Tag: Ohio

World Health Organiz says BigWind IS too noisy!

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“The wind industry has denied and ignored evidence directly linking wind turbines and sleep disruption leading to negative human and animal impacts worldwide. Expect WHO’s new Guidelines to give rise to new standards to mitigate if not eliminate this ongoing suffering.”

“The burden of environmental noise with wind turbines is not episodic or random: for the most part its effects are constant and unrelenting…. This is an undeniable health pressure of enormous magnitude.”

Abstract: While only “conditional,” acknowledgement is given to pulsation (impulsive amplitude modification, as Mr. Steven Cooper calls it) and ILFN (Infra and Low Frequency Noise), the new World Health Organization report underscores the failure of current regulations of dB to manage health impacts from industrial wind installations worldwide.

The other irrefutable conclusion is that the wind industry has been given a regulatory path to profits with an unfathomable license to hurt in the form of sleep deprivation (and associated disease) for a very long time.  Master Resource reported earlier on the findings of the Australian Senate Select Committee on Wind Turbines (June 29, 2015). This court established that there is a direct pathway to disease resulting from wind turbine noise.

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For years, a host of professionals and interested parties have asked World Health Organization to include wind turbine noise in its Guidelines. For the first time, WHO has announced guidelines for wind turbine ‘noise.’

While issued only for the European Region (with data compiled from various continents), worldwide industry, governments, and interested and impacted people will all take note. (Key people in the presentation of copious and reputable information to the WHO for years, have been Christine Metcalfe of the UK, and Dr. Sarah Laurie of AU.)

This Guideline recognizes that the “noise” is more than ‘annoyance’ (and “annoyance” is of lesser concern than sleep deprivation)–and that chronic noise contributes to cardiovascular disease; lack of sleep, hearing loss, tinnitus and stress; and increased changes in blood pressure and heart health. These, of course, are well known impacts to communities and professionals worldwide. These negative impacts have, however, been slow to be recognized at levels such as the WHO.

The impacts recognized by the WHO Guidelines are likely to cause some concern for the wind industry that has chronically, methodically, and systemically, over a long period of time, blocked the flow of information, denying, obfuscating, and blaming helpless victims for “poor coping skills.”

Analyses of the WHO findings are happening around the world, with some looking to the anticipated mass of class action lawsuits, and others more cautiously examining  the omissions, and overly cautious, and even erroneous WHO findings, which conclude that there is insufficient evidence to provide night time wind turbine noise guidelines.

Also, but only gently underscored, not highlighted in the Wind Turbine Noise Guidelines, are the now obvious and historically reported impacts of ILFN, shadow flicker, vibration, pressure pulsation…

Five Advancements

Compared to previous WHO guidelines on noise, this version contains five significant developments:

  • stronger evidence of the cardiovascular and metabolic effects of environmental noise;
  • inclusion of new noise sources, namely wind turbine noise and leisure noise, in addition to noise from transportation (aircraft, rail and road traffic);
  • use of a standardized approach to assess the evidence;
  • a systematic review of evidence, defining the relationship between noise exposure and risk of adverse health outcomes;
  • use of long-term average noise exposure indicators to better predict adverse health outcomes.

The executive summary can be found here:

For average noise exposure (WIND TURBINES), the GDG (Guideline Development Group) conditionally recommends reducing noise levels produced by wind turbines below 45 dB Lden, as wind turbine noise above this level is associated with adverse health effects.

…How loud is too loud? WHO asks:

The WHO guidelines for community noise recommend less than 30 A-weighted decibels (dB(A)) in bedrooms during the night for a sleep of good quality and less than 35 dB(A) in classrooms to allow good teaching and learning conditions.

The WHO guidelines for night noise recommend less than 40 dB(A) of annual average (Lnight) outside of bedrooms to prevent adverse health effects from night noise.

…The burden of environmental noise with wind turbines is not episodic or random: for the most part its effects are constant and unrelenting (nothing like an occasional aircraft over the house, nor the 70 plus dB experienced at a concert for a few hours). This is an undeniable health pressure of enormous magnitude.

As the WHO prescribes various adjustments or mitigation, say, for road traffic (choice of tires, road surface, lowering traffic flow, different adjustments to road tunnels, insulation, etc.), it acknowledges that it does not have the ability or facts to recommend mitigation for the burden of wind turbine noise. However, to so many now studied persons about noise and night time sleep disruptions, the remediation is fairly obvious.

This particular burden, wind turbine noise, one unto itself in terms of environmental noise, unique in noise dynamics, heard, and felt sound pulsations/pressures, deserves a full-blown international guideline/regulation on all the sound “assets” of the machine.

