Beware the Green Energy Bias

GREEN JOBS - ENERGY, A SUBSIDISED NIGHTMARE

Windmills and solar panels are destroying thousands of acres here in California.

Wind and solar farms require massive grading, excavation, thousands of tons of concrete for foundations, hundreds of miles of roads, transmission towers and trenching. What's left is a wasteland of flailing scarecrows, blowing dust and reflective glare.

Animals flee the vibrating, futuristic nightmare or die under the bulldozer - many are killed by the whirling blades. Dozens of eagles, hundreds of condors and hawks and thousands of common bird varieties are killed each year.

More access to public land is lost - more fences and barbed wire.

All this for virtually no "net" energy produced after we factor in all the energy expended in the mining of the metals, smelting and processing, transport of product to factories, manufacturing of towers, generators, panels in China. Than transport around the world to U.S. ports - more transport by truck and rail to construction sites. Where hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel are used by earth movers and giant cranes to build pads, transformer stations, roads, and hundreds of vehicles moving crews and equipment around.

In a windy area wind farms only produce power about 18% of the time and the power is not stored More that 60% of that power is "dirty" and can't be used by electric companies - but they must buy it anyway. The purchase of unusable power and massive government subsidies means we all pay more for power.

When the huge subsidies end the "Green Energy" industry will quickly die. Unless Obama and his Green Priestess, Lisa Jackson, are successful in their attempts at closing down coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, fuel oil and natural gas generation. Then, of course, energy prices will - in Obama's own words - "necessarily skyrocket". Which translates into fewer American jobs because U.S. industry can not compete and, naturally, higher prices for food, or just about everything else consumers need.

Environmentalism has become the quasi official State Religion. It controls, media, education, courts, schools politicians and the bureaucracies of government - at every level.

"Going Green" has gone stark, raving mad.

An example.

Recently, in Montana, an Australian company wanted to bring revenue and jobs to the state by developing mineral resources. The area was used for mining and drilling in the 60's and 70's but is now 200 yards inside a mandated "roadless area". The Forest Service was willing to offer a conditional drilling/mining permit. However, among the 25 pages of requirements were the following conditions;

* The drill sites must be cleared using hand tools,

* The drilling equipment and fuel must be transported to the site by a team of pack mules,

* The mules must be fed certified weed-free hay, and

* Drill site and trail reclamation must be done using hand tools.

After more than 20 months of applications, studies and forms the company finally gave up.

R.L. Schaefer of CA 7:10PM May 13, 2012