16 thoughts on “Going Backwards! Senators ban wind in WNC

  1. this really disappoints me. instead of having wind turbines “destroy pristine views and mar the landscape” they’re allowing king coal to destroy mountaintops in other areas of the appalachian mountains to support their energy needs. NIMBY if i’ve ever heard it.

  2. Yes, we will work hard to be sure that our mountain ridges stay pristine despite the actions of this group. When we can work TOGETHER, by working to harness the wind in the North Carolina mountains (such as the wind turbine at ASU described here), but AT THE SAME TIME keeping our ridge law intact and keeping those specific ridges protected, then we will AT LAST do something that works for all of the people. We do not need commercial scale wind farms in the North Carolina mountains! You may live here for 4 years and then move, but we really LIVE HERE and we OWN THE LAND! You will not have to witness from Raleigh what we have to observe here on a day to day basis. When you can stop putting people down, such as Charlie Humes did in his reply above, then we MIGHT respect you!

  3. Also, in the listed reasons for this group….why can’t you be honest? It was not a “family’s failed attempt” to set up a wind turbine. Call it as it was….an attempt by Richard Calhoun to set up a commercial wind farm in Ashe county? FAMILY? You have got to be kidding me! This was a commercial farm that was defeated! He was not in it for the “green” aspect. It was all about money for him! I will respect the comments on this site and I might respect this site when you can be really honest!

  4. This is interesting as you update your web site, but not your comments???? What are you hiding???? Again, you need to be honest about the “family failed attempt” about wind energy….this was a MAJOR COMMERCIAL WIND FARM. Update your comments if you want respect. Or are you waiting until the debate over bill S-1068 is over???

  5. Hello Ann!

    Thanks for your comments. I understand and share your concerns for North Carolina’s Ridges. I am also concerned about North Carolina’s dire dependence on coal to generate electricity, a practice that is degrading our air and destroying the ridge lines of our Appalachian Sister States.

    Regrettably 60% of North Carolina’s electricity comes from dirty coal fired power plants, and half of the coal used by these plants to generate electricity is derived from mountaintop removal coal mining in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia.

    While it would be wonderful to avoid the consequences of my and North Carolina’s energy use, as a longtime resident of the NC High Country born in Asheville, NC, I do not feel it is morally consistent to safeguard our states ridges from the realities of our energy consumption while destroying the ridges of our Appalachian Sister States to generate our electricity.

    Thanks once more for your comments and for bearing with us as we try to post all comments and developments to the site in a timely manner.

  6. Thank you for posting my comments. Your guilt trip will not work with me. Please know that many of us who are against commercial wind farms (like the one you describe as “family who was denied a permit” farce), are not against smaller wind turbines, such as the one in use at ASU. We will protect our ridges and I feel sure the 1983 Mountain Ridge Protection Act will stand strong against those of you who want to destroy our beautiful ridges with commercial wind farms. I am waiting for you to correct the reason you started this site….why don’t you say it was a failed commercial wind farm. This site is so slanted in its views. For example…..did you attend any meetings in Ashe county? You are aware that the commercial wind farm proposed by the Calhouns would have created ONE job? This is just another way for ASU to get funds…same old story. I also question your political agenda and where you obtain your email addresses, but that is being researched closely. See you in Raleigh.

  7. Hello Anne,

    Please know that my above comment was not meant as a guilt trip, but as a factual account of North Carolina’s highly dependent relationship with coal fired electricity – a source of electricity that is greatly contributing to the fouling of air, water, and the general environment in North Carolina and the South Eastern Appalachian Mountain Region as a whole.

    Regrettably, 90% or more of all wind resources in Western North Carolina are on the ridges. AIRE is calling for the wise and judicious development of these wind resources via widely distributed community/locally/municipally owned wind energy development.

    I can further assure you that this site was not started as a result of “a failed commercial wind farm”, but out of a genuine interest in the safe affluent and healthy energy future of North Carolina, Appalachia, and all those who live here.

    Please also know that you may contact AIRE at info@aire-nc.org or via the contact information here: http://aire-nc.org/contact/

  8. The fact that you would support an irresponsible project such as the Calhoun’s failed commercial wind farm (they could not even get their paper work in on time and they lost their lawyer!) confirms your own irresponsiblity in being a 501c3 with a very inappropriate political agenda that is inconsistant with the IRS rules for a 501c3.

  9. Ann – it is sad, and I feel sorry for you, that you do not support local, distributed energy generation. It is very clear that you are being combative and venting through this site. Do as you may, but know that the overwhelming majority of NC is in support of responsible wind permitting and siting. What I am in favor of are small farms of 2 to 10 where local counties can have a vested interest in them. This increases the local tax base and does, contrary to what you stated, bring local jobs as well. The turbine at ASU cost around $530,000 and all of the labor was contracted locally. How did that not contribute to our economy?

    And when you state, “This is just another way for ASU to get funds,” what does that mean. The Calhoun project had nothing to do with that project monetarily besides trying to educated the uneducated about the myths that prevail about wind. Wind energy does not make cows bleed from the mouth and contract cancer. (Remember that comment?)

    If we had a petroleum well under our land, you should be damn clear that we’d tap it and not think twice. We have wind. The fuel is free and over 20 years won’t be volatile like our fossil fuel friends, and wind energy is not detrimental to the air we all breathe.

    If a local land owner, I presume you are, since you stated, “…but we really LIVE HERE and we OWN THE LAND!”, wants to hold onto that land, there are a select few ways in which they can do it if they are under threat of paying taxes on the land and unable to do so. One way is to sell it to developers and let them put houses up on it under 35′ tall as the “ridge law” states, they can enter into a land conservation trust, or they could put a turbine or 5 on it and generate enough money to pay the taxes on it, increase the local tax base by $12,000 to $30,000 per year, and contribute in a smart and RESPONSIBLE manner to NC’s energy infrastructure. As admin says, this is a responsibility we have to ourselves and to our sister communities where they don’t have a choice to put up a wind turbine. Their mountains are being destroyed, leveled, and taken down to power YOUR home!