Shortcomings

While the WHO acknowledges finally after many years that health effects can be reduced from industrial wind, and “conditionally” recommends that “policymakers implement suitable measures to reduce noise exposure from wind turbines in the population exposed to levels above the guideline values for average noise exposure,” its recommendations are disappointingly scant or non-existent on three very important impacts:

  • pressure pulsation and ILFN, and vibration.
  • acknowledgement and recommendations of the tens of thousands or even millions of persons worldwide, many children and elderly, who have registered complaints of seriously disrupted sleep. These are anecdotal and recorded in numerous papers and findings. Missing completely is the seriously necessary Guideline for Night time noise with wind turbines.
  • Impacts reported worldwide to animals, livestock, pets, wildlife. Of every description, wild, domesticated and “husbanded”.

The wind industry has denied and ignored evidence directly linking wind turbines and sleep disruption leading to negative human and animal impacts worldwide. Expect WHO’s new Guidelines to give rise to new standards to mitigate if not eliminate this ongoing suffering.

 

WHO details

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Ohio Anti BigWind meeting gathers >500

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We are thankful that the Toledo Blade covered this story. It is clear that the crowd against BigWind is much larger and more passionate that the few who support it. OUTSIDE $ and messaging is being poured into this area. Will the OPSB in Columbus, Ohio listen to these residents? MANY times, in the past, we have stated that the OPSB should be renamed ‘SYBW’ Say YES to Big Wind. They have NEVER, EVER said NO to BigWind. The OPSB also did NOT send a representative to this large, informative meeting. Disgusting.  A sincere thank you should also be sent to Rep. Bill Reineke, who was courageous and ATTENDED this meeting. He has chosen to stay informed and really listen to his constituents…Have you told him thank you? His participation in this issue has put his job at risk….We also find it, comical, frankly, that his Democratic opponent “told The Blade she’s an environmentalist who believes Seneca County needs to do more about climate change, but isn’t convinced wind energy is the solution” We doubt she held this opinion, until she saw the grassroots movement and how it continues to grow….

For the second time since May, a grass roots group called the Seneca Anti-Wind Union has drawn 500 (actually counted as 550!!) or more area residents to a rally in opposition of proposals to build commercial-scale wind farms throughout Seneca County and a portion of Sandusky County.

And the latest event beat the drum of private property rights and self-governance as hard as ever.

The Camden Falls Reception & Conference Center was packed Tuesday night with people who came to hear updates on the proposed Seneca Wind and Republic Wind projects. Although negotiations for lease agreements began with property owners as far back as a decade ago, many did not hear details of the projects until last April, event organizers claimed.

The developer behind Seneca Wind, Utah-based sPower, wants to erect up to 85 of the nation’s tallest turbines across five Seneca County townships. Those machines would be 652 feet high – 32 feet higher than the tallest building in Columbus. The only other wind turbines in America that are 650 feet or taller are a few in Texas, Dan Williamson, sPower spokesman, told The Blade before the meeting….

https://players.brightcove.net/1146616445001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5849656685001

 

The projects have not been without their fierce supporters, too.

Dozens attended a pro-wind open house in Green Springs, Ohio, last December when industry representatives courted landowners to help support their efforts to reverse what they see as onerous setback rules the Ohio General Assembly passed and Gov. John Kasich signed into law in 2014.

Seneca County Commissioner Shayne Thomas testified before an Ohio Senate committee to roll back those setback rules in June, 2017. The commission, by a 2-1 majority, is officially on record in support of the projects, with Commissioner Holly Stacey previously joining Mr. Thomas in favor of them…

State Rep. Bill Reineke (R., Tiffin) opened Tuesday night’s event by saying the debate over wind energy in that part of northwest Ohio poses a “grave concern about an issue that would transform our lives as we know it.” He said he was speaking about private property rights.

“We are concerned – very concerned – how these wind turbines will change our lives,” Mr. Reineke said. “This is what bothers me the most: The fact we have so many outside interests coming into our area and trying to suggest they know better about how we can live our lives.”…

 

Toledo Blade

Seneca county Ohio mobilizes against BigWind

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Educate, Advocate & Defend for future generations. Seneca County Ohio anti-wind union is on Facebook. (More) Citizens have UNITED against BigWind and their Big$(graciously from the taxpayers and liberal groups)….

Do YOU live near a citizen group that YOU can support? Your VOTE is important. BigWind has infiltrated the government with highly funded lobbying, in Ohio and elsewhere. Learn the facts!! 

YOUTUBE

 

Ohio Governor Race includes NY liberal $

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As the Ohio candidates for governor wind up their debates, the picture of where they stand on energy policy is clear: “Cordray says Ohio has sacrificed a once-admirable clean-energy policy, giving other states and countries a head start in embracing renewable energy and its associated jobs. He pledges to strengthen renewable energy goals for sources such as wind and solar to create good-paying jobs and attract companies committed to clean energy to support their enterprises. DeWine supports the full range of energy options, including nuclear and natural gas, and wants Ohio to move to develop an energy grid that can provide renewable power for companies that value going green.” 

