The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Board of Commissioners voted to approve the final environmental impact report for the Pine Tree Wind Farm Tuesday, which means they'll go ahead with this major wind energy project in the Mojave Desert. That's great news for the clean-air people, bad news for the Audubon people, who had been complaining that the EIR inadequately addressed the turbines' threat to songbirds. Aside from a funny exchange among the commissioners about the exact definition of a passerine, the standoff between the wind-power advocates vs. the bird lovers was mostly sad, just because no one wants birds to die, but no one wants a new coal plant in Utah or Nevada, either.
The public comments pro and con concluded with Charles Bragg of the Santa Monica Audubon chapter threatening to sue. "We are in it for the long haul," he said. "We don't go to court very often, but when we do we hang around. The last time it took 15 years, and we won.
"I don't want to lay awake at night thinking of wings hitting propellers so I can turn on my lights."
And then Board of Commisioners President Dominick W. Rubalcava introduced "our city attorney" as if to say his lawyer was scarier than their lawyer.
At the end of all that, the truly relentless Doug Korthof, who had turned nearly every agenda item back to solar power all afternoon, got up one last time:
Korthof: I'm one of the EV1 drivers who did the vigil in Bubank. Rubalcava: We're talking about brids. Korthof: I'm zeroing in on it! You know, almost every electric car driver has solar on the roof . . . Rubalcava: On the roof of your car? Korthof: No, of my house. Now, you have been presented with a dilemma. I want to remind you of Alexander the Great, when presented with a Gordian knot, he solved that dilemma by just cutting the knot. Solar doesn't have any opponents. The people who produce solar energy are coming to you with money. Rubalcava: So you're speaking against the wind project. Korthof: I'm speaking against it. You could take this money and put it into solar.
Then he started talking about the Dark Sky Society, and how you used to be able to see stars and meteors at night in Los Angeles in the '30s and '40s. Rubalcava said he knew all about that: "The observatory," he said, "was in my supervision when I was at Parks and Rec."
I'm not sure how it all connects. But it was funny at the time.
Unlike so many things I report on with little or no objectively at all, and all the bias I want, I sincerely don't know how I feel about this one. An enviro in the lobby who'd spoken up on the wind farm's behalf said she felt the same way. "All those birds," this person said, "it just breaks my heart. But at the same time, do we want more kids in Utah with asthma?"
And do we want another coal-fired power plant smoking up Gerlach, Nevada?
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The Pine Tree project will have a total capacity of 120 MW. The actual output of other wind facilities in California is 20% of their capacity. So the Pine Tree facility would produce 120 MW × 0.2 × 365 days × 24 hours = 210,240 MW-hours/year. That is well less than 0.1% of California's electricity use. It's not going to close down any coal-fired plants.
Posted on April 21, 2005 10:04 AM by Rucio
That's a good point, but I don't think anyone's arguing that one wind farm-one coal-fired plant. It's the cumulative effect of clean technology, and wind is certainly a piece of that. Interesting site, though -- I'll read more of it.
Posted on April 22, 2005 10:04 AM by Judith Lewis
The new coal plant ("Granite Fox") that Sempra wants to build in Gerlach is rated at 1,450 MW. It would be great to be make it (and the many more proposed new plants) unnecessary -- through conservation at the user end and increased efficiency at the existing producer end. Or, if we just want to try continuing on as we are, we could build wind turbines instead. At a 20% capacity factor for wind turbines in California, 7,250 MW would be required to equal the annual average output of the Gerlach plant. That's 500 MW more than is currently installed in the entire U.S. Two-thirds of the time, however, that massive wind plant (340-680 square miles) would be producing less than its average output, so you'd still need substantial frequent back-up from a more reliable source. And frequently ramping up and down those other plants diminishes their efficiency, increasing their pollution.
In short, it is unlikely that enough industrial turbines could be built to have a significant impact, and even then they wouldn't have a significant impact. Except in the negative.
Posted on April 23, 2005 8:04 AM by Rucio
This is a recent response to a commentary written from a Tell City, Indiana concerned citizen.
