Thanks. I'm a firm believer that if there is the will to build wind turbines and install them at this scale, it could be done. And solutions to the variability (of closely co-located sites) and electricity storage can be found, though this will also start a decent sized cottage industry in complaining about how difficult it will be to do. Oh well, engineers and scientists also bitch and grumble and take apart the ideas of others - its how things get improved. No use being a wilting flower about it. If the ideas can't cut the mustard, so to speak, maybe they are so good.

But the scale of the ridiculous tax breaks for the wealthy...now that is something worth griping about (don't those types already most most things under the sun???). They should make a profit on the sale of their electricity, and pay taxes on those profits. And if that means raising the price of electricity to near its real, sustainable price, c'est la vie. I bet if I ran the series out to 2030 (even if the PTC was ended in 2020, the total lack of taxes would be close to $2 trillion. Uggh....

Nb41

The potential developer seems to be somewhat tentative, too. I think that they would be glad to see zoning that makes the permit process relatively free of public input, but I don't think that they will actually invest in the present market.

You may know that I live in the Columbia River Gorge, which is actually one of the highest-rated regions of the U.S. for wind-power. Much of our neighboring county, Klickitat, has about a 6 rating on the 7-point scale that the feds use, as it serves as part of an eastern funnel for the Gorge winds. Their main advantage is that the local economy is agricultural, and the farmers are grateful for the steady rental income and the cheap electricity.

paul spencer