Windmills on Great Lakes..For/Against?

[nomarandlee]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/...s-great07.html



Windmills may be coming to Great Lakes

June 7, 2006

BY TODD RICHMOND

ALGOMA, Wis. -- A little red lighthouse. Boardwalks. The blue-green waters of Lake Michigan stretching to the horizon.

It's just another pretty-as-a-postcard view on the shores of this sleepy town of 5,700 a half-hour east of Green Bay. But how long the unspoiled vista in Algoma and in other communities along the Great Lakes will last is anybody's guess.

Government and industry officials are set to meet in Madison and Toledo, Ohio, this month to talk about the prospects for installing giant electricity-generating windmills out in the Great Lakes.

Advocates say wind turbines would be an efficient means of producing power. Opponents fear the windmills would harm the lakes' natural beauty and hurt tourism.

''I'll fight this every way I can,'' said Algoma Alderman Ken Taylor.

The rows of windmills would tower as high as 400 feet and float or stand in relatively shallow water. Winds over water are generally stronger and more consistent than those on land, said Walt Musial of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Major population and industrial centers such as Cleveland, Chicago, Gary, Ind., and Milwaukee are situated on the Great Lakes' shores, reducing the need for long-distance transmission.

''Offshore machines can make about twice as much as onshore,'' said Musial.

Michigan and Wisconsin regulators have yet to be approached by energy companies with proposals. But elsewhere, a Houston energy company plans to build a 170-turbine farm in the Gulf of Mexico and projects have been proposed off Long Island and Cape Cod, Mass.

AP

[jacobboyer]

what the hell are these people thinking chicago doesnt need these ugly giants wrecking there view neither does any other town

[UWMilwaukeeJay]

that would look sexy...........

btw, i love algoma!

[jacobboyer]

didn't they try to do this on the coast off new england

[UWMilwaukeeJay]

Originally Posted by jacobboyer

didn't they try to do this on the coast off new england

read the last paragraph

[Avian001]

(I'm beginning to think that we have our very own Raytownthug in the name of jacobboyer. Ignore him or her.)

I think wind farms are a great resource for the midwest. But - like anything else - the design of them will determine whether they are an amenity or an eyesore. For example, I don't hear anyone complaining about windmills in The Netherlands.

[Oshkosh49]

Originally Posted by Avian001

I don't hear anyone complaining about windmills in The Netherlands.

But the windmills in the Netherlands aren't 400 feet tall.

[ReddAlert]

Windmills are hardly the ugliest thing on a lakefront.

[UWMilwaukeeJay]

Originally Posted by ReddAlert

Windmills are hardly the ugliest thing on a lakefront.

yeah, you neve know. people from the south could be like "wtf are those big things in the lake??"... and it could be another reason to come visit wisconsin...i say we decorate them in green bay packer colors!

[historybuffer]

Eyesore? Really, you mean the current coal burning, belching beasts on prime coastline, are photogenic? Why not locate the windmills directly East of the current power plants along the coast? What's uglier to look at?
Blue Harbor (name?) resort in Sheboygan has a spectacular view to the south of the coal burning plant there. Imagine offseason, guests enjoying the rising sun
silohuetted against the beautiful, manmade fixture of "progress" and "forward thinking" a 300ft tall smokestack, and a 50ft high mountain of coal.

Hey, test the waters, see if the Kohler family would enjoy a clump off
the coast from "Whistling Straits." Putting the windmills off of Cape Cod,
is not an environmental issue, it's about real estate values for all those
multimillion dollar summer cottages.

[cjfjapan]

Interesting that the "upspoiled vista" isn't ruined by cute towns and boardwalks.

Any more fudge shops, and the place is shot! Hahahaha

[historybuffer]

Originally Posted by cjfjapan

Interesting that the "upspoiled vista" isn't ruined by cute towns and boardwalks.

Any more fudge shops, and the place is shot! Hahahaha

True blight is within the eye of the beholder.

[globill]

I'm all for it. Anything that helps to keep wealth in the region is a good thing. The Midwest is already the major net loser in terms of federal spending....add to that our need to import billions for energy production....and it's no wonder the region has been losing out as of late.

Build as many windwills as we can, as many ethanol/biodiesel plants as we can....and the Midwest will regain its lost preeminence.


Plus, it's environmentally friendly

[UWMilwaukeeJay]

this will be a huge NIMBY or maybe NIMBV (not in my beach view.)

[ReddAlert]

history buffer makes a good point. Sheboygan, Port Washington, and other lakeside Wisconsin cities have these monstrosities on their lakefronts. A windmill can be beautiful. A park around a wind power station could be interesting if you ask me.

[nomarandlee]

It really all depends on where they go, in what quanity, and the cost/benefit ratio involved. Not sure what kind of output these proposed windmills would provide.

One thing is I would hope they would add some color to them other then white. They are so big and make such a presence that the color can add or take away from their surroundings.

[TroyBoy]

For seen the ones in California and their fricken sweet.

[atrain5371]

They could put a bunch off the lake at Oak Creek since that coal plant complex out there is huge and dominates the shoreline there and it would be very close to a lot of people in the Milwaukee Metro and Racine County.

[Azn_chi_boi]

I would trade those big factories and industrialize plants for wind mills anyday in Gary... and Up in Wisconsin...

maybe a 1000 ft one too in Chicago, maybe on Navy Pier...

[Jason]

I don't have a problem with it as long as they are in a reasonable spot. They even look pretty cool, and I love renewable energy sources.