Email received February 6, 2007 to Yes! Wind Power Cohocton
I am from Wayland and not even involved in this wind power thing, but I will say its a disgrace what is happening in Cohocton. Do people not get that we need another source of power other than oil? Someday, the oil will run out and it also throws emissions into the air that is causing all our changes in weather. I know people who live somewhat near the wind mills and they have no problems with it. Why is it that progress always has someone to try and stop it? The nasty remarks and things being said in the pennysavers each week is getting to be a joke. People where I work just laugh at the silliness of the whole thing. Come on people, lets go with the flow. We need a clean power source and what better source than the wind. Thanks for letting me say my piece, not that it helps. Some people just like to complain. At least, your organization is saner than any of the rest.
Janice Yohon
I am from Wayland and not even involved in this wind power thing, but I will say its a disgrace what is happening in Cohocton. Do people not get that we need another source of power other than oil? Someday, the oil will run out and it also throws emissions into the air that is causing all our changes in weather. I know people who live somewhat near the wind mills and they have no problems with it. Why is it that progress always has someone to try and stop it? The nasty remarks and things being said in the pennysavers each week is getting to be a joke. People where I work just laugh at the silliness of the whole thing. Come on people, lets go with the flow. We need a clean power source and what better source than the wind. Thanks for letting me say my piece, not that it helps. Some people just like to complain. At least, your organization is saner than any of the rest.
Janice Yohon
posted by Yes! Wind Power for Cohocton at
7:38 AM
6 Comments:
Janice, you'ree exactly right. The thing is, you got just a handful of people with more money than brains, who's motto is, "litigate, litigate, litigate." They squawk real loud so it seems like there's more people against the wind farm than there really is. One guy's a doctor that commutes to Rochester- d'ya think he worries about saving energy? He puts more weight on a study from Sweden that says these windmills can make up to 109 decibels, [like a jet engine!] when there are a number of US studies that say that just isn't so. [I say, so move to Sweden.]...Another guy is well off enuff to sheath his roof in copper! In the news, all the time, there's thieves stealing wiring out of houses cuz copper is so expensive. Bet ya he doesn't worry about saving energy, either. Most of these guys are condescnding, full of rhetoric, and twist the truth thru omission.I'm from a lot farther away from cohcton than Wayland, near the fenner windfarm in Madison County, and I tell you again, these towers do not exhibit the problems they would have you believe. I wonder if the 'Doc' even is aware that the vanes of the windmills can be rotated, to keep a constant speed of the rotors, despite higher windspeeds- ya see, they don't keep going faster and faster the higher the wind speed... which puts an upper limit on the noise....] Do you own research. look up real-world decibel level equivalents, and spread the word.... JT atkins
By
Anonymous, at 2:42 PM
Dear Janice,
I agree with you that what's happening in Cohocton is a disgrace. People are publishing things in the pennysaver that are such distortions of the truth it's no wonder that folks like yourself who aren't involved directly in the process can begin to think it's all a bad joke. The YES articles in last week's Valley News about the public hearing on January 19th, for instance, were so accusatory and off-base that any neutral observer would be troubled. Please read my online report of the same meeting by clicking here before making up your mind.
I also agree with you that finding alternatives to oil is a very worthwhile objective and that harnessing wind power may be one way of approaching the problem. For industrial wind installations to work without damaging the environment even further, however, the turbine units must be sited properly so that they don't interfere with the well-being of adjacent residents and landowners. In NY there is a public process developers must go through called SEQR where environmental impacts are studied carefully. Some folks in Cohocton apparently want to go ahead with turbines, whatever the impact, and don't like the "messy" public process SEQR demands. They just want those with concerns, many of which are very legitimate, to shut up and go away. Fortunately, our democracy calls us to a higher standard.
JT Watkins has written to me before about noise. You can read the brief email he sent me and my reply by clicking here. How JT thinks he knows what is going on in our community from his perch hours east of here is a mystery, but the comments he's just posted are filled with such blatant misinformation that I can't even find a single truth in his whole tirade. What he "knows" is all wrong, about people's money and mottos, about what constitutes a minority (where is the local vote so we can all really know?), about the "doctor" (that's me) and the Swedish study he entirely misrepresents, about the "guy [who is] well enuff to sheath his roof in copper" (that would be Jim Hall whose standing seam roof is copper-colored), and on and on. He sent me a challenge on noise and I responded thoroughly and respectfully. How he can post (and YES can approve) this kind of blather with a clear conscience puzzles me.
