Comments caprimulgiformes has made

The wind and The willful

An article yesterday in GRIST entitled "Environmentalists face off in wind saga" quotes environmental activist Ross Gelbspan stating that Cape Wind is a landmark project that "would offset approximately 880,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year, the equivalent of keeping over 150,000 vehicles off the road."

Perhaps Ross Gelbspan needs to go back to the basics, do the math and advocate for Conservation rather than the Wind Power Industry.

 According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), if every American household replaced 5 of their current light bulbs with 5 compact fluorescent light bulbs, it would save as much energy as if we took 8 million cars of the roads.

Let's see on one hand, raping the Nantucket Sound for the Wind Industry would result in the equivalent of removing 150,000 cars off our roads; On the other, replacing 5 current light bulbs with 5 compact fluorescent light bulbs would be the equivalent of removing 8 million cars off our roads. Do the math Ross. If we were to replace 5 light bulbs with 5 compact fluorescents we would offset 53 times the amount of carbon dioxide a year in this country... that is 46,640,000 tons as compared to 880,000!

Funny how the simplest things are often the most overlooked.  
On Climate change is pushing this easygoing enviro over the edge posted 3 years, 10 months ago 57 Responses

Enviros call on RFK Jr to Support Cape Wind

The letter to Mr. Kennedy states that:

"According to both the U.S. Department of Energy and a Massachusetts state energy agency, wind power could provide all the electricity used in the United States today. By contrast, the continuing use of coal-generated electricity (since coal is the most carbon-intensive of fuels) will hasten the day when large parts of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and the outer Cape are submerged by rising sea levels."

This is nonsense.

In order for wind to generate enough power to replace a typical power plant it would take up to 300 square miles of wind turbines. That is the size (and view) of New York City for one replacement wind farm! So lets do the math... Let's say there are approximately 10,000 power plants in the USA and just for the fun of it let's say they are all of typical size... if wind farms were to replace them, they would cover 3,000,000 square miles. The USA itself is 3,537,441 square miles.
On Over 150 activists send letter asking Kennedy to reconsider position posted 3 years, 10 months ago 21 Responses