NOV 26

Could Liberals really be such worry warts?

Jay, do you really think it's over the top to be concerned about the impact new technology might have on the planet that we live on? Given the results of implementing new technology without asking that question over the last 60 years or so, I think it's pretty legit to think about this sort of thing. But hey maybe trying to consider the big picture makes me a worry wart. If it does, then I guess that's what we "liberals" are.

Actually, it doesn't seem much more than say a huge forest would do. Actually, less.

It is the shortsightedness of folks like Jay Tee which got us into this mess.

@Mr Lee: While a forest does lower the wind speed, it does have other effects on the weather as well. Large numbers of trees obviously have an effect on moisture levels and the soil.

It's something worth considering in any case, same goes for dams, water wheels and large solar installations, among others.

I have been worried about this for quite some time. It is obvious that wind farms will modify the weather, first locally and then globally as these things are deployed in greater and greater numbers.

In English culture countries, the ancient common law will have to be modified to cope with these devices. An elaborate system of compensation is required to compensate downwind people for the energy removed from their wind by upwind installations. Basically, what we have is theft of wind.

How can someone steal someone else's wind? That is patently absurd.

I guess we better get to work on those pesky Rocky Mountains before they upset the weather. . . .

You think it's crazy for human development changing weather patterns? Anyone remember the Dust Bowl?

There's way more surface area of walls (from buildings and such) than there are wind turbine fins. Walls do a way better job of stopping wind as well. I would actually love to see where they came up with the "5-6mph" difference myself, especially due to the impossibility of having a 'solid' wall structure in this scenario. Assuming thats 30% of the wind speed, I don't think we would even have the materials on earth to create that much surface area of blockage.

I would be more worried about Birds, myself.

in all sense of the situation even if it did affect wind speeds down-wind of the massive wind farm, the others are right so do major cities, mountains, etc. Cities have such large effects on the weather that is rarely noticed by the average person and when they do they jsut brush it off. In the midwest where cities are not on the coast, outerbelts surround the whole city. like in columbus I270 is all around the city, what happens is that a bubble of heat generate by the city and more or less trapped in by the outerbelt, diverts storm systems around the city, while strengthening them as they hit the suburbs out side of the the outerbelt. such a strange but easily predictable phenomenon that no one seems to notice or think is that big of a deal. The massive wind farm would have no where near that kind of effect on weather, there isn't that massive amount of heat genreated, what may occur is with the slowing of the wind as it hits the turbines, and the energy is transfered, storms may stall out or lose speed, and thus strength as they encounter a wind farm. now does that sound so bad, many other things cause storms to stall out, now i'm sure there are some form of effects from such stalling or weakening of there storms, as there are consequences for everything, but could they be as bad as something like a major city and all the heat created by that?

Of course large wind farms are going to (most likely negatively) change wind patterns, along with bird migratory patterns, evaporation effects, plant pollination, to mention the obvious. Wind isn't out there just waiting to have it's kinetic energy removed, it actually has purpose. (your city/building comparisons are kind've lame)

Same with solar power. Wake up lemmings, turn off Al Gore and start thinking for yourselves.