Janice, please come visit Cohocton Free on the web and read some of our online articles about the limitations and liabilities of wind power in our community. I'm sure that if you watch this controversy closely, you'll end up seeing where the disgrace really lies. YES, you will.
Dr. Bill Morehouse
By
Bill, at 5:08 PM
This comment has been removed by the author.
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Yes! Wind Power for Cohocton, at 6:55 PM
What I want to know if your people are so for it then why dont you put them in your town? Why do they need wind turbines in Cohocton? Why not put them in Wayland or Dansville? What I dont understand is why everyone cant vote on this wind turbine project? Why doesnt it benefit everyone? Why is it nec.? now all of a sudden people are worried about what the government created? You people need to look at the cons as well as the pros, i dont think any of you know what you are talking about. I dont want to wake up in the morning and look out my window to see a great big ugly windmill. Do you think turbines will eventually stop people from driving vehicles(vehicles give off carbon dioxide and monoxide and..etc) planes, do you think peopel will eventually stop flying all around the world to support wind turbines? If you people are so for them, put them in your backyard and see how you like them. THE WHOLE PROBLEM IS THAT THE TOWN BOARD AND GOV. WONT ALLOW EVERYONE TO VOTE ON THE PROJECT. What I dont get is you cant even build anything in that town without pulling teeth, then all of a sudden a bunch of buricratic losers come in and push money in your face and its, oh YES! I am for the wind turbines. Its not the fact of them building them its the way they went about it telling the towns people, "we dont care what you think" is that how you want your government run? blah blah blah blah.....pur them where noone will complain about it. Did you know that they have to clear 86 acres of land with trees in order for 1 windmill to do its job? talk about burning our resources. you people need to do more research. esp. you janice!! losersss!!!
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Anonymous, at 4:28 PM
Five myths threaten the future of Wind Power. #1 Myth: Wind is sporadic and impractical. MOre than 200 studies have shown that overall decline in pollution emission more than makes up for the financial losses due to days when the wind is not blowing. Myth #2. Wind power is too expensive. Today new wind turbines create 180 more electricity than it did 20 years ago at less than half the cost of KW. Myth #3 - Wind turbines endanger wildlife. MOre birds are hitting vehicles and buildings than will ever hit windmills. Myth #4-Wind farms undermine local economies. Wind farm tours leader says when people get off the bus they say, "I thought they were meant to be noisy." There is no evidence that tourism or local business is undermined." Myth #5: Wind farms are ugly. The consequences of climate change and energy insecurity look a lot uglier."
Paraphrased from Ode International, "Blowing Against the Wind." ENERGY. September 2006.
Submitted by Carol D. Robinson
By
Anonymous, at 5:23 PM
Dear Carol,
Here's a quote from an article on wind power by Matthew Wald in the Business Section of December 28, 2006 issue of the New York Times:
"Engineers have cut the price of electricity derived from wind by about 80 percent in the last 20 years, setting up this renewable technology for a major share of the electricity market. But for all its promise, wind also generates a big problem: because it is unpredictable and often fails to blow when electricity is most needed, wind is not reliable enough to assure supplies for an electric grid that must be prepared to deliver power to everybody who wants it — even when it is in greatest demand.
"In Texas, as in many other parts of the country, power companies are scrambling to build generating stations to meet growing peak demands, generally driven by air-conditioning for new homes and businesses. But power plants that run on coal or gas must “be built along with every megawatt of wind capacity,” said William Bojorquez, director of system planning at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas."
The effect of wind farms on climate change may end up being nearly negligible, while the local impact will be clearly visible and audible immediately. Please don't throw your wholehearted support behind something as questionable as this. If it is genuinely worthwhile, the opportunity for development won't go away if we wait a while; in fact, it might even get better. On the other hand, if this whole wind power boom turns out to be a scam and a bust, we will have saved our community a lot of heartache.
Dr. Bill Morehouse
By
Bill, at 6:37 PM
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