July 2007 | On Our Radar
Tilting At Windmills
One of the world’s cleanest energy sources confronts a nuclear enemy
by Paul Constant
As anyone who has ever road-tripped past a windfarm well knows, those acres of turbines spinning in the free breeze are a sure sign that the winds of change are a-brewing.
For Pascal Storck, president of 3 Tier Group, a Seattle-based alternative energy efficiency company, wind-powered electricity is the future. At the recent American Wind Energy Association conference in LA, “the AWEA put forth the ambitious goal of wind producing 20 percent of America’s power by 2020,” says Storck. “It’s an entirely feasible goal, and it would be tremendous for America.”
Wind power — a sustainable solution to many of our power woes — is the world’s fastest-growing energy source. This bodes poorly for nuclear power, which sees wind as its main industry competitor. Nuclear lobbyists would have you believe that wind farms can only be used to solve regional energy problems — and it’s true that wind power used to be constrained by geography. While the wind does not blow equally powerfully in every state in the union, even Washington, which falls in the middle as the 24th windiest state, has nearly one thousand wind farms in operation.
As Storck points out, the main regional constraint is not a lack of wind — but rather a lack of public support for wind energy. “Germany leads the world in both solar and wind power, and Germany’s not a particularly sunny or windy place,” says Storck, adding there’s probably more wind power in your region than you’d expect.
Another sticky challenge to the future of wind farming is the accusation that turbines kill birds and bats. While this worry has stymied many a wind farm plan from winning public support, experts agree the problem is more public perception than animal reality. The National Audubon Society recently put its full support behind wind power, stressing that while work on offshore and other solutions is absolutely critical to reduce aviary death, dirty energy sources and global warming are responsible for exponentially more deaths — of fish, fowl, and every other living thing — than any amount of turbines could ever cause. And scientists are working on creating ultrasound devices that would keep bats at a safe distance from a turbine’s whirling blades.
California, a notable early world leader in wind energy thanks to the massive wind farms at Altamont Pass and elsewhere, still leads the nation in wind harvesting, but the rural plains states are catching up quickly. Offshore sites are also becoming popular for wind harvesting. They can be at sea or in more landlocked areas — both the United States and Canada are building wind farms in the Great Lakes. To find out how the wind is blowing in your neck of the woods, enter your address at firstlook.3tiergroup.com for a wind power assessment in your region. “It’s exciting to see how much energy you can produce,” says Storck. “And the results are usually surprising.”
Have cause, will travel
On July 7th, Live Earth — one of the biggest concert events to hit the planet — will bring Al Gore’s climate-crisis message to millions of music lovers, with 24 hours of live performances simulcasting from New York, London, Johannesburg, Rio, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Hamburg and Istanbul. While Live Earth may be the biggest and baddest of them all, it’s certainly not the summer’s only party with a purpose. Check out these nifty message-driven tours coming soon to a venue near you:
The Eat Well Guided Tour of America: This summer, Sustainable Table, The Meatrix, and the Eat Well Guide are celebrating sustainable foods by visiting farms, farmer’s markets and restaurants that serve local fare. The tour kicks off August 2nd in Hollywood, then travels up the coast and across the states (in a veggie bus of course). See if they’re visiting your town or follow along on their blog at www.SustainableTable.org/roadtrip.
30 Days of Peace: Launching on the anniversary of September 11th and running 30 days (ending on the birthday of Daniel Pearl — the journalist who was kidnapped and killed while investigating Al Qaeda), the 30 Days of Peace initiative unites peace organizations around the world, with events and online media. There’s also a Gandhi music tour and a 30-day non-stop prayer vigil. www.CultureOfPeace.org.
Sustainable Living Roadshow: With off the grid eco-festivals, eco-fashion shows, community action projects, alternative medicine workshops and educational seminars on topics ranging from solar energy to biofuel, this pack of travel bugs cruises the nation in CleanFuel Caravans to inspire communities to “live in more direct sustainable harmony with the earth.” For their 2007 tour route, visit www.SustainableLivingRoadshow.org.
The Buried Life: What’s on your list of things you want to do before you die? Skydiving? Getting a tattoo? Falling in love? This summer, four young Canadians are roadtripping across America, determined to cross 100 goals off their lists, while documenting their journey on film. The best part: they’re challenging everyone they meet along the way to do the same. Chart their success and offer support at: www.TheBuriedLife.com.
—by Jenny Rough
Worth Repeating
“Listening to a familiar song that you like activates the same parts of the brain as eating chocolate, having sex or taking opiates. There really is a sex, drugs and rock-and-roll part of the brain.”
— Author Daniel J. Levitin explaining the universal appeal of Beatles songs
(www.WashingtonPost.com, 6/1).
“Casey died for a country that cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives.”
— Beleaguered peace activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq, on why she is giving up anti-war activism (www.DailyKos.com, 5/28).
“One way to beat the system is: take care of yourself. But you don’t have to do a lot. If you just moved around a little bit, turned the TV off and ate a few things differently, you could avoid the nightmare that awaits so many people enter[ing] the healthcare system in this country. We’re behind Costa Rica in healthcare and just ahead of Slovenia. That should be an embarrassment to most Americans.”
— Director Michael Moore, whose new film Sicko exposes the corruption in the health care industry, in a live interview with Bill Maher (www.youtube.com, 5/30).
“The Spanish parliament is considering a bill to extend ‘fundamental moral and legal protections’ to apes. Once apes achieve these protections, American humans are going to want them too. I’m thinking food, shelter and medical-
veterinary care.”
— Barbara Ehrenreich commenting on a chimpanzee’s court petition for human status. The animal sanctuary where “Haisl” lives is out of funds, and only humans can receive personal donations in Austria (www.TheNation.com, 5/8).
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