We also learn that a New York University School of Law program funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg is placing lawyers in the offices of Democratic state attorneys general and paying them to prosecute energy companies and challenge Trump administration policies on energy and the environment.  “Nine states and Washington, D.C., including New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania, are participating in the multimillion-dollar program funded by the media magnate and ex-New York City mayor, who re-registered as a Democrat this week amid expectations of a run for president in 2020. The 14 current fellows in the program report to the attorneys general, but they are paid by NYU’s Bloomberg-funded State Energy & Environmental Impact Center. State AG offices hire these trained lawyers – not students but seasoned professionals with years of experience – as special assistant attorneys general. Under terms of the arrangement, the fellows work solely to advance progressive environmental policy at a time when Democratic state attorneys general have investigated and sued ExxonMobil and other energy companies over alleged damages due to climate change.” 

If Ohio elects Cordray as Governor and Democrat Steve Dettelbach as Attorney General, will it be long before Bloomberg’s money finds its way into Ohio?  Media reports say Ohio is targeted for this program if Dettelbach defeats Yost for Ohio Attorney General.

In the energy world, it is always wise to follow the money.  The Daily Caller now reports nonprofit foundations gave conservative groups $10 million to promote liberal energy policies.  That effort includes targeting young conservatives and social conservatives for climate “education.”   The Christian Coalition received more than $4 million to spread the climate gospel among its membership.   The Christian Coalition describes itself as “one of the largest conservative grassroots political organizations in America.” However, the group received funding from charitable foundations since 2008 to “identify and educate supporters of renewable energy within the conservative community,” “advance policy solutions for a stable climate” and other related efforts, according to two grant descriptions.   “Environmental foundations have funded faux-conservative groups for many years to make it seem like their radical climate ideology has a broader consensus than it really does,” Institute for Energy Research (IER) President Tom Pyle told The DCNF.”…

This midterm election, when you go to the polls, it is more important than ever, to know WHAT you our voting for….

 

Bloomberg $

Ohio BigWind NOT working x years?

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Say it isn’t so! How can this be? Read through this nightmare for a small Ohio community and you will see that a 2nd turbine has also not produced what was expected (promised) by BigWind. Lawsuits are pending.  How many of you live in a community that is flush with cash to be able to afford these lawsuits?? This news is devastating for the local community and our taxpayers. Lawsuits are expensive. Don’t let this happen to you…Have you contacted your legislators and told them how you feel about BigWind invading your community?….

The city of Conneaut has prepared a complaint to be filed in Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court aimed at a long-damaged wind turbine at the city’s lakefront…

The city names three defendants in the complaint: Conneaut City Wind LLC, in care of statutory agent CT Corporation System of New York City; NexGen Energy Partners LLC of Boulder, Colorado; and NexGen’s statutory agent, Matthew O’Conneaut, of Cleveland…

In the complaint, the city alleges the defendants have not made repairs to the turbine, which has been idle since February 2017, when a lightning strike blew off one of three blades and damaged the machine’s internal workings…

The 400-kilowatt turbine was the result of a January 2010 contract between the city and CCW to provide electric power to the sewage plant. The turbine, erected a short time later, provided about 20 percent of the electricity used at the plant. Direct Energy, the primary power supplier, is filling the void, officials have said.

Last year, NexGen told the city it wanted to stretch the contract to 2030 to help it recoup the estimated $250,000 repair cost, officials said at that time. The contract included slight kilowatt-per-hour increases into the contract years, administrators said.

In 2016, the last full year of the turbine’s operation, NexGen charged the city $59,000 for the electricity it produced. The city is charged only when the turbine is producing power, officials have said…

“(Defendants) Conneaut City Wind and NexGen have refused to repair, remove or otherwise restore the ability to of the turbine to generate electricity,” according to the lawsuit…

A larger turbine at Conneaut Middle School, erected by NexGen at about the same time in 2010, never performed as expected. NexGen filed a lawsuit against a parts manufacturers that is still working through the courts…

original article link

 

BigWind will contribute MORE to ‘warming’ than coal & gas

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Proof from Harvard that Wind Power could cause significantly MORE warming  than coal and gas! How long before BigWind makes this data disappear? Better read while you can..

