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Texas Tells Cape Wind "You're Not First Yet"

Posted by kdawson on from the y'all-come dept.

longacre writes "Cape Wind is making headlines for being the first offshore wind farm to earn federal approval, but it still has plenty of legal hoops to jump through before groundbreaking. Texas, on the other hand, requires no review — state, federal, or otherwise — to build wind farms off its shore. Texas energy expert and Popular Mechanics senior editor Jennifer Bogo talks to Texan energy leaders who are confident they will beat Cape Wind to the punch for the distinction of having the first functional US offshore wind farm. 'I was about to write a press release to congratulate Cape Wind for getting their approval,' says Jim Suydam, press secretary of the Texas General Land Office, 'and let them know when they're done jumping through hoops up there they can come build off the Texas Coast.' Despite its reputation as an oil-addicted, non-environmentally-friendly, conservative state, Texas's existing land-based wind farms actually produce four times more electricity than California's."

12 of 374 comments (clear)

  1. Smart move by Mabbo · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Texas understands a simple principle: oil isn't forever. They have the money now, and can invest in wind, and other alternatives, so that when it runs out, they have another source of income, and a backup energy supply. Dubai is trying for a similar move, building what they hope is the Middle East's Singapore, but may have overdone it a tad.

    Living in the UK for the last year, I've seen a lots of investment in wind here. On the horizon here in Edinburgh, there's a pretty substantial wind farm. Flying back home I noticed there's another large one in the waters between Ireland and Wales.

    1. Re:Smart move by couchslug · · Score: 4, Informative

      Wind farms have another endearing quality:

      They don't explode. burn, and piss hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the ocean.

      The NIMBY folks who snivel about wind turbines are welcome to a deep draught of "Deepwater Horizon" (or Exxon Valdez, or to go way back, Torrey Canyon) to go with their oily fish dinner.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    2. Re:Smart move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      they do however kill sheep, the noise keeps them awake until they die. the sound may or may not have an effect on fish and dolphins, we don't know yet. also fossil fuel is forever, check out a work called "deep, hot, biosphere"

      Considering the article is specifically talking about offshore windfarms, I don't think that we need to be too concerned about any sheep who happen to be close enough to hear them.

      And I'd like to see some sort of citation to back up your claim. I realize that sheep are dumb (very, very dumb), but I grew up (and live) in a rural state which has a good bit of sheep farming. I've never heard of the ranchers having any problems with sheep dying due to lack of sleep even on ranches which are right next to major highways which produce a much higher level of noise even at night. In addition, we have several wind farms around the state, and there are some which actually exist ON sheep ranches, with no effects.
      So wherever you got your information, it was either flat out wrong, or there was something else bothering the sheep.

  2. Yeeeeeehaw! by Rogerborg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In Texas, because we don't care about the environment, we're actually able to do things that are good for the environment [..] It's the most ironic, preposterous situation. If you want to build a wind farm, you just build it.

    You know, it's easy to mock Texans (from a safe distance) but there's a fully fledged bastard of a good point here. Regulation doesn't produce things. Government doesn't make anything. By and large, government just means worthless expense, and pointless obstruction.

    Given the choice between trusting The People, or trusting that small subset of The People who live by taxing the rest of us and telling us what's good for us, I think I'm going to have to call it for The People.

    --
    If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    1. Re:Yeeeeeehaw! by dnwq · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Regulation means that those alternatives to wind farms with large, hidden costs borne actually pay those costs. So your clean wind farm actually turns a profit.

    2. Re:Yeeeeeehaw! by Thanshin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That wouldn't happen because of zoning.

      Nope, zoning can't be useful, as it's done by "that small subset of The People who live by taxing the rest of us and telling us what's good for us".

    3. Re:Yeeeeeehaw! by quokkaZ · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Talk about jumping to wild conclusions based on next to no evidence, but firmly ensconced in ideological clap trap.

      There are innumerable examples of governments "making things". As we are talking about electricity generation I will point out the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme in Australia, built by the Australian government and operated to this day by a wholly government owned corporation. It is the largest engineering project ever undertaken in Australia and frequently cited as an example of civil engineering excellence.

      In scope and difficulty, putting up some wind turbines is just not in the same league.

      So what is it you were saying about governments?

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowy_Mountains_Scheme#cite_note-ASCE-6

    4. Re:Yeeeeeehaw! by Chryana · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Regulation may not produce things, but it helps prevent The People as you like to call them from getting Ripped Off, such as during the California electricity crisis. Your point about "worthless expense and pointless obstruction" caused by regulations sounds particularly stupid in the light of the current events going on in the Gulf of Mexico. I think I'd rather trust people who are accountable to the population than some faceless multinational to look for my interests, thank you very much.

    5. Re:Yeeeeeehaw! by jeff4747 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Blatantly ripping this off from other people on the Internet:

      This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department of Energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watched this while eating breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

      At the appropriate time as regulated by the US Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory. I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads built by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to send via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

      After work, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to a house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it's valuables thanks to the local police department.

      I then log on to the internet which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post on freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.

  3. THAT'S HOW THE SHEEP DIE!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    THAT'S HOW THE SHEEP DIE!!! They walk out into the ocean to look at the windmills and drown! It's so obvious!

  4. W. Texas is a good place for wind turbines by plopez · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not only do they have a fair amount of wind, it tends to be consistent and no extreme.

    Other places have higher winds, but they can damage the turbines. Other places have steady winds but they are interspersed with calm periods.

    I went to W. Texas a few years ago and there seemed to be a steady stream of trucks carrying turbine parts down the roads. I heard of land owners forming associations (a "Wind Union" so to speak) to negotiate with the power generation companies for better leases.

    --
    putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  5. Re:Read the Popular Mechanics article by Sebilrazen · · Score: 4, Funny

    You tell 'em, honey.

    --
    "There are no facts, only interpretations." --Friedrich Nietzsche.