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Chinese To Supply 600 MW Wind Farm In Texas
Hugh Pickens sends in a Wall Street Journal report that Chinese banks will provide $1.5B to a consortium of Chinese and American companies to build a 600-megawatt wind farm in West Texas, using turbines made in China. The wind farm will be built on 36,000 acres, and will use 240 2.5-megawatt turbines, providing enough power to meet the electrical needs of around 150,000 American homes. The project will be the first instance of a Chinese manufacturer exporting wind turbines to the United States. China aims to be the front-runner in wind- and solar-power generation "The Obama administration is hoping a shift to renewable energy will inject new life into the US manufacturing base and provide high-paying jobs, making up for losses in other sectors. But while the US has poured money into renewable energy through tax credits and other subsidies, China has positioned itself to reap many of the benefits by ramping up its export machine."
This makes me feel all fuzzy good inside, so I endorse it. It "feels" greeny, so it must be a good thing.
How long before one of the blades snaps off and kills someone, or there's lead in the paint, or the turbines themselves are "rigged" by China for debt-collection purposes? I know here in Oklahoma I see huge wind turbine blades being hauled all the time - well, at least in summer. I don't know where they come from or going to, but the going along the highway that goes from Tulsa to Dallas (state HWY 75) Why not buy American...and help OUR economy for once? Seems there needs to be an increase on taxes for imported goods...maybe we could use that to supliment health insurance (either by lowering income taxes, or by paying for it...)