It would surely benefit you and your web site to read and print in your newspaper. This is no hoax…as God be our witness. Please acknowledge. Thank you very deeply." WE MUST STOP ALLOWING FEAR TO RULE AND EVENTUALLY RUIN MANY LIVES OF SO VERY MANY GOOD PEOPLE!!" "WHAT'S HAPPENED TO FAITH??" "WE MUST FIND HER AND ACTIVATE HER AGAIN IMMEDIATELY!!" BRING BACK THE CROSS!!"
ALL WILL NOT BE LOST IF ALL WILL REMEMBER THE CROSS...AMEN
My answer to Commentary from a concerned citizen: “No longer recognize this country”
Hello, good morning to you and thank you for asking who I am?? God Bless You.
First of all I am a very concerned citizen of our country who lives in Louisville, Ky. I don't like what this country has become as well as the next person showing the same interest.
I like to read commentaries all over the net that other concerned citizens like us write to show how much we care about our neighbors and their well beings. The story below and it's real meaning must become recognized before people are too messed up to know what they're doing or saying any longer!
A VERY TRUE AND VERY ORIGINAL STORY
Approximately twelve years ago God recognized me and my husband to become His witnesses to a glorious, prophetical event that took place over your city, Tell City, as well as many others in the surrounding areas, such as Owensboro, just across the Ohio river, Evansville, Louisville and many others. www.hisreturn.org (our web site)
Only a handful so far as we know of had witnessed it or care enough to say so and come forward.
On October 02, 2005 we took a trip to your city twelve years after this supernatural; spiritual event took place. I told my husband that there must be more people besides us out there who saw what we saw. This would become a witness search.
Sure enough, we met two young men at Sunset Park that day in Tell City, Indiana for the very first time ever laying eyes on them. They were only eighteen when they witnessed it. This is their description that they gave us.
Quote: "Oh, you taped it...Wow!!...we can never forget it!!"
My husband: "What did you see?" "Tell us we are really concerned and would love to hear what you have to say."
The two young men: "We saw the light!!"
My husband: "What light?"
The two young men: "The light that was on the news." The light that lit up the sky that fell from the sky and entered the burning bright orange cloud!!"unquote.
We were mysteriously placed to tape this twelve years before and twelve years afterwards..also mysteriously placed to meet these two witnesses.
These young men were still as enthused about this as we still are today.
They told us that they were fishing with another boy, being only boys at the time n St. Marks Cemetery at a small pond. They said they kept talking about it for many years afterwards and still love to talk about it.
On our web site we tell the story about the mystery behind this supernatural Saturday in early October. There's an icon with a small picture of blue and white sky. Pick that to read "the story."
We paid a visit to the pond at St. Marks while we were still visiting Sunday, October 02, 2005. It was very inspiring, spiritual and quite calm there at the grave sites.
After talking to these two very polite young men living in your city, we offered to send them a copy of our tape that they should now have in their possession.
They were very excited about that and said that they would show it to many of their friends and family members that they had told about what they saw that lit up the sky over twelve years ago! The tape is thirteen minutes long and shows the clouds on that mysteriously strange day in the sky from morning until evening sunset. We have studied these magnificent clouds for over eleven years and God let us know what we taped and why He put us there on a business trip to Whirlpool in Evansville, Indiana for my husband's company that he worked for at the time. He let us know why the man who was supposed to go that day got very sick and called my husband to go in his place. The list of mysterious circumstances of that day goes on.
We contacted the Perry County News by e-mail and faxed them as well.
We have yet to receive an answer or response from anyone there. We requested a copy of the article that was in the newspaper from twelve years ago. Anyone who could get us a copy of a news report will receive a free copy of this tape. We are very good people or God would not have chosen us to tape His Son's Returning. Jesus Christ kept His Promise to return as a thief in the night,(very quietly), with clouds and at an hour when ye think not. The young men who live in your city that saw this are also very good young men. One of them said, "The good Lord sure works in very mysterious ways!"..and we all said "Amen!" upon agreeing.
We are not trying to harm anyone. All God wants of us is to work on letting the world know as He helps us. We always try to do what He wants of us.
I hope you will not be afraid of us or ignor us like the Perry County News. Please reply and may you be extremely blessed for your good works and your concern.
Sincerely,
The Van Lukes
Posted on October 17, 2005 10:10 AM by Patsy Van Luke