    I want you to know that WE LIVE HERE TO and OWN LAND AS WELL. We will fight this fight too. I went to Raleigh, I did not see you there!

  10. Crystal, I am not sure why you feel sorry for me, but I can tell that you have not read my posts. You are the one who is venting. When you wake up and quit fighting to use the protected ridges, then we will work together for smaller wind projects such as residential turbines where I can sell the energy I do not use. As long as you fight for commercial wind farms, you will not win. I am just not sure why you are unwilling to look at areas to harness the wind that do not include the protected ridges as defined in the 1983 Mountain Ridge Protection Act. It is all or none according to you. At least I can compromise and not use the protected ridges and still desire a residential turbine and I can support the ASU turbine. I did not see you at any of the Ashe county meetings but I will see you in Raleigh. If you had attended the meetings in Ashe county, you would have known the real truth behind the Calhoun fiasco. It was not about ????/bleeding cows??????. Again, I am willing to work with people who respect our ridges. It you can not see the “money” for ASU in this issue, that is your problem. Again, Ashe county and Watauga county will not become a place where ASU can try out their “projects.” Lighten up and compromise. There is plenty of wind for all, but until you have ideas that do not include the ridges, you will lose. The support you talk of comes from a web site where email addresses are added and a “form” letter goes to the Senators…..do you not think that our Senators are aware of all of the ASU addresses???

  11. Moderator Comment: The AIRE website provides a web form which enables users to voluntarily send email to elected officials in North Carolina. The text of the email message with in the web form is freely editable by the user electing to send it. Additionally, the web form clearly discloses the recipients of the email message being sent by the user. Should you wish to use this web form, click the following link: http://aire-nc.org/s1068.

  12. Why would I want to send an email from your site when it is clear what you are doing. If you read the following article, you will understand. http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/07_09/07_22_09/out_naturalist.html But more than anything, why would I, someone from Ashe county ,do that when Steve Owen, the executive director of AIRE, sends an email to ASU professor Jeff Boyer stating “The irrational anti-winders in ashe are rearing their head” and then asks for donations (solicits) to fight the people of ASHE county. Then he directs that the comments from Ashe people be viewed at the link he included. Then Boyer solicits money via an email for Owen, and the list includes Senator Goss. The people of Ashe are not stupid. AIRE + ASU +GOSS = Deception. Deception + Protected Mountain Ridges= Disaster.

  13. Ann, I am more than familiar with ASU’s wind turbine and the small wind initiative. Please forgive me but I do not see the association that you speak of. Can you, with great clarity, explain the relationship to me? Again, please tell me how ASU will profit from this monetarily, as you mentioned?

    And the bleeding cows comment came directly from the 07 Ashe Co public hearing. Please refer to the utilities commission docket that posted all comments made to confirm.

  14. Lincoln Township Wind Turbine Report
    http://betterplan.squarespace.com/update-from-lincolndoc/

    excerpts—

    ……Back to what Mr. Srnka has personally experienced. Mr. Srnka and neighbors report serious health effects on not just dairy cows. Health problems in residents include

    * sleep loss
    * diarrhea
    * headaches
    * frequent urination
    * 4 to 5 menstrual periods per month
    * bloody noses: Mr. Srnka had cows bleed to death from uncontrollable bleeding from the nostrils
    * inability to conceive

    …….Two of Mr. Neubauer’s clients, who were interviewed in October, are dairy farmers who have spent over $250,000 and $300,000 trying to rewire their farms to reduce stray voltage. That cost does not included herd loss or losses from diminished milk production. Mr. Russ Allen owns 550 dairy cows in DePere, Wisconsin. His farm is in a direct line between nearby WPSC turbines and a substation. Mr. Russ said he was losing one or two cows a day during the three years prior to his installing electrical equipment to help reduce currents on his farm. About 600 cows died, he said. Mr. Russ said he has so much electrical current on his farm that he laid a No. 4 copper wire around his farm for 5,000 feet. The wire is not attached to any building or additional wires; yet it can light up a lightbulb from contact with the soil alone. Mr. Russ has scheduled a media day on October 24 to draw awareness to the problems of stray voltage and he said to encourage everyone in Bureau County to attend.

    …….Animal health problems in the Srnkas’ formerly award-winning herd include cancer deaths, ringworm, mange, lice, parasites, cows not calving properly, dehydration, mutations such as no eyeballs or tails, cows holding pregnancy only 1 to 2 weeks and then aborting, blood from nostrils, black and white hair coats turning brown, mastitis, kidney and liver failure.

    Within a few months in the first year after the turbines were erected, 8 cows died of cancer. No previous cases of cancer were detected ever before in the Srnka herd, which is a closed herd, according to Mr. Srnka.

    Mr. Srnka also detected a change in well water on his property, and there has been a definite change in taste, he said, which has contributed to the decrease in water consumption by his herd. In the past his cows consumed 30 gallons of water a day, but that figure declined to 18 to 22 gallons of water a day after turbine construction. As a result, cows became dehydrated and terminally ill.

  15. Crystal, did you know that testifying in front of the legislature and what you do at ASU…conflict of interest and is being reported. Plus your relationship with this group……

    Also removing posts here shows that AIRE has something to hide.

  16. I don’t understand how I was putting anyone down Ann. I think it’s ridiculous that we’ve reduced our ability to allow for sustainable energy technologies while still allowing electricity that causes asthma and pollutes our streams.

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