controversy!

i drove to my parents' house today for a mid week visit, complete with belated birthday cake. on the way to plymouth, wi, i drove the typical route from madison, which takes me through the lush horicon marsh and green pastoral beauty of dodge and fond du lac counties. in the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of large wind turbines in these counties, as well as a marked escalation in the hostility of the front yard signs. clearly, folks are divided on the wind issue. today, a huge hand painted sign shouted at me "GREED AND MONEY HAVE DESTROYED BYRON," perhaps suggesting that the neighbors who accepted money from energy companies to host wind turbines on their private property have ruined the view, the country living ambiance, and ultimately, the community of byron.

i do not live in the shadow of a wind turbine, and i do not suffer from wind-turbine-generator noise pollution. i am not a migrating bird that could suffer great bodily harm at the fins of these wind turbines. i am, however, a consumer of energy. i live in the shadow of a coal-burning power plant on the isthmus of madison. this coal-burning power plant remains the single greatest cause of pollution in dane county. for these reasons, i find wind turbines to be an exciting step in the right direction to free us from fossil-fuel dependence.

the controversy fascinates me, only because it is not a controversy on my doorstep. i cannot imagine how i would react if i had to deal with daily afternoon "flicker shadow" or the bothersome all-night-long glow of the red light atop the turbine.

i snapped some photos of the turbines today. it was a beautiful wisconsin summer afternoon, full of intermittent sunshine and the threat of a tornado or 2. it makes for some nice pictures.




a few turbines were being built today, and i snapped this photo of a turbine blade arriving on the flat bed of an over-sized load truck. it's pretty massive.


also, here is a link to the news story released this spring regarding the controversy. it is quite informative.
http://www.wind-watch.org/video/windfarmremorse.mp4