I know, most of the media attention goes to a few high-visibility debates about putting wind in places like the waters off Cape Cod. But most installations are a welcome source of revenue to farmers and landowners. In fact, because the new wind turbines are tall, and don't interfere significantly with grazing or farming, they have become popular in the central U.S., where the wind resource is best in the country. Some ranchers make half a million dollars a year by leasing only a fraction of their land for turbines.
..Unlike people on a certain Eastern cape, Texans even find aesthetic value in wind turbines. "Texas has been looking at oil and gas rigs for 100 years, and frankly, wind turbines look a little nicer," Texas land commissioner Jerry Patterson told the New York Times in February. "We're No. 1 in wind in the United States, and that will never change." Oilman Boone Pickens is planning "the biggest wind farm in the world," a $10 billion investment. "I like wind because it's renewable and it's clean and you know you are not going to be dealing with a production decline curve," Pickens told the Times. "Decline curves finally wore me out in the oil business."
Link Posted by Tim at May 18, 2008 10:45 PM | TrackBack