Michigan, Ground Zero For Sustainability, Struggling To Develop Wind Power
by John Laumer, Philadelphia 
on 04. 3.08
In the late 1800's Michigan's forests were clearcut, Paul Bunyan style, and the bellwether Woodland Elk, an exemplary Mega-Fauna whose range was nearly centered on Michigan (pictured), was extirpated. Another species native to Michigan, MegaTruckis flacidus (sp) is living on borrowed time, the official jobless rate is hovering around 7%; and, they are struggling to scale up wind power because of an antiquated transmission grid. All this, while surrounded by water resources that are the envy of half the population of the US and many arid nations.
Developers are proposing more than 3,000 megawatts of wind power in Michigan, an amount - at more than 1,000 times larger than existing capacity - that could push the state's lagging transmission capacity to center stage.
But state officials do not have a clear picture on how readily the state's electricity transmission infrastructure could accommodate the added load - a proposed 2,500 megawatts in the Lower Peninsula and 520 in the UP - from new wind-generating sources...This is a common problem.
The Washington, D.C.-based AWEA, which held a conference last week in Detroit, says transmission is the largest hurdle to expanding wind capacity in the U.S. Much of the 5,200 megawatts of wind energy installed in 2007 was in remote rural areas that are poorly served by transmission lines.
When does a sense of urgency kick in? Must the Federal government create a TVA for wind power transmission improvements, or do we wait on the "free market" to deliver us from coal? It is perplexing. Not to pick on just one state, but...
Ted Nugent Paralyzed Lyrics
I'm on a mission of mercy. I gotta testify.
You lost your emotions. You're paralyzed.
Amputate your logic, you're hypnotized.
You show no emotion. You're paralyzed.
Don't you know you crucify yourself, oh, no.
You're killin' you and nobody else,...etc.
Via::Michigan Live, "Proposed boost to Michigan's wind power faces hurdles", Image credit::PigeonRiverCountry.org When Eastern Elk Vanished From Their Range
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I live in Michigan and I cannot yell loud enough for more renewable energy. Not sure why all these people are trying to cling to all the manufacturing jobs that continue to go away and ARE NEVER COMING BACk over and over. We have a huge gap in energy and such a huge untapped resource for energy here. Between wind that comes up the lake to all the power wave energy and hydroelectic.........well it does not take a genius to figure it out.
I live in Michigan and I cannot yell loud enough for more renewable energy. Not sure why all these people are trying to cling to all the manufacturing jobs that continue to go away and ARE NEVER COMING BACk over and over. We have a huge gap in energy and such a huge untapped resource for energy here. Between wind that comes up the lake to all the power wave energy and hydroelectic.........well it does not take a genius to figure it out.
Well, considering that Michigan's entire economy is hemorrhaging--I've read that something like 10% of Detroit's homes are either delinquent on mortgages or in foreclosure--I don't see where they'd be able to get the money to do a massive upgrade of their electrical grid.
Whether it's the federal government or the free market, we have to wait on somebody else to deliver us from coal because nobody with the fat wallet wants to lose money—they only want to make money.
The first commercial wind turbine was erected in 1995 on my father's farm. At the time it was the largest in the continental US. Speaking from personal experience, Northern Michigan's biggest problem (besides the economy now) is NIMBYism. I hear of some people continuing to complain that the windmills in Mackinaw City mess up the sunsets. They expect to move there and it to stay the same forever and that twarts progress of any kind. Local owned utilities have played the deciding role in windmill construction to date in Michigan.
It is only through the efforts of a few outstanding people that we have any wind capacity to begin with in Michigan. Here is a good article about one of them...
http://www.mynorth.com/My-North/March-2008/Mr-Smileys-Windmill-Wars/
Yes, we should have to wait for the free market to deliver us from coal. Either that or vote for people who will implement cap-and-trade programs. Michigan needs a lot of help, and you'd think the voters there of all places would vote for some new ideas.
*first commercial wind turbine in Michigan
I live in Manistee Michigan where , in October, I attended a meeting meant to introduce the public to the proposed White Pines Wind Farm in Mason County. A virtual reality drive presented the viewer with the 28 widely spaced 420 ft. turbines that barely peeked over the tree line. I overheard an elderly lady reply to her husband “see it’s not so bad, the trees will hide them”. Based on the video an easy conclusion to make, unless you’ve walked the property, where due to regular logging the trees are only an average of 50-60 ft.
There are currently proposals to place industrial sized wind farms in the national forests of Vermont, Michigan, and Virginia. Forests in other states await further study. The companies seeking to develop our forests are large and foreign owned; British Petroleum seeks to develop nearly 10,000 acres in Michigan and Iberdrola Renewables of Madrid, Spain would move on the Green Mountains National Forest of Vermont. Each of the giant turbines requires a 60 ft. diameter cement pad 30 ft. deep. This along with the massive infrastructure to support their construction will devastate these fragile ecosystems. These are not the vast open public lands of the west, only 13% of our national forests system lies east of the Mississippi River. Because of their proximity to large urban areas they are enjoyed by millions and form the foundations of thriving tourist economies. Why isn't such a looming and potentially devastating threat to our national forest system being more actively publicized by the myriad array of conservation groups previously charged with their protection? Perhaps when having to make the choice of protecting the wilderness or standing in the way of long awaited “green technologies” many are choosing to stand silent. Are the millions of tons of cement poured to construct a wind farm any less malignant to these ecosystems than the cement that would be used to build a coal fired electric plant over them?
