Comments on: Wind war in Union County

By: E.A.

E.A. — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 19:56:20 +0000

Notice how people making excuses for wind turbines only want to talk about jobs and money. They cherry-pick the thing that matters to them and ignore the environmental downsides. If it sounds familiar, you’ve heard it before from the fossil fuel industry. Wind power is only superficially different from any other extractive business seeking subsidies. It just happens to extract something invisible while inflicting highly visible blight. The people involved in it think nature owes Man a living, regardless of chronic aesthetic losses. They are typical resource-pillagers who claim that “hard work” renders everything moral and pure. “I have to feed my family and pay my bills” is an old excuse for environmental damage.

“Living in Union” (November 10, 2010 at 1:57 pm) posted a typical batch of lies about lack of noise problems, straight from the industry playbook. Turbines may not directly cause mysterious diseases but they definitely add stress which in turn affects the whole body. People who deny noise problems vanish when asked to live among affected residents and hear for themselves. Topography and many other factors can insulate one home from noise while seriously affecting another, even farther away. But focusing on noise alone distracts from the visual blight. Wind turbines are a package deal and generally a bad one.

By: E.A.

E.A. — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 19:37:52 +0000

Developers talk and talk and talk about “trade-offs” and arcane economic details but the simple fact is that too many landscapes are being ruined by these skyscrapers. Aesthetics are a big deal, not a side issue or NIMBYism. Why don’t these people care about America’s scenic legacy?

Future goals call for up to 4 MILLION wind turbines, worldwide. The blight of these projects would be quickly acknowledged if they burned oil, gas or coal during use. Ironically, old arguments against ANWR oil drilling are now being use to promote wind turbines. Look up the “ANWR 2,000 acre footprint myth” (tower pad acreage vs. total affected acreage).

The hypocrisy of so-called environmentalists pushing wind-sprawl is hard to comprehend. It’s as if they were taken over by aliens and told what to say. Who decided that the mere lack of oil burned (during use, not construction) is the moral standard for deciding whether impact is negative? Wind turbines with blades removed look just like smokestacks, which would be called ugly in a heartbeat by the wind zombies.

And no, I don’t deny global warming. I just want to see the smallest human footprint possible in this overcrowded world. We need a lot more conservation and birth control, not industrial projects.

By: Darren Ashley

Darren Ashley — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:03:52 +0000

I have a $200,000 house a mile away from a wind farm in Shirley WI. I cannot live there or drive within two miles of the eight 2.5 megawatt wind turbines. They have given me and my family numerous adverse health effects, mostly ear aches, headaches, nausea, blurred vision, and such. I wouldn’t wish any more wind turbines built near anyone. What a waste of tax money, and how many more will suffer because of them? I had to buy another house and as long as I stay away from them, my family and I are healthy. Look up all the people around the world who are leaving their homes because of wind turbines. Hopefully one day the truth about this expensive boondoggle will be known to all. Is it worth your health and people around you? Better educate yourselves before sacrificing your livelihood for a couple dollars.

By: Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 14:19:42 +0000

A wind farm in the Grande Ronde Valley will forever change the viewscape and take away our most precious commodity of tourism. We are a heavily economically depressed county which the pro-windfarm folks “over look.” Even Pickens has taken his money out of the wind farm commodity because it will never be economically feasible. We must not let this blight be inflicted upon us in the Valley! 2/19/11

By: Antelope Ridge wind farm up for public comment « Daily Journal of Commerce – Building and Construction News in Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:00:43 +0000

[…] Energy, Union County, wind energy Horizon Wind Energy has completed its application for a new 300-megawatt wind farm in the Grande Ronde Valley. The public now has an opportunity to weigh in on the application, which seeks approval for up to […]

By: Living in Union

Living in Union — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:19:29 +0000

I find it interesting the opposition to the wind farm are talking a lot about nothing.

What can THEY put in place to cover the loss of tax revenue generated from the wind farm?

