Wind Turbines in Lake Erie

[final__stand]

Huh, I was just taking about this the other day, and suddenly it's in the news. I can't write much about it right now, but when I last spoke with my parents about the matter, it seemed like much of the local protest was about the government trying to avoid paying farmers for sticking them on the land rather than in the water

Comments

[flying_squirrel]

Last I heard, there wasn't a whole lot of evidence behind the "windmills kill birds" canard. Although if the article's accurate, it is a little concerning there wasn't more thought about ecological impact. I like the idea of off-shore wind farms. I don't want poor planning to poison the idea for people.

[final__stand]

Yeah, from what limited and cursory research that I've done, there doesn't seem to be much evidence for them being any more or less dangerous than other tall towers and whatnot. Placing them in migratory routes may have more of an effect (some wind farms kill more than others), but it seems like people are concentrating on the wrong things for the wrong reasons.

Aesthetically speaking, I don't think I would mind seeing windmills in my fantasy watery backyard. Then again, I am something of a fan of extreme landscaping, and would probably consider dystopian urban horror an interesting thing to have in my backyard too, so my opinion might not count for much.

Anyways, it sounds like some people need to do more thorough cost benefit analyses. While the government's poor planning is concerning, the newspaper could probably have done a bit more research too.

[final__stand]

Yeah, I can see it now: in the one corner there will be the windmills in the lake and maybe some arched bridges. In the next we'll put the orbital elevator. The corner after that will have to have some mountains, valleys, and Ludwig-style castles. Clearing, the corner following that must contain the looming, dystopian urban mega-structures. I guess the corner after that can get all the bizarre crystalline formations.

Apparently, my backyard will be a heptagon or an octagon or something rapidly approaching a circle. And rather strange.