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A group associated with the Cape Wind project (Mass.) went to Denmark to question business owners about how much decline they'd been seeing since the turbines went in.  The mom & pop businesses replied that they'd actually seen a bit of increase from some people coming to see the turbines.  I'm not saying that would happen here, but rather no tourist impact at all.  There's hardly a place in the Gorge where you can see these things- you have to go up above 5,000' on Hood or to farthest east extent of the NSA (Biggs).  We'd have to tell our tourists to leave if they wanted to see them.

And I would submit that the "play" crowd has to eat and have a bed as much as the "scenic" tourist.  Perhaps they spend MORE on accomodation, since many stay for a week as opposed to the day-tripping "scenic" crowd.  A tourist is a tourist and they help our economy.

posted 1 year, 12 months ago
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Well said, Stopp re: consumption responsibility.  You outline a difficult to implement system, but logical and equitable.

posted 1 year, 12 months ago
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Stopp, please stop...there is no perfect solution unless you want to live in a cave (but we won't all fit).  These things are so much more environmentally friendly than the current alternatives...instead of 'no, no, nimby', people might consider ridding the country of the bad alternatives, particulate-filled smokestacks, nuke waste plants, etc.

Instead of 'no, no', if you did your homework, you'd know that the bat and bird issus are being addressed.  There are currently systems available to these wind farms that detect birds and bats by radar and can slow or stop the turbines til the birds pass.  They are sophisticated enough to actually identify the type bird approaching by its flight pattern, size, etc.  They're experimenting with noise deterrants.  People could suggest a wind farm use these systems instead of just saying no...

Birds & bats will not go extinct from wind farms.  The #1 bird killer is buildings (flying into windows).  Should we remove these buildings? (after all, they're not even generating power haha).  The # of birds killed by cars, power lines, cats, oil spills far dwarf the # killed by wind turbines  (http://www.fws.gov/birds/mortality-fact-sheet.pdf).  There's no efforts to stop the kills by these things...at least the wind industry is trying.

posted 1 year, 12 months ago
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Your points are valid but unecessary.  There is no proposal for wind turbines in the scenic area and never will be.  Not allowed.  First Wind (Seven Mile Hill) met resistance due to its visibility from the Gorge and backed out.  Whistling Ridge would only be marginally visible from certain points.

You and concernres talk about visual impacts- some people look at these things and think, "Hmmm, these are progressive, forward-looking people here who care to invest in alternatives to dirty coal or nasty nuclear..."

"And they sure are prettier than a smoke-spewing stack"

posted 1 year, 12 months ago
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