[pct-l] Wind farms crossing PCT at Cameron Canyon and Kelso

[Dennis Phelan]

I haven't had the pleasure of hiking through the wind farms, but I have
through the miles of Oregon burned forests.  Not sure which is worse.

Dennis

On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 12:56 PM, James Vesely <JVesely at edmsupply.com>wrote:

> Wind farms take up a very, very small percentage of trail miles and are
> usually located in areas of little visual interest.
>
> If one is to complain about wind turbines what about all the other
> "litter" that you can encounter on a 2600 mile trail like, dirt roads,
> highways, bridges, pipelines, power poles, high voltage lines, homes,
> signage, clear cutting, canals, dumps and even smog to name a few.   We
> have to expect that a multi state trail of 2600 miles is going to
> intersect with the economy of a region in many places and that is
> something we have to learn to live with.
>
> We also are seeing a slow and permanent decline in the Sierra snowpack
> in part because of rising CO2 levels in our atmosphere and I can
> guarantee that will despoil a lot more wilderness then a few isolated
> wind farms.
>
> Jim
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net
> [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Timothy Nye
> Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 12:19 PM
> To: CClark
> Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Wind farms crossing PCT at Cameron Canyon and Kelso
>
> The proliferation of windmills along the trail also really bothered me
> last
> year.  It wasn't just the presence of the farms themselves, although
> more
> about that in a second, but that there appear to clear indications that
> these could become the  most obvious, "litter" problem of the
> immediate future.  These could despoil not just the trail but the
> surrounding remaining wilderness areas.
>
> After I-10 the windmill farm is well past it's expected life expectency.
> This should be good news as it continues to generate power.  But take a
> closer look and see what is becoming evident further up the trail as
> well
> as at Altamont Pass in the East Bay and elsewhere.  Abandoned no longer
> functioning windmills.  Rusting, in some cases twisted, eyesores
> ensconced
> on some of the most visually prominant locations in the surrounding
> landscapes. Some of these have been left literally for decades and
> continues to be inexorably joined by their fellows as they reach the end
> of
> their respective lifespans.
>
> Windfarms are an economic business.  They are being subsidized in many
> ways.  This allows well connected developers to erect them at below
> market
> cost and with a guarenteed purchaser or the resulting power.  There is
> no
> evidence that I am aware of that any provision is being made to
> sequester
> funds to provide for their removal.  Based on experience I expect the
> companies involved to become defunct with this expense the least of
> their
> concerns.  If you ever drive over the Altamont Pass from I-5 turn your
> gaze
> to the literally hundreds of no longer functioning turbins that have
> languished for literally year after year in full public view.  When do
> you
> think those are going to be removed and by whom?
>
> In my opinion, the presence of these turbines has the most negative
> effect
> on hiking and the wilderness than any other factor other than perhaps
> logging; although with logging the land can heal itself and isn't slowly
> being tranformed into highly visible vertical land fills.  As the
> bearings
> go out of true, the shrilling of these turbines is a further
> distraction.
> It sounds like the land of the demon in the movie Plotergeist. The irony
> here is that these places are constructed in the name of saving the
> environment.  Dams and resevoirs generating renewable hydropower are
> bad,
> turbines good.  Leaving aside salmon and steelhead runs for the moment I
> would note that in California dams are no longer permitted even where
> such
> runs no longer exist such as the Auburn dam site.  I found the whole
> thing
> totally dispiriting when I hit the Lassen area and saw that the crest
> streching northwards from there is now also crowned with the thorns of
> proliferating turbines.
>
> Comparatively speaking as to the environment, windmills are causeing the
> most immediate and potentially long term environmental damage to the
> remainiing wilderness areas, albeit damage that I fear will be born by
> our
> children after we have long since reaped the "benefit" in the name of
> political correctness.
>
> Of course, this is just my view.
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