NIMBY: Wind Farm's Revenge

Just when you think that alternative forms of power generation would be seen as a positive situation in the face of rising oil prices, a group of environmental activists want to stop the construction of an offshore wind farm.

The residents and elected officials say they fear the structures presence could kill migrating birds, restrict fishing, ruin ocean vistas and interfere with aviation. Another recurring theme was a fear that the windmills would somehow affect tourism.

Excuse me, but how tall are these windfarms going to be that they're going to interfere with aviation? How low are planes flying in the vicinity of the wind farm that they would pose a hazard? It sounds like a bogus argument to me.

Migrating birds are threatened by this? Okay. I might buy that argument, but is there any hard data that shows that this is the case. Or, are we talking about suppositions on the part of the activists who would rather cite scientific sounding issues than NIMBY.

Then, there's the issue of affecting and restricting fishing. That sounds plausible in the area where the wind towers are going to be built, but it discounts the possibility that the fish might seek refuge in those areas, allowing them to become even bigger. The wind farm might turn out to be a windfall (pun intended) for fishermen in the same way that sinking railcars turns into a magnet for fish and new undersea growth. You get eco-tourism, plus new fish hatcheries that allow fish stocks to grow in the area.

That's a positive, not a negative.

All in all, sounds like the activists don't want to have this in their backyard, and would rather cite dubious claims than hard science or facts in derailing a useful and necessary alternative to petroleum or coal based energy production facilities.