Why, you also should ask, in such economically depressed times can’t leases be signed to locate these industrial sized projects on the states previously cleared private lands? On November 20,2008 Michigan’s second largest utility,Consumers Energy, announced the construction of meteorological towers to study the wind-generating potential of more than 28,000 acres of easements on private land in two Michigan counties, Tuscola and Mason. Mason County is the location of the proposed White Pines Wind Farm. Why would our government entertain such proposals when viable alternatives to the use of public lands is available?
What will be lost? Nearly 10,000 acres of the Manistee-Huron national Forest that borders on lake Michigan containing two crystal clear watersheds, Gurney and Cooper Creeks. This forest lies adjacent to the Nordhouse Dunes, the lower peninsulas only designated wilderness area. Here generations of residents from ours and neighboring states have camped,hunted, and enjoyed the outdoors in a variety of ways. The area supports the typical variety of woodland fauna, including black bears, and in recent years has welcomed the resurgence of bald eagles, it is a beautiful forest.
By hiding behind this “green label” has big business finally found the back door into our forest system they have long desired? I believe our forests are no place for this type of development, they are a legacy, handed down to all Americans and should never fall victim to any administrations “pet projects”. The forests of Vermont and Michigan may be the first to fall and thus set a dangerous precedent with far ranging implications for the entire national forest system. Due to the lack of media attention this story currently garners I would encourage those who realize the importance of our remaining wild spaces to spread the word and let your voice be heard. We cannot save the planet by adding to its deforestation.
I live in Manistee Michigan where , in October, I attended a meeting meant to introduce the public to the proposed White Pines Wind Farm in Mason County. A virtual reality drive presented the viewer with the 28 widely spaced 420 ft. turbines that barely peeked over the tree line. I overheard an elderly lady reply to her husband “see it’s not so bad, the trees will hide them”. Based on the video an easy conclusion to make, unless you’ve walked the property, where due to regular logging the trees are only an average of 50-60 ft.
There are currently proposals to place industrial sized wind farms in the national forests of Vermont, Michigan, and Virginia. Forests in other states await further study. The companies seeking to develop our forests are large and foreign owned; British Petroleum seeks to develop nearly 10,000 acres in Michigan and Iberdrola Renewables of Madrid, Spain would move on the Green Mountains National Forest of Vermont. Each of the giant turbines requires a 60 ft. diameter cement pad 30 ft. deep. This along with the massive infrastructure to support their construction will devastate these fragile ecosystems. These are not the vast open public lands of the west, only 13% of our national forests system lies east of the Mississippi River. Because of their proximity to large urban areas they are enjoyed by millions and form the foundations of thriving tourist economies. Why isn't such a looming and potentially devastating threat to our national forest system being more actively publicized by the myriad array of conservation groups previously charged with their protection? Perhaps when having to make the choice of protecting the wilderness or standing in the way of long awaited “green technologies” many are choosing to stand silent. Are the millions of tons of cement poured to construct a wind farm any less malignant to these ecosystems than the cement that would be used to build a coal fired electric plant over them?
Why, you also should ask, in such economically depressed times can’t leases be signed to locate these industrial sized projects on the states previously cleared private lands? On November 20,2008 Michigan’s second largest utility,Consumers Energy, announced the construction of meteorological towers to study the wind-generating potential of more than 28,000 acres of easements on private land in two Michigan counties, Tuscola and Mason. Mason County is the location of the proposed White Pines Wind Farm. Why would our government entertain such proposals when viable alternatives to the use of public lands is available?
What will be lost? Nearly 10,000 acres of the Manistee-Huron national Forest that borders on lake Michigan containing two crystal clear watersheds, Gurney and Cooper Creeks. This forest lies adjacent to the Nordhouse Dunes, the lower peninsulas only designated wilderness area. Here generations of residents from ours and neighboring states have camped,hunted, and enjoyed the outdoors in a variety of ways. The area supports the typical variety of woodland fauna, including black bears, and in recent years has welcomed the resurgence of bald eagles, it is a beautiful forest.
By hiding behind this “green label” has big business finally found the back door into our forest system they have long desired? I believe our forests are no place for this type of development, they are a legacy, handed down to all Americans and should never fall victim to any administrations “pet projects”. The forests of Vermont and Michigan may be the first to fall and thus set a dangerous precedent with far ranging implications for the entire national forest system. Due to the lack of media attention this story currently garners I would encourage those who realize the importance of our remaining wild spaces to spread the word and let your voice be heard. We cannot save the planet by adding to its deforestation.