Wind Turbines on the Horizon

The family and I took a little trip yesterday back to the old homestead for a family reunion 20 years in the making. Part of that trip took us up and over the Laurel Highlands in Central Pennsylvania (Somerset/Blair Counties). Where years ago you would be greeted by the huge drag lines of the strip mining industry, to day you are greeted with this sight.



They don't look that big do they...well, as a frame of reference, that picture was taken from about 3 - 4 miles distance.

How majestic they are....



But how big are they?



Thats pretty big....could you imagine living next to one of these monstrosities?

Seems the locals are none to happy that Governor Rendell, sold them out to Spanish owned GAMESA (Don't bother looking them up, none of the links to their web pages work.)

So what's your take?

Seems to me that the use of wind turnines to produce electricity isn't economical, and the power produced by them does little to reduce the amount of coal and nuclear power being produced. And while the machines are magnificent in their size and some might say beauty, what effects are they having on the local environments?

Not suprisingly these wind turbine farms always seem to be built 100's miles away from the very people who are proposing their use. In Pennsylvania alone Governor Rendell in Harrisburg and GAMESA headquartered in Philadelphia are literally hours away by car from these farms they are promoting and building or as some might say, thrusting upon the landowners along the ridge tops.