without them - the only condolence is that they move us away from the coal and gas industries. I do hope that solar leaves them in its wake and we can be done with the mon…

I guess it's a matter of perspective. I suppose the true end-game is for tech is to be completely invisible. The great thing about wind and solar is that when you're done with them, you can pretty much just pack them up and haul them off. Strip-mining? Not so much.

>Strip-mining? Not so much.

I assume you don't know much about strip mining, because strip mines in first world countries reclaim the land they mine as they follow the seam.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#194

Post by Gibbon1 »

chasing wrote: post #19
tinco wrote: post #17

The article does not respond to the claim of the president that windmills kill birds. Do they really in a significant way? Is it worthy of being called an environmental disaster?

http://www.audubon.org/news/will-wind-turbines-ever-be-safe-... I didn't realize that was such a big issue. Over time, humanity will figure out ways of making wind turbines less of a danger to birds. In the mean time, I would assume that wind power still remains a net positive for the overall environment versus coal, etc.

There is a niche market for drones to scare away birds from airports. Would not be a far stretch to use more advanced models to herd birds away from windmills.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#195

Post by sedachv »

_ph_ wrote: post #187
sedachv wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dams contribute to droughts by limiting the recharge of downstream ground water levels and aquifiers.

Can you explain why? Over the year they would release the same water as the river without the dam would do - just not in a peak flood but reduced to a constant flood rate.

Dammed rivers release less water because of increased evaporation. Another problem is riverbed deepening which lowers the groundwater table. Where the water pools up is also important - having a bunch behind a dam when former wetlands and floodplains are dry is obviously not conducive to the ecosystems in those wetlands and floodplains.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#196

Post by mmanfrin »

I love this -- and many of those 100K jobs are maintainatory jobs, permanent and not tied to continual production and growth.

I always hate how projects are touted as 'bringing X many jobs to the region' when a majority of cited jobs are in the construction or building of whatever the project is, and then evaporate away once it's built.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#197

Post by hueving »

lorenzfx wrote: post #117
afpx wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except when you live nearby them.... I am 100% in support of renewables. However, I also know several home owners near wind-rich areas. And, the noise pollution from the turbines is awful. Unfortunately, my friends are poor (as typical) and have little say in the matter.

Living near coal mines, coal or nuclear power plants isn't great either.

Significantly fewer people need to live near them due to energy density.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#198

Post by Pxtl »

noonespecial wrote: post #42
jMyles wrote: post #6

I live in a school bus, traveling the country. I think wind turbines are absolutely beautiful; I always marvel at them when we drive by. Does anybody here know how to break into this industry, working on a mobile, on-site basis? Maybe with embedded tech?

>I think wind turbines are absolutely beautiful They are. Like living sculptures. There's just something extremely dignified about them. Like finally growing up after the childishness of strip-mining. The adults are here.

I dunno, I always find them unsettling. I mean, I love them from an environmental perspective, and I think they look quite charming when static... But when spinning they just look so impossible. Like something that big shouldn't move like that.

Re: The U.S. wind industry now employs more than 100K people

#200

Post by Pxtl »

labster wrote: post #135
ethbro wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're forgetting the "It's different when it happens in Africa / India / China / South America" caveat to most arguments.

I'd normally agree with you, but the top Uranium producers are Canada, Kazakhstan, and Australia. Uranium mining is a first (and second) world problem.

It's such a shame the Aussies don't build nuke plants. They have the uranium and they have a good place to store the waste. But they're so stuck on being Commonwealth Texas that they'll stick to fossil fuels forever.
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