Texas Tells Cape Wind "You're Not First Yet" 374
longacre writes "Cape Wind is making headlines for being the first offshore wind farm to earn federal approval, but it still has plenty of legal hoops to jump through before groundbreaking. Texas, on the other hand, requires no review — state, federal, or otherwise — to build wind farms off its shore. Texas energy expert and Popular Mechanics senior editor Jennifer Bogo talks to Texan energy leaders who are confident they will beat Cape Wind to the punch for the distinction of having the first functional US offshore wind farm. 'I was about to write a press release to congratulate Cape Wind for getting their approval,' says Jim Suydam, press secretary of the Texas General Land Office, 'and let them know when they're done jumping through hoops up there they can come build off the Texas Coast.' Despite its reputation as an oil-addicted, non-environmentally-friendly, conservative state, Texas's existing land-based wind farms actually produce four times more electricity than California's."
Whoever... (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeeeeeehaw! (Score:4, Insightful)
You know, it's easy to mock Texans (from a safe distance) but there's a fully fledged bastard of a good point here. Regulation doesn't produce things. Government doesn't make anything. By and large, government just means worthless expense, and pointless obstruction.
Given the choice between trusting The People, or trusting that small subset of The People who live by taxing the rest of us and telling us what's good for us, I think I'm going to have to call it for The People.
Re:Yeeeeeehaw! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Yeeeeeehaw! (Score:5, Insightful)
That wouldn't happen because of zoning.
Nope, zoning can't be useful, as it's done by "that small subset of The People who live by taxing the rest of us and telling us what's good for us".
Re:Smart move (Score:5, Insightful)
they do however kill sheep, the noise keeps them awake until they die. the sound may or may not have an effect on fish and dolphins, we don't know yet. also fossil fuel is forever, check out a work called "deep, hot, biosphere"
Considering the article is specifically talking about offshore windfarms, I don't think that we need to be too concerned about any sheep who happen to be close enough to hear them.
And I'd like to see some sort of citation to back up your claim. I realize that sheep are dumb (very, very dumb), but I grew up (and live) in a rural state which has a good bit of sheep farming. I've never heard of the ranchers having any problems with sheep dying due to lack of sleep even on ranches which are right next to major highways which produce a much higher level of noise even at night. In addition, we have several wind farms around the state, and there are some which actually exist ON sheep ranches, with no effects.
So wherever you got your information, it was either flat out wrong, or there was something else bothering the sheep.
Re:Yeeeeeehaw! (Score:3, Insightful)
Regulation doesn't produce things. Government doesn't make anything. By and large, government just means worthless expense, and pointless obstruction.
Ah yes . the myth of the "Free Market is best" argument. Simplistic, naive and dangerous.
A totally free and unregulated market gives you the Thalidomide, the Ford Pinto, lead paint in children's toys, contaminated pet food and (the latest one) contaminated Chinese dry wall. Why should the government regulate things, as after all the market will sort things out eventually.
Who cares about the damage done to the consumer between the the time a company enters a market and the time people realise that something bad is happening.
Re:Wind = Danger (Score:2, Insightful)
I still wonder that the technology-oriented /. crowd doesn't understand a major problem with almost all energy sources. The source of wind power (wind energy) is NOT "safe" energy. Removing energy from the wind affects climate, migration, pollination, seeding, and probably other factors I haven't considered.
...
Only solar energy has a chance at being "safe".
You do realise that Wind energy is solar energy? So it doesn't matter how you pull the energy out of the system, you are still pulling it out.
Re:Yeeeeeehaw! (Score:3, Insightful)
You know, it's easy to mock Texans (from a safe distance)
ooh, texans are so tough! you have to stand far away to make fun of them! they're all cowboys and have true grit(tm) and eat raw meat and grab bulls by the ballsack just for fun.
jesus, i love texans and their 'tough guy' facade.
Re:Yeeeeeehaw! (Score:5, Insightful)
Regulation may not produce things, but it helps prevent The People as you like to call them from getting Ripped Off, such as during the California electricity crisis [wikipedia.org]. Your point about "worthless expense and pointless obstruction" caused by regulations sounds particularly stupid in the light of the current events going on in the Gulf of Mexico. I think I'd rather trust people who are accountable to the population than some faceless multinational to look for my interests, thank you very much.
Isn't Oil? (Score:3, Insightful)
If wind is solar power, then so is oil.
Oil is energy from the sun converted via photosynthesis and has been stored all these years.
Re:Yeeeeeehaw! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Yeeeeeehaw! (Score:5, Insightful)
Blatantly ripping this off from other people on the Internet:
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department of Energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watched this while eating breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time as regulated by the US Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory. I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads built by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to send via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After work, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to a house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it's valuables thanks to the local police department.
I then log on to the internet which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post on freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.
Re:Isn't Oil? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Yeeeeeehaw! (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is unregulated? Sorry, I thought that it happened despite regulation. I guess that totally invalidates my point about regulation being an expensive waste of time. You win two Internets!
Re:Yeeeeeehaw! (Score:3, Insightful)
Not directly, but without it you have anarchy which ensures NOBODY produces anything. Try looking outside your navel, can you find ANY country with a weak goverment that is not a poverty stricken shit hole?
The problem in the US is not over-regulation, it's corruption. The cape project basically had to wait for a powerfull NIMBY politician to die, and when he did, hey presto the SAME regulations are no longer a barrier. That one person should have the power to distort the regulatory process for their personal gain is frankly a tad third-worldish, perhaps you need stronger regulations on your politicians to curb that sort of nonesense?
Re:Smart move (Score:4, Insightful)
The number of flying animals killed by wind farms PALES in comparison to the number killed by cars, trucks, buildings, and so on.
Yeah, but what's that compared to the ability to appear as if you really care?
You know. Strike a pose. Appear to be something. That's far more important.
Re:Whoever... (Score:3, Insightful)
There's nothing wrong with a "race" to be "first" if it yields demonstrable benefit. The Apollo program was like that.
Re:Yeeeeeehaw! (Score:4, Insightful)
\For example. why should I start my own competition to the NOAA, to provide for a cost, something which the NOAA provides for free?
You're right. Something like The Weather Channel would never work.
It's dumb to attempt to compete with government monopolies that don't need to make a profit and can undercut you (or sometimes even prohibit you from operating in the first place, such as duplicating the services of the US Postal Service).
FedEx? What a crazy idea. You can't complete with the US Postal Service. You sure as heck can't have multiple players in that market like UPS and DHL either.