Sorry to revive an old subject of a non Aussie nature but I feel this is
worth a mention.
Terry B
Massive wind farm may endanger birds
Would be largest in nation, topping farm in Oregon/Washington
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (AP) -- Texas officials announced plans Thursday
for the nation's largest offshore wind farm, consisting of as many as 170
windmills in the Gulf of Mexico.
Houston-based Superior Renewable Energy will build and operate the project,
which will be situated within about 10 miles of Padre Island. It is expected
to cost $1 billion to $2 billion and should be ready in five years.
Its 400-foot turbines would generate a total of 500 megawatts of
electricity, or enough energy for 125,000 homes.
"The wind rush is on," Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said. "We
want to be No. 1. We want to attract the businesses that build the turbines,
that build the blades."
Some environmentalists said the spinning blades could kill countless rare
birds that migrate through the area each year on their way to and from
winter grounds in Mexico and Central America.
"You probably couldn't pick a worse location," said Walter Kittelberger,
chairman of the Lower Laguna Madre Foundation, an environmental group named
for the strip of water between the mainland and Padre Island.
John Calaway, Superior's chief executive, said the company would do
everything possible to reduce the threat to migrating birds. "Of course
there's going to be some mortality, but we don't think it will be
significant," he said.
Patterson said the wind farm would be situated off a remote, unpopulated
part of Padre Island National Seashore. People who are concerned about the
farm obstructing the ocean view "shouldn't have a problem," he said.
"There's nobody there to look at it."
The offshore farm is the second announced in less than a year for the Texas
coast, joining 50 wind turbines planned off Galveston.
Jerome Collins of the Sierra Club said his and other groups support wind
energy and hoped to work with energy producers to prevent bird deaths and
protect the scenic landscape.
According to the American Wind Energy Association, the U.S. produces 9,149
megawatts of wind power, enough to power 2.3 million homes annually. The
largest U.S. wind farm is the Stateline Wind Energy Center on the
Oregon-Washington line, producing 300 megawatts of electricity.
The Texas announcement comes amid a bitter fight over a proposed 130-turbine
wind farm off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where residents fear the turbines
will be unsightly.
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