Battles over wind farms divide rural communities - PBS NewsHour

[Rhiannon12866]

Fierce battles are playing out around the country over how and whether renewable energy should be developed locally. The push for wind farms in rural Kansas has divided communities. Special correspondent and Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell reports. - Aired on 07/14/2023.

[Think. Again.]

1. From this report it seems...

...the resistance to the turbines is completely based on aesthetics, those opposing them don't personally like how they look.

Perhaps they'll have different priorities as climate chaos starts to affect them, personally, in ways they are lucky enough to not yet be experiencing

[walkingman]

2. I think that lady is just pissed because she didn't get any $$$$. This same situation is

happening here in Central Texas with solar farms. Kind of weird because they don't mind those nasty and foul smelling pumpjacks on their land or near it. I think a lot of it is just the worship of fossil fuels here in Texas. Lots of jobs and wealth created here for decades. Change is hard but it must happen.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. We've seen those in wealthy communities downstate in New York oppose the wind farms

Because they could "obstruct their views." Their objections weren't against wind power itself, just "not in my neighborhood." And most of these are "summer people." And, of course, there are the outlandish objections which can be summed up as conspiracy theories, keeping residents awake, affecting dairy production - and of course TFG's infamous contention that wind turbines "cause cancer." *sigh*

[Duppers]

4. omg....

[Rhiannon12866]

5. I know!

Though I know that we had have wind turbines in Northern New York for awhile and I don't recall hearing objections. However, we're talking about rural less affluent communities.

[hunter]

6. If I believed wind turbines were going to save the world I might have stronger opinions about this.

Heck, if I believed wind turbines would significantly delay the final reckonings of global warming I might have stronger opinions about this.

I don't have any strong opinions about wind turbines on land that's already been trashed by industrial scale agriculture.

I oppose building new wind turbines on previously undeveloped land or in the ocean. These will only prolong our dependence on fossil fuel and do nothing, absolutely nothing, to reduce the total amount of greenhouse gasses humans eventually dump into the atmosphere.