Is the opposition going to provide the extra funding to the school system?. no
Are they going to create jobs to cover the lost ones?? …no
Are they going to purchase the private property that has been for sale for years that turbines are going on??? No
Are they going to do anything to help the economy?? No
Are they going to provide technical training for high paying jobs?? No
The truth is the existing wind farm is supporting local business, you owe it to your self to look at the list of supporting businesses and go in and ask if they are benefiting from the wind farm doing business with them.
You owe it to your self to do your own research and check the facts of the opposition and proponent of the wind farm and you will see who is being 100% honest and who is truly stretching the facts.
I for one like to do my own work and see all side and make an intelligent decisions based on what I find, then when confronted with questions I know what I’m talking about and don’t look stupid.
Like so many do on this subject.

By: Living in Union

Living in Union — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:07:23 +0000

” They say they can’t hear the wind turbines, but I live within 1500 feet of these things and I just can’t sleep and get all sorts of aliments from them…it is the low frequencey that gets to people who live near these things. I am not the only one. It is documented across the world.
I have noticed the change in the envirnoment, bird and bats have disappeared from our area. Antelope , elk and deer have migrated to other areas. It has roads tearing thru the land here with no reguard for the rare plant life or underground animals. We have these things blinking their red lights and making the constant noise of a plane that never lands….it is more than non green, it is very destructive to the total envirnoment. They are contained with fossil fuels, endangering our land and water. Our home is no longer a place to take shelter, but a place that is dreaded.
Our county planning department profited from Horizon before they oked the Elkhorn Wind Project and that is why three families or more that weren’t ok with these towers never got notified. Instead of the pro wind peopple using our rural oregon, it should be we want to destroy Union County and any other place we own land so we can make easy money without reguard for others…now that is a good neighbor…
I have nothing that resembles my dream home because they ruined the peace and quiet that was once our beautiful Telocaset…don’t let them ruin your lives…this is not progress but destruction.”

Why don’t you tell them about the trains going by your house every half hour 24-7 a day at 180′ from you front door? Or the Dirt road that is 60’ for your front door?
I hope you finally seek out a doctor to treat you for your ailment which I feel is not being diagnosed correctly by yourself.
Just think if you did go in, and they did find what is troubling you, and they can help then you would feel better.
Write your symptoms down and compare them to other ailments and you will be surprised at what you find.
If you need help I will help you out with your research.

By: Living in Union

Living in Union — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 21:57:23 +0000

If you are baffled by people referring to terms such as ‘vibro-acoustic disease’, ‘wind turbine syndrome’ or just generally worried about wind turbine noise, a report has been published confirming that many wind turbine claims are ill founded.

The review ‘Wind Turbine Sound & Health Effects‘ carried out last year includes an assessment of so called research carried out by anti-wind farm campaigners (including Nina Pierpont).

Following review, analysis, and discussion of current knowledge, the panel of noise experts reached consensus on the following conclusions:

• There is no evidence that the audible or sub-audible sounds emitted by wind turbines have any direct adverse physiological effects.

• The ground-borne vibrations from wind turbines are too weak to be detected by, or to affect, humans.

• The sounds emitted by wind turbines are not unique. There is no reason to believe, based on the levels and frequencies of the sounds and the panel’s experience with sound exposures in occupational settings, that the sounds from wind turbines could plausibly have direct adverse health consequences.

By: Union County, Horizon make $40M agreement « Daily Journal of Commerce – Building and Construction News in Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:55:04 +0000

[…] support the proposed Antelope Ridge Wind Farm, a 300-megawatt project that would build up to 164 turbines in the Grande Ronde Valley. While 5,462 voters said they oppose the project, 5,060 voted in support of the […]

By: Oregon Studies Wind Farm Impacts | Press Release – Buzz Issue.

Oregon Studies Wind Farm Impacts | Press Release – Buzz Issue. — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 02:46:12 +0000

[…] Oregon towns of La Grande, Pendleton and Arlington — unfold as wind farms come under criticism on a host of counts, including potential impacts on wildlife, marring pristine vistas and creating an insufferable […]