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Re: Wnd Power Bill Passes

From:

"Gail B. Mackiernan "

Reply-To:

Gail B. Mackiernan

Date:

Mon, 9 Apr 2007 13:13:09 +0000

The issue is not whether wind power is good or bad, it is whether the citizens of Maryland (and the relevant state agencies) will have input on projects which affect them. If we do not have input, then it is almost as if we live in a totalitarian state.

My state delegate, Karen Montgomery, called me on this issue (after I had emailed her). We had a 20-minute conversation. She had a couple of major points:

1) Removing the right of citizens to comment on ANY project (wind farm, bridge, highway, ball field etc.) is contrary to a democratic country. This alone should have been enough to kill these bills.

2) She is interested in wind energy, and had recently visited (on her penny, she added) two projects -- one in Germany and the other in Scotland. The former is sited in lowlands where the risk to wildlife is less and where the turbines do not reduce scenic beauty of mountains (where tourism is a major economic factor). The latter wid project is in a mountainous area and there they shut down the turbines during bird migrations periods.

As to Joe has written, while feral cats DO kill a lot of birds, research has shown that these are usually relatively common resident species -- very bad for these individuals but unlikely to harm overall populations. (There are exceptions, but let''s not go there for the moment). However, poorly sited wind turbines, communications towers, buildings etc. kill mostly nocturnal migrants and of these, many are neotropical species whose overall populations are declining if not in freefall.

Secondly, wind energy can never replace -- except on a local or seasonal basis -- current energy requirements. It doesn't mean that it can't contribute to solving the problem, but it is only one of a host of things that need to be done. Wind should not be "sold" to legislatures as a panacea that is so "clean and perfect" that it does not need environmental review.

Migrant birds have enough problems without our exacerbating them. Wind turbines, as with ANY project, needs satisfactory environmental review. We as citizens also have the right to comment and to be heard. 

Gail Mackiermam 



 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Joe McDaniel <>
> In an era of global warming, anything within reason that will lessen  
> the effects would seem very desirable. The alternatives to wind power  
> are coal and nuclear. Would anyone really want a coal or nuclear  
> plant upwind of them?
> 
> A single feral cat kills more birds in one week than the typical wind  
> turbine kills in 3 years.
> 
> While I would agree that public discussion is good, the problem is  
> that some "environmentalists" introduce suspect "statistics" and  
> NIMBY issues that will, IMHO, prolong and increase the global  
> warming, mercury, and other polluting effects of other forms of power  
> generation. I would urge those with an interest in the actual effects  
> of wind turbines to read http://www.thewind.info/downloads/birds.pdf  
> or similar research.
> 
> For those that would like first-hand experience with a wind farm,  
> Meyersville, PA has one right now and is just a couple of miles north  
> of the Maryland border near Frostburg and Grantsville. (Spring is  
> almost here and the birding is great in Garrett county at this time  
> of the year, so combine the trips.)
> 
> Joe McDaniel
> Garrett County (where wind turbines are to be built and is just a  
> couple of miles from an existing wind farm)