This is a good time to step back and look at the current Wind Energy Scorecard. Studies from independent experts (see prior Newsletters) have concluded the following:
1 – Global Warming: Wind energy results in more warming than Coal does.
2 – Climate Change: Wind energy produces more CO2 than Gas or Nuclear does.
3 – Ratepayer Cost: Wind energy is 4-5 times the cost of conventional electrical energy sources.
4 – Local Economics: Wind energy is likely a net economic loser to a host community
5 – Health: Wind energy can cause severe health consequences to nearby residents.
6 – Environmental: Wind energy has multiple major environmental impacts.
7 – Jobs: Wind energy is net jobs liability.
8 – Fossil Fuels: Wind energy assures a continued reliance on fossil fuels.
9 – Sustainability: Wind energy has major dependence on unsustainable components (e.g. rare earths).
10-National Security: Wind energy can adversely affect the missions and operational readiness of military facilities, undermining our national security.

Wind power is booming in the United States. It’s expanded 35-fold since 2000 and now provides 8% of the nation’s electricity. The US Department of Energy expects wind turbine capacity to more than quadruple again by 2050.

But a new study by a pair of Harvard researchers finds that a high amount of wind power could mean more climate warming, at least regionally and in the immediate decades ahead. The paper raises serious questions about just how much the United States or other nations should look to wind power to clean up electricity systems.

The study, published in the journal Joule, found that if wind power supplied all US electricity demands, it would warm the surface of the continental United States by 0.24 ˚C. That could significantly exceed the reduction in US warming achieved by decarbonizing the nation’s electricity sector this century, which would be around 0.1 ˚C.

“If your perspective is the next 10 years, wind power actually has—in some respects—more climate impact than coal or gas,” coauthor David Keith, a professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard, said in a statement. “If your perspective is the next thousand years, then wind power is enormously cleaner than coal or gas.” (But wait, we CAN’T eliminate coal and gas by building turbines. Building turbines means we will need MORE coal and gas!?!)

Specifically, the “avoided warming” achieved by eliminating fossil-fuel sources could surpasses any warming from wind in about a century in the studied scenario, as emissions reductions accumulate.

Keith and lead author Lee Miller, a postdoc at Harvard, stress that the conclusions mean scientists and policymakers should take this side effect of wind power seriously—and carefully consider what role the resource should play in the shift to clean energy…

Notably, the warming effect from wind in the studied scenario was 10 times greater than the climate effect from solar farms, which can also have a tiny warming effect.

The core problem is that wind turbines generate electricity by extracting energy out of the air, slowing down wind and otherwise altering “the exchange of heat, moisture, and momentum between the surface and the atmosphere,” the study explains. That can produce some level of warming…

Stanford professor John Dabiri criticized the study, saying the simulations relied on a proxy for wind turbines that increases aerodynamic drag at the earth’s surface (see “John Dabiri: Innovators Under 35”).

“It is well known that this type of modeling assumption does a poor job of predicting the flow in real wind farms,” he said in an e-mail.

Dabiri, an expert on wind turbine designs, (= BIASED) says a “more realistic” earlier simulation found “little temperature change near the surface.”

The American Wind Energy Association swiftly challenged the framing of the conclusions as well….

The Harvard researchers said their findings closely matched directly observed effects from hundreds of US wind farms.

Keith, an outspoken proponent of clean energy to combat global warming, says he’s sure the paper will be misinterpreted or misrepresented by some to argue against the rollout of wind power…

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Isn’t 143 turbines enough? (In rural Ohio)

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This is a very sad tale about our friends in Northern Ohio. It highlights why it so important to know who you are voting for, on the local, state and national levels.  We suspect the next county commissioner race will end with some new faces….

If you are paying attention, you know Seneca County is on schedule to have a total of 143 wind turbines as high as the tallest buildings in Columbus built in two projects here over the next couple years. Unlike other areas where these monstrosities are usually built, our county has many dispersed residential homesites. Of the almost 56,000 people in Seneca County, well over half live in the rural areas. This means that no matter where the 143 turbines are placed, there will be many people living nearby each one of them.

Despite what you may read or hear from the wind companies, living close to a wind turbine is not so great. Maybe a fun place to visit, but not a fun place to live….

County commissioners Holly Stacy and Shayne Thomas want wind turbines in our county so bad that they insist on giving them huge local property tax discounts to get them here. Because of the massive federal tax incentives, building wind projects is a lucrative and profitable business. That is why they are being built. They do not need further property tax abatement from our county. We will be the ones forced to live under the turbines. We should not have to offer discounts for the “pleasure” of putting up with them….

You may not know yet, but besides the two projects totaling 143 turbines, there are at least three more projects being put together behind the scenes in this county that could announce themselves any day. They probably will be another 50-100 turbines each. Isn’t 143 enough for now? Do you think we need to add more before we have even seen the first ones? Do you think we should continue to offer massive tax breaks to entice more to build?

Your county is about to change forever in a big way. A recent professional online poll found that 3 out of 4 people in Seneca County do not want any of this to happen…

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